adult

adult in flight European distribution adult on ground and feeding

Identification

Its brown plumage and speckled chest is typical of a thrush. It lacks the white eye stripes of a Redwing and so is most easily mistaken for a Mistle Thrush. The Song Thrush, however, is smaller, more neatly proportioned, with warm brown upperparts and a rather dark face. It lacks the white tips to the corners of the tail and the white edges to many of the wing feathers shown by a Mistle Thrush. The underwing coverts are clearly orange, but not as deep and red as in a Redwing, which is a potential source of confusion.

Habitat

Breeds and winters in gardens, farmland, woodland and hedges.

Behaviour

Likes to feed on snails which of course defend themselves by retracting into their shells. The thrush's solution to this is to hold the snail in its bill and swing its head so the shell smashes against a hard rock. A thrush may use the same rock many times resulting in a litter of smashed shells. The smack of a shell against the rock can sometimes be heard from some distance.

Migration

A mainly resident bird although northernmost birds are migratory moving south and south-west to wintering grounds in Spain, Italy and north Africa.

This information is taken from the BirdFile on the appropriate BirdGuides DVD-ROM. As well as video and sounds, our CD- and DVD-ROMs contain additional text on Voice, Sexing, Ageing, Food, Nests and Eggs and more.

For the purposes of our bird news services, Song Thrush is classed as Common: common species, including species that are certain or probable escapees from captivity when occurring in the British Isles. (Note that rarity levels are currently applied nationally and may not reflect local variations in abundance.)

Leighton Moss, Lancs 07/02/2010	Knaresborough, N Yorks 04/02/2010	Glanmire, Cork 05/01/2010	Par, Cornwall 27/01/2010	Southport, Lancs 09/01/2010
Bardsey Is., Gwynedd 09/11/2009	Knaresborough, N Yorks 21/01/2010	Llandrindod Wells, Powys 21/01/2010	Borth Bog, Ceredigion 14/01/2010	Hethersett, Norfolk 03/01/2010

 View all pictures of Song Thrush

Song Thrush breeds in the following countries (Bird News Extra subscribers will see population statistics and information on trends for each country):

Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Britain
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lichtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Moldova
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia and Montenegro
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine

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