Brown Thrasher
Brown Thrasher has fallen sharply: down 59% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Brown Thrasher
A large, rufous, long-tailed mimic of dense brush and woodland edges, the Brown Thrasher has one of the largest song repertoires of any North American bird.
- Size
- 9–12 in long, about 2.4 oz (23–30 cm, 68 g)
- Habitat
- Woodlands and forest edges, including wooded suburbs and parks.
- Diet
- Insects and other invertebrates raked from leaf litter, plus nuts and berries.
- Range
- Recorded on 2,736 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 41 states, most concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains.
- Family
- Mimidae · Forest birds
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Notable Brown Thrasher Trends
Brown Thrasher has fallen sharply in surveyed states: down 59% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
Brown Thrasher Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Brown Thrasher is projected to fall about 28% by 2029 — from 1.9 in 2024 to a central estimate of 1.4 (95% range 0.65–2.1). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±25.2%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.5 | 0.81 | 2.2 |
| 2026 | 1.5 | 0.77 | 2.2 |
| 2027 | 1.4 | 0.73 | 2.1 |
| 2028 | 1.4 | 0.69 | 2.1 |
| 2029 | 1.4 | 0.65 | 2.1 |
Where the Brown Thrasher Is Detected
BBS routes recording Brown Thrasher, sized by most recent count.
Brown Thrasher Population Trend by State
| Alabama | -26% | 1968 | 108 |
| Arkansas | -63% | 1969 | 59 |
| Colorado | -81% | 1970 | 41 |
| Connecticut | -97% | 1968 | 19 |
| Delaware | +31% | 1968 | 17 |
| Florida | -6% | 1968 | 114 |
| Georgia | -10% | 1968 | 111 |
| Illinois | -67% | 1968 | 105 |
| Indiana | -49% | 1968 | 69 |
| Iowa | -57% | 1969 | 39 |
| Kansas | -43% | 1969 | 67 |
| Kentucky | -30% | 1968 | 63 |
| Louisiana | +33% | 1969 | 94 |
| Maine | -84% | 1968 | 49 |
| Maryland | -9% | 1968 | 76 |
| Massachusetts | -94% | 1968 | 28 |
| Michigan | -62% | 1968 | 108 |
| Minnesota | -54% | 1969 | 88 |
| Mississippi | -54% | 1968 | 74 |
| Missouri | -62% | 1969 | 92 |
| Montana | +13% | 1970 | 49 |
| Nebraska | -44% | 1969 | 76 |
| New Hampshire | -91% | 1968 | 26 |
| New Jersey | -90% | 1968 | 42 |
| New Mexico | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
| New York | -66% | 1968 | 125 |
| North Carolina | -25% | 1968 | 109 |
| North Dakota | -44% | 1969 | 51 |
| Ohio | -40% | 1968 | 88 |
| Oklahoma | -67% | 1969 | 68 |
| Pennsylvania | -35% | 1968 | 135 |
| Rhode Island | -89% | 1968 | 6 |
| South Carolina | -46% | 1968 | 51 |
| South Dakota | -55% | 1969 | 56 |
| Tennessee | -17% | 1968 | 53 |
| Texas | -44% | 1969 | 72 |
| Vermont | -75% | 1968 | 24 |
| Virginia | -56% | 1968 | 88 |
| West Virginia | -44% | 1968 | 63 |
| Wisconsin | -54% | 1968 | 98 |
| Wyoming | -28% | 1970 | 34 |
Brown Thrasher Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Northern Rockies | -93% | 1970 | 16 |
| Prairie Potholes | -57% | 1969 | 120 |
| Boreal Hardwood Transition | -65% | 1968 | 123 |
| Lower Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Plain | -60% | 1968 | 86 |
| Atlantic Northern Forest | -85% | 1968 | 120 |
| Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau | -80% | 1980 | 6 |
| Badlands and Prairies | -49% | 1969 | 96 |
| Shortgrass Prairie | -49% | 1969 | 71 |
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | -42% | 1969 | 113 |
| Oaks and Prairies | -86% | 1969 | 43 |
| Eastern Tallgrass Prairie | -54% | 1968 | 276 |
| Prairie Hardwood Transition | -57% | 1968 | 161 |
| Central Hardwoods | -49% | 1968 | 163 |
| West Gulf Coastal Plain / Ouachitas | -40% | 1969 | 101 |
| Mississippi Alluvial Valley | -42% | 1968 | 70 |
| Southeastern Coastal Plain | -15% | 1968 | 345 |
| Appalachian Mountains | -36% | 1968 | 397 |
| Piedmont | -15% | 1968 | 170 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | -61% | 1968 | 159 |
| Peninsular Florida | -45% | 1968 | 69 |
| Gulf Coastal Prairie | +37% | 1969 | 28 |
Brown Thrasher Conservation Status
Least Concern
The IUCN Red List rates this species as Least Concern. Our route-weighted index shows it down about 59% since 1968.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.