Forest and Rangeland Birds of the United States

Natural History and Habitat Use

Crissal Thrasher -- Toxostoma dorsale

RANGE: Resident from southeastern California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, northwestern and central Arizona, central New Mexico, and western Texas south to northeastern Baja California, central Sonora and central Chihuahua.

STATUS: Common.

HABITAT: Inhabits the more heavily vegetated areas of the southern deserts, such as tall brush along rivers and large washes, and dense mesquite or chaparral from sea level to 6,000 feet elevation.

SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Dense desert shrubs.

NEST: Most commonly builds a nest saddled on a branch or in a fork of mesquite trees, but also in willow, sagebrush, greasewood, or other desert shrubs, usually 2 to 8 feet above the ground.

FOOD: Eats berries, wild grapes, and insects. (Little is known about its food habits.)

REFERENCES: Bent 1948, Phillips et al. 1964, Terres 1980, Webster in Farrand 1983c.

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