Page 311 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

CHATS AND THRUSHES
Order Passeriformes Family Turdidae Species Turdus viscivorus
Mistle Thrush

small, rounded head
white bold dark
underwings slender neck eye in
plain face
grey-brown
ADULT
back
bold black spots
pale on pale creamy
rump IN FLIGHT buff underside
very pale pale edges
head to dark
wing
ADULT feathers
pale spots
on back
whitish side
to tail

JUVENILE
large, bold, aggressive thrush, the ADULT
AMistle Thrush is by far the largest of the
“spotted” thrushes and also Europe’s biggest true songbird. It is
usually found in pairs, but families join up in larger groups during FLIGHT: strong, direct, sometimes undulating with
autumn when berries are abundant. In winter, single Mistle Thrushes long swoops between bursts of wingbeats; often high
often defend berry-laden trees against other birds, maintaining and far-ranging.
a food supply through the colder months.While PALE THRUSH
Song Thrushes often slip away at low level if Against the dark foliage of a
disturbed, Mistle Thrushes tend to go up to a much conifer, this bird may look very pale.
greater height and fly off over greater distances.
VOICE Loud, slurred, harsh, rattling chatter
tsairrrk-sairr-sairr-sairrk; song loud, wild, fluty, not
very varied, series of short, repetitive phrases.
NESTING Big, loose cup of roots, leaves, twigs, and
grass, often quite exposed high on tree branch;
3–5 eggs; 2 broods; March–June.
FEEDING Bounding hops on ground, searching for
worms, seeds, and invertebrates; eats many berries,
sometimes coming to larger gardens for fruit.
OCCURRENCE
SIMILAR SPECIES Breeds in most of Europe except
extreme N; summer visitor in
SONG THRUSH FIELDFARE BLACKBIRD 2; N and E Europe. In parkland,
see p.307 see p.310 grey see p.311
head farmland with tall trees, orchards,
plainer brown smaller and on edges of moorland near mature
above smaller back darker
forest, woodland clearings, and
lower scrub, often feeding on
more no bold open grassland and large lawns.
aligned black spots
tail
“V”-spots Seen in the UK
J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 27cm (10 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 42–48cm (16 1 ⁄2 –19in) Weight 110–140g (4–5oz)
Social Winter flocks Lifespan 5–10 years Status Secure
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