Plate 116 – Ferruginous Thrush

The pleasant sounding name of Ferruginous Thrush now has the horror movie title of the Brown thrasher. While the Brown thrasher could be considered common, it is a long way from the “immense numbers” that John James Audubon counted the bird. Furthermore, John James Audubon did not face near the controversy with his dramatic drawing of the Brown thrasher defending its nest from a snake like Audubon did with the Northern mockingbird (Plate 21). The time that Audubon spent to develop his skill of drawing birds as they appear in nature is matched only by the amount of time and effort Audubon spent watching birds as they appear in nature and capturing such events as three Brown thrashers saving the life of a fourth from the “coils of the vile snake which has already nearly deprived her of life.”