The brown thrasher is a permanent resident throughout Georgia. As such, if you have dense shrubs in or near your yard, it is possible that you can host one or more in your yard. Shrubby habitats provide these handsome birds insects they uncover by scratching away leaf litter beneath shrubs and trees. The birds also eat the fruits, berries, or drupes of a wide range of native plants.
Here is a list of half a dozen native plants that provide food for brown thrashers: flowering dogwood, sassafras, black gum, American holly, Virginia creeper, pokeweed and American beautyberry.
I am fortunate that brown thrashers inhabit my yard throughout the entire year. I believe this due to several reasons. To begin with, five of the six plants listed above are growing on my small patch of Monroe County. I also have a variety of cultivated and native shrubs that offer the birds places to feed, escape severe weather and cold, as well as places to nest. I also supplement the wild foods grown in my yard with suet, and seed scattered beneath my feeders. In addition, I provide brown thrashers with three separate birdbaths where they to drink and bathe.
This formula is working for me. If brown thrashers are not currently visiting your yard, or, you would like to see the birds more often, perhaps one or more of these elements will work for you too. If your lacks native food plants, there is no better time to incorporate them in your landscape than this fall and winter.