Birds › Desert scrub › Curve-billed Thrasher

Curve-billed Thrasher

Toxostoma curvirostre

Its sharp "whit-wheet!" call sounds like someone whistling for attention. It digs for insects with sideways sweeps of its curved bill.

Where to see it for real: Water drippers and ground feeders in desert gardens.

Spot it in the game

Lives in the Desert scrub habitat (Sonoran Desert, Arizona and Mexico).

Curve-billed Thrasher facts

Family

Mockingbirds and thrashers

Length

11 in (27 cm)

Wingspan

13 in (34 cm)

Weight

2.8 oz (80 g)

Diet

Insects dug from the ground, plus seeds, berries and cactus fruit.

Range

Deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico.

Nest

A loose cup of thorny twigs in a cholla cactus.

Song

A sharp "whit-wheet!" call and a long, varied song.

Active

at dawn and by day

Status

Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: widespread and not at risk.

What the Curve-billed Thrasher sounds like

How to attract the Curve-billed Thrasher

Feeder foods, favorite first: fruit, mealworms, sunflower seed. Feeders that hold them: platform feeder and tube feeder. Keep a bird bath full, too.

In the game: fill a feeder with fruit, mealworms and sunflower seed and keep the bird bath full. It is a common visitor.

More: bird songs and calls, what to feed birds.

More birds of the desert scrub

Greater RoadrunnerDesert scrubCactus WrenDesert scrubGambel's QuailDesert scrubGila WoodpeckerDesert scrubVerdinDesert scrubPhainopeplaDesert scrub