Day 6, Monday, April 27, 2020

​Thrashers are often heard before they're seen. Though excellent songsters, it can be the sound of rummaging through leaves--thrashing through leaves--that gives them away in places like tangled thickets and hedgerows.  

Scott Judd of Rogers Park contributed this video of a Brown Thrasher in his yard to Nature Loves Chicago. Says Scott, "When I was a teenager, I funded my hardcore BMX habit by mowing countless lawns and raking and blowing mountains of leaves. Those were great times, and I put every dollar I earned to good use on new bike parts, racing fees and ramp-building materials. But these days, I greatly prefer to just let the leaves lie whenever possible, which fosters the development of insects, which then provides a natural feeding ground for hungry migratory birds."

A good reminder that leaves piling up in autumn can be a boon to birds and other biota several months later.  

Says Scott, "I rake all the leaves into our side yard under a couple big box elder trees every fall and let them break down there over the winter and into the spring. Great for the insects, great for the birds, and it requires very little ongoing maintenance to keep it working."

And absolutely great for the Brown Thrasher, the only thrasher species east of the Mississippi River, now arriving in the Chicago region for the rest of spring and summer.