California Thrasher
California Thrasher has held roughly steady: down 8% on the route-weighted index since 1970.
About the California Thrasher
The California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum) is a North American member of the Mockingbirds & Thrashers (Mimidae). In this analysis it is grouped with the arid-land birds.
- Size
- 8–12 in long (20–30 cm) — a slender, long-tailed songbird (typical for the family)
- Habitat
- Deserts, dry scrub and brushland of the Southwest.
- Diet
- Seeds, insects and cactus fruit of arid-land plants.
- Range
- Recorded on 115 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 1 state, most concentrated in the Coastal California.
- Family
- Mimidae · Arid-land birds
Notable California Thrasher Trends
No notable trend signals for California Thrasher. See the full index history below.
California Thrasher Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, California Thrasher is projected to fall about 76% by 2029 — from 0.07 in 2024 to a central estimate of 0.02 (95% range 0.00–0.09). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±75.2%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.10 |
| 2026 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.10 |
| 2027 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.10 |
| 2028 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.09 |
| 2029 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.09 |
Where the California Thrasher Is Detected
BBS routes recording California Thrasher, sized by most recent count.
California Thrasher Population Trend by State
| California | -4% | 1970 | 115 |
California Thrasher Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Northern Pacific Rainforest | -90% | 1971 | 9 |
| Great Basin | -4% | 1995 | 3 |
| Sierra Nevada | -88% | 1973 | 13 |
| Coastal California | +15% | 1970 | 84 |
| Sonoran and Mojave Deserts | -29% | 1971 | 6 |
California Thrasher Conservation Status
Our route-weighted index shows it down about 8% since 1970.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.