Length: 23cm
Wingspan: 33-36cm
Conservation Status: Red
Description: A song thrush can be easily recognised by its brown upper parts and cream coloured, heavily spotted under parts. Some people confuse Mistle thrushes and song thrushes, but song thrushes are smaller, have v-shaped spotting, a warmer tone to their plumage and a ‘kind’ expression on their face. Male, female and juvenile song thrushes all look similar except juveniles have pale streaks on their backs.
Nesting: Song thrushes nest wherever there are bushes and trees, most commonly in woods, hedgerows, parks and gardens. They need somewhere that has moist soil with a good supply of earthworms and other invertebrate food. The female song thrush constructs a strong, bowl-shaped nest lined with mud and rotten wood. They produce 2 or 3 broods a year with 3-6 smooth glossy blue eggs which incubate for 12-14 days. Both parents feed the young but they become independent after about five weeks.
Feeding: Song thrushes eat worms, snails and insects when they are available, but in winter berries and fruit are their main food source. Earthworms form an important part of the song thrush's diet and when they cannot dig worms out of the ground anymore (when it has frozen, or in late summer when it is too hard) they resort to eating snails. They pick an unsuspecting snail, beat the snail shell on a rock until it cracks. Song thrushes are withdrawn birds and feed under cover or close to it, unlike Mistle thrushes that feed out in the open. To entice a song thrush to feed in your garden leave food on the ground near to bushes and undergrowth.
Information and image from Garden Bird Supplies
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