Sage Thrasher

About the Sage Thrasher

The Sage Thrasher is the smallest thrasher, closer in size to a large sparrow than to a mockingbird. It is gray-brown above with crisp dark streaking below, a short straight bill, pale wing bars, and white tail corners that flash in flight.

It is a bird of the ground more than the air, running between shrubs, stopping upright to look around, and slipping into cover when pressed. The diet is insects and berries, with juniper berries especially important in winter. On the breeding grounds of the Great Basin sagebrush country, males sing long, warbling songs from bush tops.

Texas hosts Sage Thrashers in winter, mainly in the western half of the state, where they favor open brushy flats, juniper hillsides, and desert scrub.