[EBB Sightings] California Thrasher -- summing up

Dear Birders:

Thanks to the number of responses to my query about California Thrashers. Along with some additional reading on my part, it appears that the California Thrasher is a declining species. Brush clearing for suburban and agricultural development has destroyed thrasher habitat.  And like many species, thrashers decline when their habitat is fragmented.  California Thrashers are gone from the Monterey Peninsula.  Respondents to "Sightings" all say that while in the past they occasionally had a thrasher on their property, they no longer do.  Wrentits, which favor a similar habitat, seem to doing better.  They appear to be more adaptable to changing circumstances.

Though not yet listed as threatened or endangered, the California Thrasher is indeed in decline in much of its former habitat.  And what an interesting bird!  Maury Stern, a skilled birder who leads Audubon trips, says that his one sighting years ago in his yard of this bird with a remarkable beak launched him as a birder.  From all accounts, this stout, downcurved beak is an effective food-gathering tool, designed both to sweep aside leaves and as a probe (I withdraw my suggestion that it might be also used as a climbing aid -- we'll leave that to the parrot family).

when you're walking in your local wild lands park, listen for the big voice similar to a mockingbird's (they're 'cousins').  If it's singing, chances are you'll spot it perched on a bush.  

-Phila Rogers