 | This article is missing information about : More content on the behavior of these birds is needed, as their behavior seems to be their defining trait and claim to significance in the ornithological community..(February 2020) |
| Thrashers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Brown thrasher Toxostoma rufum | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Superfamily: | Muscicapoidea |
| Family: | Mimidae |
| Genera | |
Allenia Contents | |
Thrashers are a paraphyletic group of New World passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the family Mimidae. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genera.
The thrashers do not form a monophyletic clade but are a phenetic assemblage within the family Mimidae. The Mimidae as a whole is made up of two clades, the larger of which contains the Toxostoma thrashers and the monotypic genus Oreoscoptes , and the smaller of which contains the Ramphocinclus , Allenia , and Margarops thrashers [1] . In the larger clade, Toxostoma is sister to all other lineages, with Oreoscoptes sister to Mimus mockingbirds [1] . Within the smaller clade, Ramphocinclus is most closely related to the gray catbird, Dumetella carolinensis, while Allenia is sister to a clade composed of Margarops and the tremblers, genus Cinclocerthia [1] .
Their common name describes the behaviour of these birds when searching for food on the ground: they use their long bills to "thrash" through dirt or dead leaves. All of these birds eat insects and several species also eat berries.
