Observations on a Brown Thrasher Dehusking Acorns on the Ground

Published in 1969

Pough (1946, The Eastern Land Birds, Doubleday, Inc., Garden City, N.Y.) says that the Brown Thrasher eats acorns. Imhof (1962, Alabama Birds, University of Alabama Press) makes the same statement. These and other local references make no mention of the fact that this slender built bird dehusks the acorns before eating them. This process would seem to be virtually impossible even when one sees it being done. For that reason the following observations may be of some interest.

The Brown Thrasher is quite common in this area and feeds often among the leaves in my yard.


Author: Dr. Gordon Gunter
Volume Number: 17 Year Published: 1969
Issue Number: 1
Page Number: 23

Link to article: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1969/Vol 17 No. 1_1969_p23.pdf
Link to the full issue of BirdLife: http://birdlife.aosbirds.org/1969/Vol 17 No. 1_1969.pdf