What is the Georgia State Bird?

What is the Georgia State Bird?

Brown thrasher (Toxostomarufum)was titled as the official state bird of Georgia in 1935. The bird is believed to have got its name from the thrashing sound it makes while digging through the ground. Both male and female brown thrashers have reddish-brown body and white chest. There are distinctive marks on the bodies of brown thrashers that look like teardrops. These birds spend most of their lifetime in woodland edges and dense brushy areas.

They are found searching for food in dry leaves on the ground. The brown thrashers are basically omnivorous birds. They feed on varieties of insects, cherries, seeds, earthworms and snails. The birds have been found to show aggressive behavior while defending their nests. Brown thrashers are mostly monogamous. These curved-billed yellow eyed songbirds are declining in number due to diseases and.

exposure to cold weather. State Bird of Georgia Facts–

  • Common name:  Brown Thrasher
  • Scientific name:  Toxostomarufum
  • Habitat:  scrubby fields, forest edges, dense woods that can regenerate
  • Diet:  insects, cherries, nuts, seeds, earthworms, snails, lizards and frogs
  • Song and Calls:  their most common call is like the sound of a smacking kiss. Other sounds may include hissing, harsh, slurred, whistles, soft chirrups etc.
  • Weight:  61-89 g
  • Length:  23-30cm
  • Wingspan:  29-32 cm
  • Average lifespan:  35% of brown thrashers live through their first and second year, 50% through second and third year and 75% through third and fourth year
  • ncubation period:  10-14 days

The state bird of Georgia, Brown Thrasher, is known as a short-distance migrant. Two individual Thrashers have been documented in Europe. One thrasher in England and another in Germany. Brown Thrasher is aviolentprotector of its nest.They are is known for striking people and dogs solid enough to draw blood.Brown Thrashers are gifted song birds. They can sing more than 1,100 different song types. They are able to imitate other birds’ call, including Chuck-will’s-widows, Wood Thrushes, and Northern Flickers.According to one early naturalist, the Brown Thrasher’s song was underappreciated.Both males and females play important rolein incubating the eggs and feed the babies.

The babiesoccasionally leave the nest entirely feathered within nine days of hatching. This is earlier than their smaller families, which are the Northern Mockingbird and Gray Catbird. Shrubby habitations are famous hideouts for nest marauders.This explains clearly why the thrashers fledge so fast for birds of their proportion.Brown Thrashers are the major common host of parasitic Brown-headed Cowbirds. The brown thrashers put up some fight against them. They sometimes reject cowbird eggs that are laid in their nests. Their average lifespan is 10-14 years. The oldest Brown Thrasher recorded was at least 12 years, 10 months old. It was found in North Carolina.

Georgian state bird Brown Thrashers generally eat insects and other arthropods.They also eat some fruits, seeds, and nuts. They typically feed on the ground. They sweep their bills through the leaf jumble and soil with rapid, sideways gestures. They also forage in bunches of dead leaves on trees, eat fruit right off of berry bushes, glean seeds from weed stems.

They sometimes catch insects in the mid-air. The animal percentage of their diet comprises many kinds of beetles, along with grubs, wire-worms, army worms, cutworms, tent caterpillars, gypsy-moth caterpillars, leafhoppers, treehoppers, cicadas, grasshoppers, crickets, wasps, bees, harvestmen, sow bugs, lizards, snakes, and tree frogs. The fruit percentage of their diet includes blueberry, huckleberry, holly, elderberries, pokeberries, hackberries, Virginia creeper, sour gum, bayberry, sumac, raspberry, currant, grape, cherry, and strawberry.

The law entitling the brown thrasher as the official Georgia state bird is Section 50-3-50 of the Georgia Code Title 50 (STATE GOVERNMENT) Chapter 3 (STATE FLAG, SEAL, AND OTHER SYMBOLS ) Section 50-3-50.

References:

http://www.ereferencedesk.com

https://www.allaboutbirds.org

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