Brown Thrasher and fledgling

13 years ago

Brown Thrashers are common here but I don't usually see them since they don't visit the feeders. I only see one at a time and maybe once a year. I few days ago, however, an adult Brown Thrasher and a fledgling appeared by a water bath - there must have been worms and insects there.

Adult feeding a worm to a fledgling.

The fledgling hasn't realized yet that it's standing in a food field.

The thrasher foraged around for a while while the baby waited.

The adult apparently saw me watching (with the big glass camera eye) and jumped over to protect the baby. When I didn't attack it relaxed and continued to feed.

Claire

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Comments (11)

kendra2003
13 years ago
Wow, those are some really cool pictures. I love getting to see the adults feeding their newly fledged young. Thanks so much for posting those.
dzyg
13 years ago
I love Thrashers...btw they love peanut butter suet dough! We didn't get any nesting this year but have in the past and they bring the fledglings right up on the deck to eat the suet dough. Nice pics you got!

Donna
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Very nice! I saw my first Brown Thrasher of the season on April 16, and the first catbird on May 2, so there was about a two week delay. I'm in southeast MA. Thrashers bred here last year, but I didn't see them most of the time. The catbirds, on the other hand, are in my face every day eating grape jam. Claire
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claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
Original Author
13 years ago
Donna: Do you make the peanut butter suet dough yourself, or is this a commercial product? I don't usually cook for the birds, but I enjoy offering something they really like. Of course, the other birds would probably gobble it up too.

I blew up a portion of the photo of the adult thrasher defending the fledgling, because it just struck me as very brave.

Claire
dzyg
13 years ago
Claire, no I don't make it. I normally use the Kaytee brand of peanutbutter suet dough but have bought another brand too, make sure it is the dough though not the greasy suet. They love it!

Donna
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks Donna, I'll look for it. And thanks Kendra for the kind remarks.

I've been seeing an adult thrasher fairly often now in that same area. The fledgling may be around too, but would be hard to distinguish at a glance from all the other small birds wearing similar feathers.

Claire
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
Original Author
13 years ago
Keeping to the topic of Brown Thrashers, I can't resist posting photos of the very first Brown Thrasher I ever saw, in August 2009. I had just moved a shepherd's crook for a hummingbird feeder and I threw a couple of shovelfuls of sand and stones on the bottom to stabilize it. It didn't occur to me that I had constructed a dust bath, but a Brown Thrasher found it. A very knowledgeable birder later told me it was a recently fledged immature thrasher.

I didn't even know what the bird was then, but I took continuous shots and ended up with something like 64 pics and, with much agonizing, winnowed it down to 10 pics. I love them all, so I'll post them all here for any thrasher enthusiasts. These are in sequence of the bath process.

Maybe I need to make a new dust bath.

Claire
Lexarose
13 years ago
Great photos! I saw my first Thrasher this summer at a birdbath and was surprised at how big they are.I Like your water bath,it's so clean you must be lucky enough not to have starlings!
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks, Lexarose. I don't have many starlings here, usually only a few at a time in colder weather, but the grackles really mess up the birdbaths. I flush out the birdbaths every day - the photos were probably taken right after the cleaning. It also helps that the main grackle flock has moved on leaving just a few late broods to come in.

Claire
oldgardener_2009
13 years ago
Good photos of the dust bath. I've never seen a bird do that before, they won't even take a water bath in my yard.
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
Original Author
13 years ago
I have photos of House Sparrows taking dust baths too, but that's pushing the limit of this thread. For some reason, the birds here love to take baths - in dust or water - and I love to watch them.

Claire
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
Original Author
13 years ago
This really has become the year of the thrashers. Per Donna's suggestion, I've been putting out C&S Peanut suet nuggets. I don't know if the thrashers eat it - I haven't seen it - but it's disappearing. There's plenty of other food around and insects too.

My yard/garden is getting more and more overgrown so there are lots of hiding places for birds in shrubs and small trees. I'll walk by a shrub not noticing any birds and be startled by flight all around me. Good for the birds, not so good for the idea of a tidy garden.

An adult has been seen brazenly foraging around most days, and yesterday I saw what I think are two juveniles calmly preening on the winterberry (the photos were taken from the kitchen window). So much for the "secretive" Brown Thrasher.

Claire