Crissal Thrasher, Toxostoma crissale
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![]() The Crissal Thrasher is a close relative of the similar California Thrasher, which I see in my neighborhood in the San Francisco Bay Area. But there is almost no overlap between the ranges of the two species, the California being largely confined to coastal chaparral, while the Crissal inhabits the desert Southwest. Crissals are notoriously reclusive, so I was lucky to find the male pictured above and below singing from near the top of a mesquite in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains that border Tucson on the north. The light iris and dark chestnut undertail coverts distinguish this bird from its California cousin; both have strikingly long curved bills, though the Crissal's is slightly shorter. |
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