A familiar and popular garden songbird whose numbers are declining seriously, especially on farmland making it a Red List species. Smaller and browner than a mistle thrush with smaller spotting. Its habit of repeating song phrases distinguish it from singing blackbirds. It likes to eat snails which it breaks into by smashing them against a stone with a flick of the head.
Key ID Features:
The varied phrases repeated usually between two and five times is distinctive.
Slightly smaller than a Blackbird with generally brown upperparts and neatly arranged spots on the breast which are slightly triangular, pointing towards the neck.
It is shorter than Mistle Thrush and stands less upright, generally feeding closer to cover.
Overview
Scientific name: Turdus philomelos
Family: Chats and thrushes (Turdidae)
Where to see them:
Woods, hedgerows, parks and gardens across the UK - wherever there are bushes and trees.
Seen in UK:
All year round.
What they eat
Worms, snails and fruit.
Text (c) RSPB, used with permission
For more information click here
Location: Edington, Wiltshire
Photographer: Tim Tapley
