Sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus)

The sage thrasher is a medium-sized passerine bird. It is the smallest of the thrashers. It breeds in western North America, from southern Canada to northern Arizona and New Mexico. In winter, they migrate to the southernmost United States and Mexico, including the Baja Peninsula, north and south.

Identification

Adults

Adult male and female sage thrashers are similar in appearance. They are pale grey-brown on the upperparts and white on the underparts with dark streaks and thin white wingbars. They have a slim straight relatively short bill, yellow eyes and a long tail with white tips to the corners.

Immature

Immature birds are similar in appearance to adults, but with underparts less distinctly streaked.

Gallery

Sage thrasher

Mono Lake, California (2010)

Related Page Hierarchy

Species

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Phylum: Chordata (vertebrates, sea squirts)

Class: Aves (birds)

Order: Passeriformes (perching birds)

Family: Mimidae (thrasher, mockingbirds, tremblers)

Northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

Galápagos mockingbird (Nesomimus parvulus)

Sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus)