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Fieldfare

Fieldfare

Turdus pilaris

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The Fieldfare is a large, handsome thrush with a grey head and rump, a chestnut back and a boldly spotted, rusty-washed breast. It breeds in woods and scrub across northern and central Europe and Siberia and winters in western and southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, often in large, noisy flocks with Redwings. It often nests in loose colonies and mobs predators together.

Did you know?

  • Colonies mob predators together, sometimes splattering them with droppings.
  • Its English name may mean “traveller over the fields”.

Voice

Call
Flight call

About the species

Identification

A medium-large thrush with a grey head and rump, a chestnut back and scapulars, a black tail and a yellowish-buff breast heavily spotted with black, and paler underparts. Its typical harsh, rattling call “chack-chack-chack” helps identification. The combination of grey head and rump and brown back separates it from other thrushes.

Family

Turdidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

grey, brown, black, orange, white

About the habitat

Open landscapes with scattered trees and shrubs – forest edges, farmland, meadows, river banks, parks and gardens; in winter hedgerows and berry-rich shrubs.

Diet

Earthworms, beetles, caterpillars and other invertebrates in spring and summer; berries such as rowan and hawthorn, fallen apples and grain in autumn and winter.

Behaviour

Highly gregarious, especially on migration and in winter, when flocks roam fields and berry trees. It feeds on the ground, advancing into the wind with frequent upright pauses. It often nests in small colonies, and neighbours mob predators collectively, even bombarding them with droppings. Its call is a harsh, chattering “chack-chack-chack”.

Sources

Photo: Frankie Fouganthin, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Björktrast (Turdus pilaris)-4.jpg

Sound: Alexander Kürthy, XC403028, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/403028

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC707312, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/707312

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fieldfare

See also