Brown Thrasher Melodies...

William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the wonders of God’s creation.

​Psalm 98:5 "Sing your praise to the Lord with... melodious song."

Brown Thrasher, Toxostoma rufum, a common songbird of the eastern United States, singing in a tree against a blue sky backdrop in early spring. Walton County, city of Monroe, Georgia USA. Brown Thrashers are accomplished songsters that may sing more than 1,100 different song types and include imitations of other birds, including Chuck-will’s-widows, Wood Thrushes, and Northern Flickers. During spring and early summer, males climb higher to sing from exposed perches. Listen for a song with a pattern of a Northern Mockingbird, but with phrases repeated only in pairs rather than in triplets.

The days lengthen and the dark drive to work is now replaced with a picturesque blue sky and a glowing sunrise. Now that the sun is rising earlier, nearly my entire morning drive is illuminated and I can watch for morning deer or wildlife to photograph along my 45-minute commute through the country. But alas, Daylight Savings Time next week will push the drive back into the dark for a short period.

As I near work, I pull my car around to the water retention pond before heading into the office. The two Canada Geese are still there, but the American Coot and the Redhead Ducks are gone. A delightful morning chorus breaks the chilled morning air. Up high in one of the newly blooming trees, I hear what I thought was a Mockingbird. Instead of ignoring the “common”, I turn to look… a Brown Thrasher in the tree top is singing away and making melodies with all its heart. My camera is always by my side and at the ready.
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It was quite an amazing spectacle to observe these complex songs and melodies in triplicate coming out of a mouth that has no lips! The birds have only two hard, stiff beak parts opening and closing; so unlike how we shape our mouths for whistling. How is it done??? The Cornell Lab of ornithology explains, “With over 1,000 song types, the Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) has one of the largest repertoires in the bird world. As part of that incredible variety, the thrasher sometimes sings two sweeping tones at the same time—a feat made possible by its two-sided vocal organ. By controlling each side of the syrinx independently, thrashers create unique sounds that only a bird has the ability to produce.” www.allaboutbirds.org.

​Walton County, Georgia,
Sunny, high 64°. Clear tonight, low 34°
Sunrise 7:00 AM, sunset 6:30 PM
Day length: 11 hours, 29 minutes

Brown Thrasher bird singing in a tree, Georgia USA

Brown Thrasher bird singing in a tree, Georgia USA