Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Brown Thrashers


 

Did you know that every state in the USA has a State Bird? You might not know this if you are reading this from another country.  (There are many state symbols...there are state flowers, state reptiles,  state trees, state songs...you get the idea, but almost everyone knows their own state bird.)  The state bird for Georgia is the Brown Thrasher.  I read in one of the descriptions of this bird that it is a dull brown. Well, I don't think so!  It is a beautiful shade of brown,  long and elegant and it can out sing the mockingbird! It's true! The brown thrasher can imitate 1100 different song types!The Brown Thrasher may be hard to see as it likes to scrummage around in the earth for its food and since it is brown, it is usually camouflaged with its surroundings. In the early Spring, we still had some suet in our suet feeder and the Brown Thrashers really enjoyed it, even feeding it to its young.

Notice in the first photo that the adult Brown Thrasher has yellow eyes and that beautiful sleek brown coat of feathers.  Can you tell that the photo below is of the young Brown Thrashers? The young ones have blue eyes and well, you can tell by looking at them that they are younger, their feathers are just not quite the same as the adult yet, even if the coloring is almost there.



 
Now, can you tell that I love birds?  I do, very much so!  Richard and I are always watching out our glass doors to see what the birds are doing! And also, looking and listening for them on our walks!
 
  If you are in the USA, what is your State bird? And if you are reading this from another country, what bird would you select to represent where you live? Do tell, I am for the the birds, you know!
 
Oh! And one of the questions I saw from the National Audubon Society was this: What was the first bird that you remember as a child that made you fall in love with birds?
(You might not be in love with birds yet, but you should be!) I love them ALL!
 
Gopher tortoise - click to see all state reptiles
Hey! The state reptile for Georgia is the gopher tortoise.  (Love this look on his face, I had a driver's license photo like this once! HA!)

32 comments:

  1. Hi Kay! I loved your photos of the brown thrashers ~ and the blue-eyed babies are so cute! Terry and I enjoy bird watching too. Colorado's state bird is the lark bunting. And we have a state dinosaur: the stegosaurus. Fun post! Take care!

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    1. I loved the birds in Colorado, so different than the ones from Georgia!
      Colorado has a state dinosaur, I LOVE that!

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  2. Kay- Our state bird is the Robin! Your brown trashers are not dull looking at all, if you ask me. I love birds, too. We feed them all. I am especially fond of the mourning doves we have here...but we didn't get any hummers this year- xo Diana

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    1. Oh, guess what, they have the same mourning doves in England! When I hear them make that mournful sound, it reminds me of England!
      We had some hummingbirds that fought over our one feeder, we must get more next year!

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  3. There are a lot of words that could describe the Brown Thrasher, but dull is not one of them!

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    1. Who are these people who write about birds? They need to call me before they write a description of them!

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  4. Now that is an interesting looking bird. Our bird is the Nene goose. Our reptile is the Gold Dust Day Gecko (I had to look it up) and our state fish is the Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa and every kid in the island can pronounce it.

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    1. Oh, I have seen a Nene goose and I remember they said it was from Hawaii but I saw it at Arundel in England!!
      WOW, I love that state fish's name!

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  5. I live in Washington and the goldfinch is the state bird. I have a finch feeder and get a lot of them, especially in the spring. I grew up in California where the valley quail is the state bird, but we have them in Washington as well (as least they look the same). When I was a child we had a parakeet in a cage in the kitchen. But my family always noticed and talked about the birds, so I was bred to be interested in them.

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    1. Hey Dennis!
      We LOVE our goldfinches, I really should do a post about them all by themselves, what beautiful birds!!
      I really became interested in birds when I lived in England...they have beautiful birds there too!

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  6. More of these!
    Richard deserves credit for the patience required to wait on the birds.
    How long did he wait to take your drivers license picture...?

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    1. Thanks! But I think that I took all these photos!
      HA! I am not kidding, that photo is so much like my ID on my license! When it came in the mail, my son took one look at it, and said, "Mom, who were you mad at?".

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    2. Oh! I thought about this today, and I know I took the next two photos, but I think Richard might have taken the first one. It's a good one, so yes, I am sure he took that one!

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  7. I never heard of a brown thrasher - and also never knew you had state birds! What a lot I have already learned this morning. To me your brown thrasher looks a little like a thrush, with a speckled breast. Thrushes are also big on singing. Do you have thrushes over there?

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    1. You are so right, the brown thrasher is a thrush as is our American Robin (not to be confused with your dear little robin). Both of them have beautiful songs, the brown thrasher and the robin. (Don't even get me started on how much I love YOUR robin and its sweet strong song.)

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  8. It is interesting that the eyes change colour. I think it is a pretty bird, not dull at all.

