outdoorswithcamera

If you have never heard of Curve-Billed Thrashers, you probably don’t live in or near a desert. But if you google “default desert bird” you’ll see a lot of text etc. devoted to Thrashers.  Unfortunately, the phrase “default desert bird,” with or without proper attribution is a misquote.

At least Wikipedia rightly cites Dunne as the source. But Dunne does NOT call the Curve-Billed Thrasher the “default desert BIRD” but rather, “default desert THRASHER,” i.e. “the most common thrasher”in the desert (US Southwest).

Dunne, Pete
2006  Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion: A Comprehensive Resource for Identifying North American Birds: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Page 512.

At any rate, enjoy these photos of the Curve-Billed Thrasher, all taken at the Arizona Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.

Quite the pose for the camera.

For a series of Thrasher photos featuring an apparently menacing stance by one jealously guarding a green berry and other shots taken at the Arizona Desert Botanical Garden, click here.