Brown thrasher
Toxostoma rufum (Linnaeus, 1758)
The brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) is a species in the family Mimidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 68 g to 69 g and live up to 12.8 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the brown thrasher
- Weight
- 68.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 12.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 12.8 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 13 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.9src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 9 months – 10.5 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Partialsrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the brown thrasher live?
Not recorded
What is the brown thrasher?
The brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), sometimes erroneously called the brown thrush or fox-coloured thrush, is a bird in the family Mimidae, which also includes the New World catbirds and mockingbirds. The brown thrasher is abundant throughout the eastern and central United States and southern and central Canada, and it is the only thrasher to live primarily east of the Rockies and central Texas. It is the state bird of Georgia.
As a member of the genus Toxostoma, the bird is relatively large-sized among the other thrashers. It has brown upper parts with a white under part with dark streaks. Because of this, it is often confused with the smaller wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina), among other species. The brown thrasher is noted for having over 1,000 song types, and the largest song repertoire of birds. However, each note is usually repeated in two or three phrases.
The brown thrasher is an omnivore, with its diet ranging from insects to fruits and nuts. The usual nesting areas are shrubs, small trees, or at times on ground level. Brown thrashers are generally inconspicuous but territorial birds, especially when defending their nests, and will attack species as large as humans.
From the Wikipedia article “Brown thrasher” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brown_thrasher&oldid=1380657205), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the brown thrasher endangered?
The brown thrasher is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the brown thrasher classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyMimidae
- genusToxostoma
- SpeciesToxostoma rufum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Harporhynchus rufus, Orpheus rufus, Turdus rufus
Other names and names in other languages (58)
- Brown thrushEnglish
- Ferruginous thrushEnglish
- Fox-colored thrushEnglish
- Fox-coloured thrushEnglish
- ChaɬchaAlabama
- الدَّرَّاس البُنِّيّArabic
- Risweer rousBreton
- mim becut rogencCatalan
- ᏩᏚᏰᎳCherokee
- drozdec hnědýCzech
- tresglen gynffonhirWelsh
- RøddrosselDanish
- RotspottdrosselGerman
- Rote SpottdrosselGerman
- SichelspottdrosselGerman
- Καστανός ΤοξόστομοςGreek
- rufa mokbirdoEsperanto
- Sinsonte castañoSpanish
- Cuicacoche castañoSpanish
- Cuitlacoche rojizoSpanish
- ruske-pilalindEstonian
- Toxostoma rufumBasque
- ruostesirppimatkijaFinnish
- Moqueur rouxFrench
- Buailteoir donnIrish
- דשוש חוםHebrew
- riđoleđi raznopojacCroatian
- vörhenyes gezerigóHungarian
- MóskuþrasiIcelandic
- Mimo rossiccioItalian
- チャイロツグミモドキJapanese
- rudoji pašaipaLithuanian
- Rudasis mėgdžiotojasLithuanian
- brūnā žagasteLatvian
- Rosse SpotlijsterDutch
- brunspottefuglNorwegian
- Makade-AnaakOjibwa
- Chuchubi Barica MarcáPapiamento
- Chuchubi Barika MarkáPapiamento
- przedrzeźniacz rudyPolish
- debulhador-ruivoPortuguese
- DebulhadorPortuguese
- debulhador-castanhoPortuguese
- Рыжий пересмешникRussian
- Коричневый пересмешникRussian
- Коричневый кривоклювый пересмешникRussian
- Коричневый (кривоклювый) пересмешникRussian
- JievžerásttisNorthern Sami
- drozdec červenkavýSlovak
- rjavi oponašalecSlovenian
- Smeđi raznopojacSerbian
- rödbrun härmtrastSwedish
- Kahverengi ÇöpçüTurkish
- Kahverengi TaklitçiTurkish
- Бурий пересмішникUkrainian
- тремблер прямодзьобийUkrainian
- 褐矢嘲鶇Chinese
- 褐弯嘴嘲鸫Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the brown thrasher
Other species in the same genus Toxostoma.
Curve-billed thrasher
Toxostoma curvirostre
Cozumel thrasher
Toxostoma guttatum
Long-billed thrasher
Toxostoma longirostre
Gray thrasher
Toxostoma cinereum
Bendire's thrasher
Toxostoma bendirei
Crissal thrasher
Toxostoma crissale
CompareBrown thrasher vs Curve-billed thrasherBrown thrasher vs Cozumel thrasherBrown thrasher vs Long-billed thrasherBrown thrasher vs Gray thrasher
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the brown thrasher?
An adult brown thrasher weighs 68.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the brown thrasher endangered?
The brown thrasher is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the brown thrasher live?
The brown thrasher has a recorded lifespan of 12.8 years.
What kind of animal is the brown thrasher?
The brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) belongs to the family Mimidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/brown-thrasher
“Brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/brown-thrasher.
@misc{brown_thrasher_2026,
title = {Brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/brown-thrasher},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}