Order
Passeriformes
Family
Mimidae
Genus
Toxostoma
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Gray Thrasher Toxostoma cinereum

Carlos A. Soberanes-González, Claudia I. Rodríguez-Flores, Marîa del Coro Arizmendi, Guy M. Kirwan, and Thomas S. Schulenberg
Version: 1.0 — Published August 7, 2015

Distribution

Distribution in the Americas

Gray Thrasher is endemic to the Baja California peninsula. Its distribution extends farther north on the western side of the peninsula, where it occurs north to ca latitude 31º14' N, than on the eastern side, where it occurs north only to ca latitude 28º.

The elevational distribution of Gray Thrasher is from sea level up to 1500 m (Howell and Webb 1995).

Gray Thrasher is resident, and is presumed to be sedentary. Therefore the presence, well documented, of an individual in San Diego, California, United States on 2 August 2015 was unexpected; this site is ca 177 km (110 miles) north of the northernmost known locality for this species . The origins of this individual - vagrant or human assisted - may never be known, but are likely to fuel debate for some time.

Distribution outside the Americas

Endemic to the America.

Habitat

Gray Thrasher generally occupies arid lowland scrub (Parker et al. 1996), encompassing arid to semiarid and open to semi-open sites with cacti, scrub, scattered bushes, trees, and even grassy areas (Howell and Webb 1995). The presence of cactus is particularly characteristic of its habitat (Bancroft 1930, Bent 1948, Unitt et al. 1995), but it is absent from sand dune plant communities (Bancroft 1930).

Historical changes

None reported.

Fossil history

None reported.

Distribution of the Gray Thrasher - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Gray Thrasher

Recommended Citation

Soberanes-González, C. A., C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, M. d. C. Arizmendi, G. M. Kirwan, and T. S. Schulenberg (2015). Gray Thrasher (Toxostoma cinereum), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.grathr1.01