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Its song is loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles but do you recognise it?

British Birds - Thrushes

Thrushes are brilliant singers and clever feeders, from lawns to woodland. Explore how to recognise common British thrushes by song, spots and behaviour.

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Fascinating Fact:

Mistle thrushes are larger and greyer than song thrushes, and they often sit high in trees or on rooftops to sing or watch for danger.

In Specialist Nature, thrushes are a great way to practise identification using sound and shape. Look for warm brown upperparts, pale underparts with dark spots, and a strong, upright stance on the ground. Many thrushes feed by running, pausing, and listening for prey, and some are famous for repeated, clear phrases in their song, which can be as useful as plumage for telling species apart.

Key Terms

Plumage: The feathers of a bird, including their colours and patterns, which can differ with age and season.
Territory: An area a bird defends for feeding, nesting, or singing, often by calling from a regular perch.
Song phrase: A short repeated pattern of notes in a bird’s song, which can help with identification.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

How can I tell a song thrush from a mistle thrush?

A song thrush is usually smaller and warmer brown, with neat, arrow-shaped spots on the chest. A mistle thrush is larger and greyer, with rounder, more scattered spots, and it often looks paler overall when seen in open fields or on lawns.

What do British thrushes eat?

British thrushes eat a mix of invertebrates and fruit. On the ground they take worms, insects and snails, and in autumn and winter many also feed on berries and fallen fruit, which can be important when the weather is cold.

Why do thrushes sing so loudly and repeatedly?

Thrushes sing to attract a mate and to warn other birds away from their territory. Repeating clear phrases helps the song carry further, especially at dawn, and it makes it easier for other thrushes to recognise that the area is already claimed.

Try These Related Quizzes

To see a larger image, click on the picture.

1 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Amurfalcon

Blackbird

European Stonechat

Common Redstart

Nightingale

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Saxicola rubicola
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Birds are frequently seen flicking their wings while perched, often doing so on the tops of low bushes.
Both sexes have a clicking call like stones knocking together.
The male's song is high and twittering.

2 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of J Dietrich

Redwing

Nightingale

European Stonechat

Song Thrush

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Luscinia megarhynchos
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
They frequently sing at night as well as during the day.
Early writers assumed the female sang when it is in fact the male.
The song is loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles.

3 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of http://photo-natur.de/

Mistle Thrush

Redwing

European Robin

Northern Wheatear

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Turdus iliacus
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Winter Visitor
They roam across the UK's countryside, feeding in fields and hedgerows.
Rarely visit gardens, except in the coldest weather when snow covers the fields.
Only a few pairs nest in the UK.

4 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Neil Phillips

European Robin

Blackbird

Common Redstart

Mistle Thrush

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Turdus viscivorus
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
The alarm call is like a football rattle or machine gun.
Their dreamy song is loud and far reaching and often heard during stormy weather, hence its alternative name of Stormcock.

5 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Tom Tarrant (Aviceda)

Nightingale

Northern Wheatear

Blackbird

European Stonechat

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Oenanthe oenanthe
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Breeding Summer Visitor & Passage Migrant
It hops or runs on the ground.
It is blue-grey above with black wings and white below with an orange flush to the breast.
It has a black cheek.

6 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Jimfbleak

European Robin

European Stonechat

Song Thrush

Fieldfare

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Erithacus rubecula
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Males and females are identical but youngsters are a speckled brown with no red feathers
Fiercely territorial
They have an excellent voice and sometimes sing at night to streetlights

7 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Fveronesi1

Song Thrush

European Stonechat

Northern Wheatear

Common Redstart

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Phoenicurus phoenicurus
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Breeding Summer Visitor
They prefer open mature birch and oak woodland with a high horizontal visibility and low amounts of shrub and understorey especially where the trees are old enough to have holes suitable for its nest.

8 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Kosmonaut42

Fieldfare

Mistle Thrush

Common Redstart

European Robin

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Turdus pilaris
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Winter Visitor
They stand very upright and move forward with purposeful hops.
Very social birds, spending the winter in flocks of anything from a dozen or two to several hundred strong.
Diet is insects, worms and berries.

9 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Taco Meeuwsen

Blackbird

Northern Wheatear

European Stonechat

Song Thrush

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Turdus philomelos
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Easily confused with young and female Blackbirds
Does not stand as upright at Blackbirds and Mistle Thrushes
Has warm brown upper parts and paler underparts with small dark spots

10 .

What is the name of this bird?

Photograph courtesy of Pete Birkinshaw

Song Thrush

European Stonechat

Blackbird

Fieldfare

Group: Thrushes
Binomial: Turdus merula
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Status: Resident Breeding Species
Mature males are glossy black but females and young are a lighter reddish-brown
Albinism leads to the contradictory terminology of "White Blackbirds" but birds are seldom completely white

Author: Sarah Garratty

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