Two Brown Thrashers and a Red-winged Blackbird

9 years ago

Note: I also posted these pics on the New England Gardening Forum.

Two Brown Thrashers have apparently decided to take up residence in my yard. I'm seeing them almost every day. I've read that Brown Thrashers are the largest common host of parasitic Brown-headed Cowbirds. The thrashers do put up some resistance, often rejecting cowbird eggs that are laid in their nests.

Maybe this is why the thrashers were looking so suspiciously at the female red-wing this morning - she associates with female cowbirds? or looks like one? There was no hostility otherwise.

Claire

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Comments (6)

catherinet
9 years ago
I didn't think female rwbbs were that sociable! :)

This is the first year ever that I was seeing 2 brown thrashers together. And a neighbor down the road called and she had seen 2 together too. I just love their song. It always sounds so happy.
Pyewacket
9 years ago
Well, that explains what that mysterious "sparrow" that I've been trying to identify is!
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First, Rachel your photos are INCREDIBLE!! And thanks for the info. I don't think I've seen a wood thrush from your explanation, just the Brown Thrasher. Hey Donna, here we are another year...hope it's a quiet one :) Anyway, last year a Brown Thrasher made a nest in the most unlikely place IMO. In a abelia bush (attracts bees) right next to the steps from the deck to the ground, the steps that my husband and I and 4 dogs pass CLOSELY every day, several times a day. Somedays I'd just see the beak of the one on the nest. There were 3 eggs but only 1 hatched. One day the 3 eggs were there, the next day just 1. The baby thrasher was cute as cute could be. I watched it takes its first 'tumble' out of the nest and then it's first flight. My DH cut back the bush TOO MUCH (I said 'trim it.' Grrrr......... Oh well, maybe it will find a place to nest where I can still watch it. Now if I can only find the wood thrush who's singing the non-thraster/mocker/catbird song. Do they nest like the thrashers and robins do? Thanks again, Linda...
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claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
Original Author
9 years ago
zensojourner: Is your "mysterious sparrow" a female red-wing or a thrasher?

Claire
Pyewacket
9 years ago
Oh, sorry - female redwing blackbird. I have been through the long list of different sparrow species on different sites repeatedly trying to identify them. I think I've seen a couple of different individuals - but nary a single male.

I've also got a mated pair of cardinals visiting regularly. I'm guessing they are nesting nearby. But I've not seen a single male redwing blackbird, despite the females visiting fairly regularly.
catherinet
9 years ago
That's curious. The males are usually the first ones you see/hear. Do you have a field nearby?
Pyewacket
9 years ago
There is a park, a small field that is regularly mowed, and a sort of a wet-weather slough that runs between four properties (one of which is ours). It's basically what's left when a developer is too lazy to properly landscape when they build a plat on uneven terrain.

There may be only one of the females; We've been away for awhile and I've not yet seen her again since we got back. Apparently my female house sparrows have lost their itty-bitty minds and have taken to scattering the seed from the window feeder far and wide, which has finally given the grackles something they can get at. The grackles are making things a little more difficult for everyone else and I wonder if they've driven her off. So I'll not be filling the window feeder any more - then we'll see if Ms. RWBB comes back or no, LOL!

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Two Brown Thrashers and a Red-winged Blackbird

Comments (6)

catherinet

Pyewacket

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claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
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Two Brown Thrashers and a Red-winged Blackbird

Comments (6)

catherinet

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claireplymouth z6b coastal MAOriginal Author

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claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
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