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.

Description of the Georgia State Bird: Brown Thrasher

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.

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

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.

Joint Resolution

Joint Resolution of the Georgia General Assembly

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.

Statutes

Georgia Code, Title 50, Chapter 3, Section 50-3-50.

TITLE 50 - STATE GOVERNMENT.
CHAPTER 3.
SECTION 50-3-50.

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

Taxonomic Hierarchy of the 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

Official State Birds

US map : Birds & Flowers

Bird:

a. Any of the class Aves of warm-blooded, egg-laying, feathered vertebrates with forelimbs modified to form wings.
b. Such an animal hunted as game.
c. Such an animal, especially a chicken or turkey, used as food

State Bird:

a. Bird selected (as by the legislature) as an emblem of a state of the United States.

NOTE: Many states have more than one official bird, or have designate state birds more specifically.

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