Adult, worn plumage. Photo: Mick Thompson/Flickr (CC-BY-NC-2.0)
Oreoscoptes montanus
| Conservation status | Has declined in a number of areas with clearing of sagebrush flats. Still common in appropriate habitat. |
|---|---|
| Family | Mockingbirds and Thrashers |
| Habitat | Sagebrush, brushy slopes, mesas; in winter, also deserts. Breeds almost entirely in sagebrush areas, either in wide-open flats or where sagelands meet open pinyon-juniper woods. Rarely breeds in other brushy habitats. More widespread in migration and winter, occurring in grassland with scattered shrubs, desert, pinyon-juniper woods, and other semi-open areas. |
Does much of its foraging on the ground, running about rapidly on open ground in scrubby territory. Perches in shrubs and low trees to feed on berries.
3-5, sometimes more or fewer. Deep greenish blue with brown spots concentrated at larger end. Incubation is by both parents, about 13-17 days. Brown-headed Cowbirds sometimes lay eggs in nest, but cowbird eggs are rejected and tossed out by the adult thrashers. Young: Both parents feed the nestlings. Young leave nest about 11-14 days after hatching. Adults may raise 2 broods per year.
Both parents feed the nestlings. Young leave nest about 11-14 days after hatching. Adults may raise 2 broods per year.
Mostly insects and berries. Especially in summer, feeds on grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, true bugs, wasps, and other insects, plus some spiders. Berries and wild fruits are eaten especially in winter, but the birds may concentrate at any season to feed on gooseberries, wild currants, mistletoe berries, juniper berries, and others, sometimes including cultivated fruits.
Male sings to defend breeding territory. May also perform flight display, singing while flying in low zigzag over brush, then alighting and holding the wings raised and fluttering for a moment. Nest site is in sagebrush or other low bush such as greasewood, saltbush, or rabbitbrush, sometimes low in juniper or on ground. Nest (thought to be built by both sexes) is a bulky cup of twigs, lined with fine rootlets, grass, and animal hair.
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Forest Service lands that include important habitat for Greater Sage-Grouse and 350 other species of wildlife now at increased risk of further development.
Almost 300 community scientists collected valuable data about the health of this hallowed habitat and its residents.
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