The song thrush (Turdus philomelos) is a thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic. It has brown upperparts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has four recognised subspecies. Its distinctive song, which features repeated musical phrases, has frequently been referenced in poetry.

The song thrush breeds in forests, gardens and parks. It is partially migratory, with many birds wintering in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The species has also been introduced into New Zealand and Australia. While it is not globally threatened, serious population declines have been observed in some European regions, potentially due to changes in farming practices.

The song thrush builds a neat, mud-lined cup nest in a bush or tree and lays four to five dark-spotted blue eggs. It is omnivorous and has the habit of using a favourite stone as an "anvil" on which to break open the shells of snails. Like other perching birds (passerines), it is susceptible to external and internal parasites and is vulnerable to predation by cats and birds of prey.

Taxonomy and systematics

Name

The song thrush was described by German ornithologist Christian Ludwig Brehm in 1831, and still bears its original scientific name, Turdus philomelos.

The song thrush has four subspecies, with the nominate subspecies, T. p. philomelos, covering the majority of the species' range. T. p. hebridensis, described by British ornithologist William Eagle Clarke in 1913, is a mainly sedentary (non-migratory) form found in the Outer Hebrides and Isle of Skye in Scotland, and western Ireland. It has also been sighted in various Atlantic islands and West Africa.

In Great Britain song thrushes are commonly found where there are trees and bushes. Such areas include parks, gardens, coniferous and deciduous woodland and hedgerows.

Birds of the subspecies T. p. clarkei were introduced to New Zealand and Australia by acclimatisation societies between 1860 and 1880, apparently for purely sentimental reasons.

As food

Thrushes have been trapped for food from as far back as 12,000 years ago

  • RSPB species page
  • BBC species page
  • Birds of Britain species page
  • Garden Birds species page
  • Recording of song
  • Song Thrush videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
  • Ageing and sexing (PDF; 1.7 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
  • Feathers of Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)