The ocellated thrasher (''Toxostoma ocellatum'') is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is endemic to Mexico.

Taxonomy and systematics

The ocellated thrasher has two subspecies, the nominate ''T. o. ocellatum'' and ''T. o. villai''.

Description

The ocellated thrasher is long; 14 specimens weighed . Adults' upperparts are dark brown and have a slight olive wash. They have a dull white to buff

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also ...

and brown cheeks. The folded wings show two white bars and the outer tail feathers have narrow white tips. The underparts are whitish darkening to buff on the belly and brown on the flanks. The breast, sides, and flanks have bold black spots.Soberanes-González, C. A., C. I. Rodríguez-Flores, M. d. C. Arizmendi, G. M. Kirwan, and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). Ocellated Thrasher (''Toxostoma ocellatum''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ocethr1.01 retrieved July 25, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of ocellated thrasher is found in central Mexico from

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and i ...

south to the states of Hidalgo and México. ''T. o. villai'' is found in southern Mexico between

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

and Oaxaca. The ocellated thrasher inhabits a variety of landscapes including arid and semi-arid scrub and the brushy understory of oak and pine-oak forests. In elevation it ranges from .

Behavior

Feeding

The ocellated thrasher forages mostly in dense vegetation, on the ground or near it. Though its diet has not been documented, it is presumed to be mostly arthropods, other invertebrates, and possibly fruit.

Breeding

Very little is known about the ocellated thrasher's breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonality, seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as environmental factor, habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples includ ...

. Its nest is a cup made of twigs and grass sited in a bush or tree. The clutch size is believed to be two.

Vocalization

The ocellated thrasher's song is "a varied, rich warbling in which phrases are repeated two or three times", often sung from atop a bush or tree. Its calls include "a hard, slightly smacking to gruff ''chehk'' or ''tchehk''".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the ocellated thrasher as being of Least Concern. However, it has a fairly small range and its population and population trend are unknown.