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    1. It's interesting how different the juvenile birds can look from the adult birds, even down to changing eye color!

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  9. Kay, I LOVE birds too! We don't have thrashers here! When I was a child my dad taught me to love birds and learn their names and calls. Out of 5 of us, I was the one who seemed interested in birds and gardening. I loved the cardinal and the purple finch, but also the simple sparrows, the gold finch, and the robins. Here at my home not too far from my childhood home, we see the same as I saw growing up. One spring I photographed a scarlet tanager passing through. But my favorite bird story was the bluebird on the tree near our little barn. We were in a demolition phase for our kitchen/living room. We were torn if we should pull down these two trees right next to the barn. That was until we spotted a bluebird in it. We had never had bluebirds. It was the first I had ever seen and I havent seen one since. Needless to say, we saw this a s a sign to keep the trees. Oh, and one more story! When my sweet Maggie (cat) passed after 18 years, I buried her in my flower garden. The following spring a catbird appeared on the post of the garden. It followed me to the vegetable garden. It followed me to the house. Same thing this year. My dad said they don't usually like to be around people. I think birdsare VERY special.

    When I was young I had a paper activity book with bird cards in it. You'd punch out the card and attach the wing. I search on Etsy and Ebay for this book all of the time!!

    And of course, the theme of my dining room as I decorate? Birds.

    Sorry for the novel Kay...you hit my soft spot!

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment! We are kindred spirits!
      I love your bird memories here and am grateful to know that someone loves and cares so much for birds.
      I have never seen or heard of the paper activity book with bird cards, but I will keep an eye out for it for you!
      Birds are wild and free, perhaps that is what I love the most about them!

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  10. I don't think we have and Thrashers here in Ohio but I would love to hear their song. Our state bird is the Cardinal. I love their song and their bright red coloring.

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    1. Oh yes, we have the cardinal too, and what beautiful birds they are, we love the bright red male and the greenish reddish female, what a welcome sight at any time of the year!

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  11. And I think they are many shades of brown. Lovely... :-)

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  12. I didn't know that they had such beautiful voices. A year or so ago I had several embroidered bird towels in my Etsy shop, including a brown thrasher. It lingered for about a year and I finally deleted the listing and gave the towel to a friend. All the colorful (pretty) birds sold quickly.

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    1. The brown on this Brown Thrasher is a rich deep brown, and I am afraid that these photos do not do them justice.
      I can understand the appeal of colorful birds but all birds have a place in nature and I am proud that Georgia chose this bird as their State Bird, the only state to do so.
      (I wish I could be the friend that got that Brown Thrasher towel, I would treasure it!)
      Thanks for your comment! :-)

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  13. I'm from Virginia and their state bird is the cardinal. I live in North Carolina and our state bird is the cardinal. I feel sure the cardinal is the first bird I remember (aside from Big Bird ~ hee hee) that made me fall in love with birds. When I lived in Switzerland, I used to always tell Alain how much I missed cardinals. They've been a constant in my life ~ I don't really want to live in a place without them ever again. (I love the brown thrashers.....the way they "thrash" around our pine needles always makes me laugh. They're so serious and so good-looking!)

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    1. Oh yes, several states have the cardinal as their state bird and for good reason, it is GORGEOUS! I don't need to tell you that, isn't he the one you call "Harry Winston"?
      My mother-in-law from England was very excited when she saw a cardinal for the first time, she was amazed when I told her it was very common to see them here!
      Yes, the serious but good-looking Brown Thrasher, that is so true!

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  14. Brown thrashers are very pretty! In Louisiana, our bird is the brown pelican. Our reptile is the alligator, and we even have a state crustacean, the crawfish, and the state dog, the Catahoula Hound. If you look these up, there are lists that even show we have a state musical instrument, the Cajun accordion, and a state donut, the beignet.

    It's amazing when you start looking for these things.

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    1. Wait a minute now, I know for sure that you EAT your state crustacean, and a very good thing too, since I used to work with a nice lady from Lafayette, LA and she made us CRAWFISH Etoufee and WOW, was it good!!
      If we had a state insect, I think it would be a mosquito!!
      :-)

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  15. That Brown Thrasher is a lovely shade of brown - very rich. And what a beautifully mottled breast.

    Our Wisconsin state bird is the American Robin. When I was growing up in SoCal, about the only birds we ever saw were little brown house sparrows in our back yard - but we loved them. It's such a treat to live in Wisconsin where I see and hear all kinds of birds, all year round.

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  16. Your comment about the driver's license photo made me laugh out loud, Kay, I so love your sense of humour!!
    The buzzard is probably one of my favourite birds, but I guess that, as a child, the blackbird's beautiful early morning song is the one I first consciously listened to.

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