Song thrush
species of bird / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The song thrush (usually thrush, Turdus philomelos) is a member of the passerine songbird family Turdidae. It breeds across much of Eurasia. It is also known in English dialects as throstle or mavis. The song thrush has brown upperparts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts, and has three recognised subspecies. Its distinctive song, which has repeated musical phrases, has frequently been referred to in poetry.
Song thrush | |
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Genus: | Turdus |
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Turdus philomelos | |
Breeding range – yellow Winter range – blue Present all year – green |
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The song thrush breeds in forests, gardens and parks, and is partially migratory with many birds wintering in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East; it has also been introduced into New Zealand and Australia. Although it is not threatened globally, there have been serious population declines in parts of Europe, probably due to changes in farming practices.
The thrush builds a neat mud-lined cup nest in a bush or tree and lays four or five dark-spotted blue eggs. It is omnivorous and has the habit of using a favourite stone as an "anvil" on which to smash snails. Like other perching birds (passerines), it is affected by external and internal parasites and is vulnerable to predation by cats and birds of prey.