Crissal Thrasher
Crissal Thrasher has surged: up 780% on the route-weighted index since 1972.
About the Crissal Thrasher
The Crissal Thrasher (Toxostoma crissale) 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 105 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 6 states, most concentrated in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts.
- Family
- Mimidae · Arid-land birds
Notable Crissal Thrasher Trends
No notable trend signals for Crissal Thrasher. See the full index history below.
Crissal Thrasher Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Crissal Thrasher is projected to stay roughly flat through 2029, near 0.02 (95% range 0.01–0.03). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±66.3%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.03 |
| 2026 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.03 |
| 2027 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.03 |
| 2028 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.03 |
| 2029 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.03 |
Where the Crissal Thrasher Is Detected
BBS routes recording Crissal Thrasher, sized by most recent count.
Crissal Thrasher Population Trend by State
| Arizona | +401% | 1972 | 49 |
| California | +0% | 1975 | 11 |
| Nevada | -91% | 1976 | 5 |
| New Mexico | +30% | 1977 | 23 |
| Texas | +96% | 1974 | 16 |
| Utah | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
Crissal Thrasher Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau | +83% | 1996 | 8 |
| Sonoran and Mojave Deserts | -79% | 1975 | 40 |
| Sierra Madre Occidental | +61% | 1974 | 21 |
| Chihuahuan Desert | +122% | 1974 | 33 |
Crissal Thrasher Conservation Status
Our route-weighted index shows it up about 780% since 1972.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.