Georgia State Bird

Brown Thrasher

(Toxostoma rufum)

Governor's Proclamation on April 6, 1935.

Resolution on March 20, 1970.

On April 6, 1935, the Brown Thrasher, (Toxostoma rufum,) was first chosen as the Georgia state bird by official proclamation of the Governor. In 1970, at the request of the Garden Clubs of Georgia, the Georgia General Assembly passed Joint Resolution No. 128, that designated the brown thrasher the official Georgia State Bird and the Bobwhite Quail the official Georgia State Game Bird. The resolution was approved on March 20, 1970.

The Brown Thrasher is commonly found in the eastern section of the United States, ranging north to Canada and west to the Rockies. The bird migrates to the North in the summer and spends its winters in the Southern states.

Georgia State Bird: Brown Thrasher

The Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) is a bird in the family Mimidae, which also includes the New World catbirds and mockingbirds. The dispersal of the Brown Thrasher is abundant throughout the eastern and central United States, southern and central Canada, and is the only thrasher to live primarily east of the Rockies and central Texas. It is the state bird of Georgia.

Almost a foot in length, the Thrasher has a long, curved bill and a very long tail. It has two prominent white wing bars, a rich brown color on its top side, and a creamy white breast heavily streaked with brown.

With its rufous upperparts and long tail the Brown Thrasher might be confused with the local Long-billed Thrasher (South Texas) but it has a shorter, less de-curved bill and a browner face. Thrushes are similar but are spotted below and have shorter tails.

Characteristics of the Brown Thrasher

• Length: 10 inches
• Slender bill with base of lower mandible yellow
• Rufous crown, nape and upperparts
• Gray face
• Yellow eye
• White under parts with heavy black streaking
• White wing bars
• Long rufous tail
• Yellow legs
• Sexes similar
• Most often found in dense vegetation in hedgerows, old fields, and wood edges where it often forages on the ground

Joint Resolution No. 128 of the Georgia General Assembly (House Resolution No. 694-1436)

Thirty-five years later, at the urging of the Garden Clubs of Georgia, the Georgia General Assembly passed Joint Resolution No. 128, that designated the brown thrasher the official Georgia State Bird and the Bobwhite Quail the official Georgia State Game Bird. The resolution was approved on March 20, 1970.

March 20, 1970
BROWN THRASHER OFFICIAL STATE BIRD - BOBWHITE QUAIL OFFICIAL STATE GAME BIRD.
No. 128 (House Resolution No. 694-1436).

A Resolution.

Designating the Brown Thrasher as the official Georgia State Bird and the bobwhite Quail as the official Georgia State Game Bird; and for other purposes.

Whereas, the Attorney General of Georgia has ruled in an official opinion that Georgia does not have an official State Bird; and

Whereas, hitherto, the General Assembly of Georgia has made no such selection; and

Whereas, since countless Georgians have always considered the Brown Thrasher as the official Georgia State Bird it is only fitting and proper that the Brown thrasher be given the recognition it is due; and

Whereas, the familiar "bob-bob-white" whistle of the Bobwhite Quail has charmed Georgians, and accompanied them in their work and play since the state was merely a territory occupied by British colonists in 1733; and

Whereas , thousands of Georgia sportsmen annually trek to the fields to bag their limit of the Bobwhite Quail; this marvelous bird can withstand a loss of two-thirds of its population with no reduction in the spring breeding population, thus providing the Georgia huntsmen with continued exciting sport; and

Whereas, Georgia has long been hailed as the "Quail Capitol [sic] of the World", and it seems to be only fitting and proper that the Bobwhite Quail (of the genus colinis) be given the recognition it is due.

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the General Assembly of Georgia at the suggestion and request of the Garden Clubs of Georgia that the Brown Thrasher is hereby designated as the official Georgia State Bird.

Be it further resolved that the Bobwhite Quail is hereby designated as the official Georgia State Game Bird.

Be it further resolved that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is hereby authorized and directed to forward an appropriate copy of this Resolution to the Secretary of State.

Approved March 20, 1970.
Source: Ga. Laws 1970, pp. 418-19.

Georgia Code

The law designating the brown thrasher as the official Georgia state bird is Section 50-3-50 of the Georgia Code Title 50 (STATE GOVERNMENT) Chapter 3 (STATE FLAG, SEAL, AND OTHER SYMBOLS ) Section 50-3-50.

TITLE 50 - STATE GOVERNMENT.
CHAPTER 3. STATE FLAG, SEAL, AND OTHER SYMBOLS
SECTION 50-3-50.

50-3-50. The brown thrasher is designated as the official Georgia state bird.

Taxonomic Hierarchy: Brown Thrasher

Kingdom: Animalia - animals
Phylum: Chordata - chordates
    Subphylum: Vertebrata - vertebrates
Class: Aves - birds
Order: Passeriformes - perching birds
Family: Sturnidae - starlings
Genus: Toxostoma Wagler, 1831 - american thrashers
Species: Toxostoma rufum (Linnaeus, 1758) - brown thrasher, Cuitlacoche rojizo