Song Thrush

The Song Thrush is slightly smaller than the Blackbird which it often shares a habitat with, but there is no danger of confusing the two. It is a bulkier bird, with a shorter tail and lighter plumage. The upper parts are of a fairly warm brown and fairly uniform in appearance. A ruddy tinge can be seen on the crown and wings, while the lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts seem a little greyer. The dark eye is ringed by paleness, giving it a larger than life appearance. The rufous eyebrow is barely visible, which distinguishes it from its cousin the Mistle Thrush. The ear-coverts are rufous and surrounded by a brown hue; finally, the sharply black malar stripes come together beneath the throat to form a kind of mottled collar. The underparts are rufous on the chest and flanks and white-cream on the belly, with blackish-brown V or heart-shaped spots scattered over the chest, upper belly and flanks. The legs are pink and the beak is brownish with a yellow base to the lower mandible. In flight, pale orange underwings can be distinguished. The juvenile can be distinguished from the adult by its warmer brown plumage and particularly by the rufous patches of the mantle, scapulars, median and greater coverts. The rufous tips to the coverts will remain after juvenile moult, still visible until the bird's second year. As for the potential confusion with the Fieldfare, a dilemma often faced by the beginner ornithologist, it should be noted that the Fieldfare is larger (even larger than the Blackbird), with a duller, grayer hue and a more segmented (tertials and coverts with pale edges) upper plumage, and lighter undersides with larger, more numerous (also on the belly) and differently shaped spots.Its long tail is marked with white on the outer rectrices. Its pale ear coverts are surrounded by a darker brown pattern, often forming two dark bars on the side of the head. In flight, the undertail feathers appear very white. Finally, the rolling calls are very different.