Toxostoma curvirostre
juvenile
The Curve-billed Thrasher is a long-tailed, curve-billed songbird of arid habitats. The sexes are similar. Adults have unmarked gray-brown upperparts. The wings have two pale wingbars and the tail has white feather tips. The eye has an orange iris and there is a faint pale supercilium. The pale throat is defined by a dark malar stripe, and the underparts are otherwise pale with faint brown spots that are boldest on the breast and flanks. Juveniles are similar to adults but the eye has a yellow iris, the bill is shorter, and the plumage markings are less intense.
The Curve-billed Thrasher is present year-round in its favored desert habitat. It is the most widespread and least skulking bird of its kind, sometimes seen perched on a cactus (particularly in spring) or searching for invertebrates on the ground.
adult
adult
FACT FILE
LENGTH 11 in (28 cm)
FOOD Invertebrates and berries
HABITAT Deserts with plentiful cholla (Cylindropuntia spp.) and Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) cacti
STATUS Common resident
VOICE Song includes chirping trills and whistles, the phrases seldom repeated. Calls include a whistled whit-Weet
