The Curve-billed Thrasher made brief appearances at the feeder at 605 NE 11th Avenue at 9:50 and 10:50 this morning.
Shawn Conrad On Jan 6, 2017 9:43 PM, "John P. Ellis" <[email protected]> wrote: > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: "John P. Ellis" <[email protected]> > Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2017 21:03:12 -0600 > Subject: Curve-Billed Thrasher > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, mou-net > <[email protected]> > > At 3:42 P.M. this afternoon I was sitting in my car across from 605 NE > 11th Avenue in Grand Rapids, having arrived about 3:10. The Thrasher > first flew into the apple tree in the front yard and quickly went to > the feeder in the front yard. It was on the house side of the feeder > and while I could not see it clearly, it tossed copious amounts of > seed as it fed. This was about two minutes. The bird then flew to some > shrubs inside the fence in the back yard, and was perched with its > back and left side to me as I sat in my car. The bird vocalized three > times, fairly soon after alighting. After 4-5 minutes it flew over the > intervening house and into the Cedar tree(s) in front of 601, a small > bluish house. I turned to look for it but couldn't pick it up again. > The bird was a large Thrasher, dark brown/grey on the back with a > long, darker tail. The dark beak was quite long and substantially > de-curved. I did not see any appreciable white on the face, but had > only quick views. there was subtle spotting on the breast, seen as it > flew. The iris of the eye appeared more orange to me than yellow. The > vocalizations, when compared with iBird Pro, sounded identical to the > curve billed Thrasher call (on my program, #3, the call of a bird from > Texas.) It is described as a liquid "whit-wheet" a fairly apt > description. I listened to the calls of all the other Thrashers and no > others come anywhere close to what I heard. I am certain the bird is a > Curve-billed Thrasher, on the basis of call alone, but also the eye > color, bill color and shape and overall appearance...drab brown-grey > and no striping. > John P. Ellis-St. Paul > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
