servers. Thus we feel that thrashers are actually wintering 
in Illinois in greater numbers now than in prior decades. 
Food Habits 
Very little information is available on the food of the 
thrasher in Illinois other than that from Forbes (1879, 
1880), based on his studies of specimens from northern 
and central Illinois (Fig. 29). There is no information on 
the thrasher’s food in southern Illinois, or on what they 
feed their young, and it is obvious that we need expanded 
and comparative modern-day studies in this area. 
The thrasher’s food habits reflect seasonal variations 
in the availability of foods, and a large amount of ground 
foraging. Beetles in general comprised an important part 
of the thrasher’s spring diet. In Lake County, Coale 
(1910) found thrashers attracted to an abundant supply 
of earthworms at bare places on a road in April. Forbes’ 
(1880) studies showed seeds and grain, especially corn, 
to be important in the April diet. From June on through 
the summer, fruit became more important in the diet, and 
thrashers, like catbirds, were a source of irritation to 
many old-time orchardists (Kinney 1868). We have seen 
thrashers feeding on pokeberries in September and on 
barberries (Berberis sp.) in October-November. 
A number of writers have commented on the thrash- 
er’s behavior at bird feeders. Though shyer than the 
catbird (Jacques 1927), thrashers do visit feeding sta- 
tions, and in summer bring their young. Ridgway (1918, 
1923) noted the thrasher’s fondness for nutmeats, includ- 
ing cracked black walnuts (Juglans nigra), for her birds 
at Olney. Thrashers visiting a Cook County feeder in 
winter and spring ate only nutmeats and sunflower seeds 
(Fisher & Fisher 1941). Thrashers are also attracted to 
bird baths, especially ground pools. 
Longevity 
The oldest Illinois thrasher on record was a bird 
banded by Musselman (1958) at Quincy, July 5, 1950, 
and recaptured at the same place April 27, 1958, nearly 
70 
60 
50 
Fig. 28. — Variation in the 
frequency of sightings of brown 
thrashers on the Audubon 
Christmas counts for different 
periods of years and different 
regions of Illinois (annual 
variation after 1959). 
40 
30 
20 
Le 
FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE (%) 
1900 —1939 
34 
8 years later. Bartel (1967) recovered one of his thrashe 
4 years after banding it. There are no data on averag 
longevity for any Illinois population. 
BROWN THRASHER 
WINTER DISTRIBUTION RECORDS 
DECEMBER | — FEBRUARY | 
) 1950- 
A 1900-1950 
M BEFORE 1900 
PU nam! 
— STARK si —— 
MARSHALL 
KWOK fa —- 
WARREN : LIVINGSTON 
[P £OR!a/ woooroRD 
i 
; 
VERMILIO! 
Cc A 
—J [vouceas 
a — el EOGA 
CHRISTIAN eo Les | 
| eee 
SH BY — 
im CLARK 
FUMBERLAND| 
MONTGOMERY | 
£ EFF 
==4 raverte | “a JASPER 
[ape 
GREENE 
Spt recog 
JERSEY | 
~~ ie 
CRAWFOF 
Scale 
to 0 10 20 39 _ 40 50Miles 
Fig. 27. — Brown thrasher winter records in Illinois. 
NORTH 
oe CENTRAL 
SOUTH 
1940-1949 1950-1959 1960 1I965 197 
| 
| 
| 
