70birds
That Nest in Birdhouses70birds
That Nest in BirdhousesSee the right birdhouse to build for each bird species at the Bird House Pages.
See which birds live near you and where they nest at the Bird Pages.
Print Birdhouse Plans with clear drawings and dimensions for each bird species.
Even cities have large bird populations that live in birdhouses.
See City Birds
Nest boxes simulate tree cavities.
Some birds that nest in tree cavities will also nest inside wood nest boxes if they are the right size.
Some birds that nest on tree branches, cliffs, and rock ledges will also nest on wood platforms.
Birds like birdhouses to be in their favorite places.
More than 70 North American bird species live in nest boxes or on platforms.
See which birds live near you. Learn about those birds and how to make birdhouses for them.
Brown Thrasher
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Mimidae
Genus: Toxostoma
Species: rufum
La. passer sparrow, small bird
La. forma form, kind, species
La. mimus mimic, actor
La. -idae appearance, resemblance
La. dumetum a thicket
Gr. toxon a bow (for arrows)
Gr. stoma the mouth (for the Thrasher’s curved bill)
La. rufus red, ruddy
Brown thrashers measure about eleven to twelve inches long. Orange brown upper parts, darker wings with two short white bands. White underside with tiny black arrowhead spots in rows stretching front to back. Long downward curved bill. Long twitching tail. Yellow eyes.
They inhabit eastern North America, west to the base of the Rocky Mountains, throughout the Great Plains, north into Canada from Alberta to New Brunswick and south to the Gulf States.
Brown thrashers sing a flowing warbling song in the upper most conspicuous tree branches.
They run and hop along the ground foraging for grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, beetles, ants and other insects on the ground. They also eat various fruits.
Attract brown thrashers. Plant any of blackberry, buckthorn, black cherry, choke cherry, dogwood, elderberry, wild grape, sour gum, mulberry, pokeberry, raspberry and false spikenard.
Brown thrashers build bulky nests of loosely assembled twigs, bark strips, leaves and roots lined with hair and feathers in low trees, bushes, vines, stumps, brush heaps and on the ground. They chase cats and dogs in the vicinity of their nests.
Females lay three to six, usually four or five white eggs (sometimes with a blue green tint), which eggs hatch in about two weeks or less and young leave the nest in about another two weeks or less.
Gilbert H. Trafton, the author of “Bird Friends”, 1916, recommended platforms open on all four sides for nesting thrashers, catbirds and song sparrows.
A USGS research center web site and an older version of an Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation brochure also included Catbirds and Thrashers as users of platforms. The original brochure said: “These birds will use the nesting platform when natural nesting sites are unavailable.”
“The platforms should be placed in partial shade along main branches of trees or under the eaves of a shed or porch roof.” In 1993, Catbirds and Thrashers were deleted from the brochure because of a lack of documentation.
Brown thrashers probably don’t need assistance in the foliage their nests are often found unless you’re trying to attract them to a particular spot.
Try mounting the open platform low behind a bush on a wall, fence or vine covered wall so the parents can approach the nest unnoticed, higher if predator cats may be about.
Another maybe better alternative is something similar to the concave shaped cups made of netting material some have made for blue jays.
Attach corners to branches creating a trampoline effect from natural cloth material and conceal in a bush.
Brown Thrasher
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Mimidae
Genus: Toxostoma
Species: rufum
La. passer sparrow, small bird
La. forma form, kind, species
La. mimus mimic, actor
La. -idae appearance, resemblance
La. dumetum a thicket
Gr. toxon a bow (for arrows)
Gr. stoma the mouth (for the Thrasher’s curved bill)
La. rufus red, ruddy
Brown thrashers measure about eleven to twelve inches long. Orange brown upper parts, darker wings with two short white bands. White underside with tiny black arrowhead spots in rows stretching front to back. Long downward curved bill. Long twitching tail. Yellow eyes.
They inhabit eastern North America, west to the base of the Rocky Mountains, throughout the Great Plains, north into Canada from Alberta to New Brunswick and south to the Gulf States.
Brown thrashers sing a flowing warbling song in the upper most conspicuous tree branches.
They run and hop along the ground foraging for grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, beetles, ants and other insects on the ground. They also eat various fruits.
