Long-billed Thrasher

 The long-billed thrasher is a southern relative of the more common brown thrasher. They are found in southern Texas and eastern Mexico. Their name is deceiving, since their beak is shorter then many other species of thrashers. They do however have a long tail. This photo was taken in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas.

Long-billed Thrasher

 The long-billed thrasher is a medium sized passerine that is found in south Texas, eastern Mexico and parts of northern Central America. They are typically found in arid, scrubby habitat. where they forage in the scrub and on the ground for spiders and insects. They will also eat fruit to supplement their diet.

 Even though they are called a long-billed thrasher their bill is not very long. There are even other species of thrashers that have longer bills, however the more common brown thrasher overlaps the long-billed thrashers range and the long-billed thrasher does have a longer bill than the brown thrasher. Even though they are a part of the mimid family of birds they are not known for their mimicry. At times though they will leave their scrub hiding places to come out and sing their song, which is long, rich and complex.

Long-billed Thrasher

The long-billed thrasher is a robin sized bird that is found in the dense scrub of southeastern Texas and eastern Mexico. It is usually seen foraging low in the scrub or on the ground where it tosses aside leaves and sticks looking for insects to eat. The long-billed thrasher looks similar to the more common brown thrasher, some of which winter in the same territory as the long-billed thrasher. The long-billed thrasher is slightly larger and has a beak that is a bit longer. An easier way to tell the difference between the two is to look at the undertail coverts if possible. The long-billed thrasher has streaks running down the undertail coverts where the brown thrashers are clear.

Laguna Atascosa NWR

 The Laguna Atascosa is a refuge that is located along the Gulf coast in south east Texas. It is the largest refuge in the south Texas Rio Grande Valley with around 97,000 acres. The refuge is bordered on the east by the waters of the Laguna Madre which flow out into the Gulf of Mexico. This area was primarily coastal prairie habitat until Spanish settlers came in the 1700's and converted much of the land to grazing land for livestock. In the mid 1800's Texas became a part of the United States and portions of the land were developed for agriculture. During WWII the U.S. War Department acquired portions of what is now the refuge and used it as an aerial gun and bombing range. Some of the bunkers still exist with in the refuge.

 In 1941 the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed protecting the area because of the large number of waterfowl that wintered in the area, particularly the redhead duck. In March of 1946 the refuge was established by Congress. It has been designated as a "globally important bird area" by the American Bird Conservancy. It is an important migratory stop for numerous species of birds. There have been 417 species of birds recorded in the refuge which is more then any other refuge into the United States. A number of endangered species can also be found in the refuge including ocelots, jaguarundi, Kemp's ridley sea turtle and the Aplomado falcons, which were reintroduced by The Peregrine Fund in the 1980's,