Searching for the Sage Thrasher, Our Rare Visitor at CSU Stanislaus

There's a rare bird hanging out in the region (actually several, but this is the one I got to check on today). It's a Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus), and it has spent at least six weeks (it was discovered on Dec. 11 by L.D. Scott) living in some elderberry shrubs along the Trans-California Trail on the campus of CSU Stanislaus in Turlock. I got some pictures back in December and looked for it again later, but I wasn't successful until this afternoon. CSU Stanislaus started classes this week and I needed to duplicate my syllabi, but I couldn't help but take Mrs. Geotripper with me to try and find the Thrasher.

It was shy at first. I didn't see it at all in the bush where it's been hanging out so I walked away to find other birds, and when I returned 15 minutes later it was foraging on the ground under the bush. I got one fuzzy picture and it disappeared again. I went to find Mrs. Geotripper and we wandered back and found the bird perched in a different shrub. This time it stayed put so we both got some nice shots.

As the name suggests, the Sage Thrasher prefers habitats more characteristic of the deserts east of the Sierra Nevada. Only a dozen have ever been seen in our county. They thrive on insects and the like but will also consume berries which explains why it chose to live in the elderberry bush at CSU Stanislaus.

A Truly Rare Sighting at CSU Stanislaus: A Sage Thrasher

The Grackles that I saw on Wednesday were a little bit unusual for this time of year, but today's sighting is truly rare: A Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus). This is only the thirteenth sighting of the bird in Stanislaus County ever according to eBird, and is only one of four seen in Northern California in the last month.

I certainly can't take credit for finding it. Another birder, L.D. Scott, saw it for the first time on the Dec. 6 and identified it. He showed me where to look on Wednesday (an elderberry bush along Monte Vista Avenue on the "Trans-California Trail"), but I didn't see it until today when I had a last pre-Christmas errand on campus. I saw L.D. and several others gathered in front of the elderberry, and I joined them in getting photographs.

As the name implies, the Sage Thrasher is more a denizen of the Intermontane West, the high sagebrush prairie that extends across the Basin and Range Province of Nevada and Utah. It migrates as far north as the Canadian border and winters in the southern part of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas as well as northern Mexico. I've seen them once before, but in a more normal habitat in the sagebrush flats around Mono Lake. It was a privilege to have one pop up in my local neighborhood.