Attract brown thrashers. Plant any of blackberry, buckthorn, black cherry, choke cherry, dogwood, elderberry, wild grape, sour gum, mulberry, pokeberry, raspberry and false spikenard.
Brown thrashers build bulky nests of loosely assembled twigs, bark strips, leaves and roots lined with hair and feathers in low trees, bushes, vines, stumps, brush heaps and on the ground. They chase cats and dogs in the vicinity of their nests.
Females lay three to six, usually four or five white eggs (sometimes with a blue green tint), which eggs hatch in about two weeks or less and young leave the nest in about another two weeks or less.
Gilbert H. Trafton, the author of “Bird Friends”, 1916, recommended platforms open on all four sides for nesting thrashers, catbirds and song sparrows.
A USGS research center web site and an older version of an Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation brochure also included Catbirds and Thrashers as users of platforms. The original brochure said: “These birds will use the nesting platform when natural nesting sites are unavailable.”
The platforms should be placed in partial shade along main branches of trees or under the eaves of a shed or porch roof.” In 1993, Catbirds and Thrashers were deleted from the brochure because of a lack of documentation.
Brown thrashers probably don’t need assistance in the foliage their nests are often found unless you’re trying to attract them to a particular spot.
Open Platform
Open Platform Plans
Try mounting the open platform low behind a bush on a wall, fence or vine covered wall so the parents can approach the nest unnoticed, higher if predator cats may be about.
Another maybe better alternative is something similar to the concave shaped cups made of netting material some have made for blue jays. Attach corners to branches creating a trampoline effect from natural cloth material and conceal in a bush.
Brown Thrasher
Birds | Birdhouses | Plans | Home
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Mimidae
Genus: Toxostoma
Species: rufum
La. passer sparrow, small bird
La. forma form, kind, species
La. mimus mimic, actor
La. -idae appearance, resemblance
La. dumetum a thicket
Gr. toxon a bow (for arrows)
Gr. stoma the mouth (for the Thrasher’s curved bill)
La. rufus red, ruddy
Brown thrashers measure about eleven to twelve inches long. Orange brown upper parts, darker wings with two short white bands. White underside with tiny black arrowhead spots in rows stretching front to back. Long downward curved bill. Long twitching tail. Yellow eyes.
Brown thrashers inhabit eastern North America, west to the base of the Rocky Mountains, throughout the Great Plains, north into Canada from Alberta to New Brunswick and south to the Gulf States.
They sing a flowing warbling song in the upper most conspicuous tree branches.
They run and hop along the ground foraging for grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, beetles, ants and other insects on the ground. They also eat various fruits.
Attract brown thrashers. Plant any of blackberry, buckthorn, black cherry, choke cherry, dogwood, elderberry, wild grape, sour gum, mulberry, pokeberry, raspberry and false spikenard.
Brown thrashers build bulky nests of loosely assembled twigs, bark strips, leaves and roots lined with hair and feathers in low trees, bushes, vines, stumps, brush heaps and on the ground. They chase cats and dogs in the vicinity of their nests.
Females lay three to six, usually four or five white eggs (sometimes with a blue green tint), which eggs hatch in about two weeks or less and young leave the nest in about another two weeks or less.
Gilbert H. Trafton, the author of “Bird Friends”, 1916, recommended platforms open on all four sides for nesting thrashers, catbirds and song sparrows.
A USGS research center web site and an older version of an Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation brochure also included Catbirds and Thrashers as users of platforms. The original brochure said: “These birds will use the nesting platform when natural nesting sites are unavailable.”
“The platforms should be placed in partial shade along main branches of trees or under the eaves of a shed or porch roof.” In 1993, Catbirds and Thrashers were deleted from the brochure because of a lack of documentation.
Brown thrashers probably don’t need assistance in the foliage their nests are often found unless you’re trying to attract them to a particular spot.
Open Platform
Open Platform Plans
Try mounting the open platform low behind a bush on a wall, fence or vine covered wall so the parents can approach the nest unnoticed, higher if predator cats may be about.
Another maybe better alternative is something similar to the concave shaped cups made of netting material some have made for blue jays. Attach corners to branches creating a trampoline effect from natural cloth material and conceal in a bush.
Birds | Birdhouses | Plans | Home