The brown thrasher is a member of the mocking bird family, and has the largest repertoire of songs of any bird in its North American home. Its song contains around 2000 song types, although why they make it so complicated nobody knows. Like other mocking birds, brown thrashers have the ability to imitate other birds, but they rarely do so.

In the spring the males sing from high trees in order to attract a female, and sing without stopping for several minutes at a time. If a female is attracted to a male, she will pick up a twig and hop towards the male, whilst making a chirping noise. The male then responds by picking up a dead leaf and hopping in her direction.

Brown thrashers are very good parents. They take turns in feeding their young and defend them passionately. They will make loud alarm calls and attack anything that comes near. Should the predator take their eggs or young, they often follow it for some distance, all the time screaming and diving, in an attempt to scare the predator away.