Verification of Unusual
Sight Record
For Utah
Rec. # 2019-15
Common name: |
Curve-billed Thrasher |
Scientific name: | Toxostoma curvirostre |
Date: | 6/2/19 |
Time: | 9:12 am |
Length of time observed: | 5 minutes |
Number: | 1 |
Age: | N/A |
Sex: | N/A |
Location: | Grand Staircase Inn, Cannonville |
County: | Garfield |
Latilong: | 37.568599, -112.054845 |
Elevation: | 5892 ft |
Distance to bird: | 75 yards |
Optical equipment: | Pentax ED 8x 43 binos, Canon 60D dslr with 100-400 IS lens |
Weather: | Sunny and warm, Calm winds |
Light Conditions: | Clear and bright |
Description: Size of bird: | N/A |
(Description:) Basic Shape: | N/A |
(Description:) Overall Pattern: | N/A |
(Description:) Bill Type: | N/A |
(Description:)
Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics: |
I never viewed the bird. |
Song or call & method of delivery: |
Gave wit-weet call continuously for about 5 minutes with anywhere
from 10-30 seconds between calls. Was hidden in a shrub the entire time.
Spectrogram comparisons between the call note of my bird and other Curve-billed
Thrashers in nearly identical, but individual birds can have slight variations
to their calls notes. (audio/spectrograms) |
Behavior: | I never got a look at the thrasher. It was calling in a shrub in an adjacent yard to the hotel. It gave the distinctive wit-weet of western Curve-billed Thrasher. |
Habitat: | Residential area with large open yards and various large shrubs and trees. |
Similar
species and
how were they eliminated: |
No other species gives a call like the wit-weet of
the western Curve-billed Thrasher. Mockingbirds could possibly mimic the call but the call was never quickly repeated and there were no interspersed calls like would be expected with a mockingbird, just the wit-weet. |
Previous
experience with this & similar species: |
I have seen and heard dozens in Arizona. |
References consulted: | Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Western NA, Sibley Guide to Birds, Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion |
Description from: | Notes taken at the time of the sighting |
Observer: | Kenny Frisch |
Observer's address: | 4609 S Wallace Ln Holladay, UT 84117 |
Observer's e-mail address: | ** |
Other observers who independently identified this bird: | N/A |
Date prepared: | 6/15/19 |
Additional material: | |
Additional comments: |
My ebird checklist with recordings of the calls can be found here:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S56996378. The checklist also has
pictures of the spectrogram from both my bird and another Curve-billed
Thrasher that show how close the spectrograms are. The Peterson companion website has many other examples of the wit-weet of the western Curve-billed Thrasher and can be found here: |