Dastardly Duos 14--Tucson Audubon Society

Other Information

SE Arizona Rare
Bird Alert
(520) 798-1005

Report Rare Birds
(520) 798-1005
Email a report

Nature Shop
(520) 629-0510

Agua Caliente Shop
(520) 760-7881

Mason Audubon
Center
(520) 744-0004

Membership
(520) 629-0757

AZ IBA Program
(520) 628-1730

Education Program
(520) 622-2230

Habitat Restoration
(520) 206-9900

Development
(520) 622-5622

Executive Director
(520) 622-5622

Tucson Audubon Society
Dastardly Duos

Curved-billed and Bendire's Thrashers
by Larry Liese
Illustrations by George C. West
(Article first appeared in the December 2001-January 2002 Vermilion Flycatcher newsletter. To receive the newsletter in the mail, become a member of the Friends of Tucson Audubon.)

Some of us in southeast Arizona are lucky enough to wake up most mornings to the whit-wheet! of Curve-billed Thrashers and the clucking of Gambel’s Quail reminding us that it’s time to get out of bed and fill the feeder once again. The antics of the Curve-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre) as it runs about the yard always give me a chuckle. Not present in most of our yards is the very similar appearing Bendire’s Thrasher (Toxostoma bendirei).

While the Curve-billed is seen (and heard) in all types of desert scrub habitat, the Bendire’s is local, hard to find and hard to identify. Look for Bendire’s Thrashers in sparse desert habitat away from dense riparian vegetation. I’ve had good luck seeing them aside Selma Highway (a dirt road) leading into Picacho Reservoir and in the Sulphur Springs Valley. During the breeding season, Stateline Road east of Portal is supposed to have them. They perch high up in shrubby trees when singing, which starts in early January and continues through breeding, then declines rapidly in frequency. Prime times for being on eggs are April and early May, and having young from May through mid-June, though off-peak durations are longer.

Adult thrashers aren’t too bad to tell apart. An adult Bendire’s has arrowhead shaped upper breast marks that form distinct streaks in fresh plumage, a shorter bill with a straight lower mandible with a pale horn color to the base, and are smaller birds. An adult Curve-billed Thrasher has smudgy breast marks that remind me of the mark a used pencil eraser would make when twirled against paper. Their strongly curved bill is all black, and eye color (see below) is orange as opposed to the yellow of the Bendire’s.

Unfortunately, the best field marks for distinguishing adult Bendire’s and Curve-billed Thrashers are mimicked by juvenile Curve-billeds, so from spring through summer one has to be careful. Juvenile Curve-billeds can have even straighter bills than adult Bendire’s and the same breast markings, can have the same pale horn color of the base of the lower mandible, and are about the same size as the Bendire’s! The iris of the Curve-billed is yellow in juveniles and some adults, though not as pale as in Bendire’s.

What’s left that one can count on? When singing, the Bendire’s song has a continuous flow versus being broken into segments. Bendire’s is a light, sandy brown color above with buffy-brown flanks while the Curve-billed is more of a gray-brown. Remember that you may have to content yourself with calling a given bird one of two species instead of choosing one, but you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’re a better birder! Happy birding holidays!

Bird questions? Check Birding | General questions? Contact: Tucson Audubon Society | Webmaster: Email

This page was updated on 02/21/06