Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Bendire's Thrasher
Scientific name:	Taxostoma bendirei
Date:	03/09/25
Time:	12:46 PM
Length of time observed:	sporadically for 10-15 mins
Number:	1
Age:	Adult
Sex:	Uknown
Location:	Beaver Dam Slope, on the main dirt road to Lytle Ranch.
County:	Washington
Latilong:
Elevation:
Distance to bird:	variable, closest being 10-15 Ft.
Optical equipment:	Vortex 10x42
Weather:	slight overcast, 65 degrees, virtually no wind.
Light Conditions:	bright
Description: Size of bird:	looked very similar in size to a mockingbird
(Description:) Basic Shape:	also very similar shape to a mockingbird
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	warm brownish gray tones overall. yellow orange eye
(Description:) Bill Type:	medium sized thrasher bill with slight decurve
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	I first noticed this bird flying low, while walking a section of the beaver dam slope. first spotted it flying low towards me, never flying much higher than 1 foot off the ground. it first landed 10-15 ft away from me for roughly 10 seconds, just looking at me. at first it landed under some creosote, in the shade, so I couldn't make out color very well. I noted its overall shape. long slender, obvious thrasher. the bill was closer in size to a sage thrasher (compared to the Crissal Thrashers I had been seeing that day), but certainly slightly longer, and was obviously slightly decurved. from that point it would fly 15-20 ft away, I would slowly approach, then it would fly away again. still never flying higher than 1 foot off the ground. I was able to get brief looks along the way. at the end of the observation, I was able to approach to roughly 15-20 feet away, with the bird in the open with direct light. the bird was warm brown gray, with a yellow orange eye, and very non-descript. it was almost entirely uniform in color, but the undersides slightly lighter, and with very light spotting. the tail was seen in flight, also showing uniform color. at this point it flew up and over a ridge and could not be re-found.
Song or call & method of delivery:	The bird was silent.
Behavior:	Incredibly skulky, running and flying low across the desert floor.
Habitat:	Rolling hills covered in Joshua trees, creosote, and grasses, along with other shrubs I could not identify.
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	NOMO; while similar in shape and size, my bird was warm brown, not white and gray, no black in the wings and tail, and no white outer tail feathers. SATH; I was able to confidently rule this species out due to the longer, more decurved bill of my bird, which also lacked any dark spotting, and was warmer gray than any SATH I've seen. I would also expect to see at least some sort of light facial markings if it were a SATH. CBTH; likely the most similar species, but I believe I saw enough of the bill and head shape to confidently rule out CBTH. my bird had a bill slightly longer than a SATH, with a slight curve. while hard to put into words, the general impression of my birds bill and head shape was that it was proportionally normal. while looking at many photos of CBTH online, the general impression is that of a bird with a much proportionally larger bill, almost not fitting the face. I would expect a much stronger decurved bill for CBTH. it's worth noting that CBTH is also significantly more unexpected than BETH. CRTH and LCTH; both species can easily be ruled out by them both having significantly longer and more decurved bills.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	Lots of experience with SATH. no previous experience with BETH or CBTH.
References consulted:	Sibley, Ebird, Macauley Library photos, Nat Geo Birds of north America, all previous Utah records of BETH and CBTH.
Description from:	Notes taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	McKay Olson
Observer's address:
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:
Date prepared:	03/14/25
Additional material:	No_additional_Materials
Additional comments:	all bird characteristics were written down on notes app, right after observation.