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The song thrush is the loveable speckled garden bird that all adults grew up with, right
up there in popularity with the cheeky robin and the acrobatic blue tit. Once more common
than the ordinary blackbird, its fortunes have
taken a turn for the worse. |
Breeding and Nesting
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| Song thrushes are found in woodland, parks, gardens, hedgerows, grassland and
farmland. Hedgerows are a particular favourite,
providing food, shelter and a place to nest. Their nests are sturdy constructions consisting of
a cup of grasses, twigs and leaves, lined with mud and usually sited against the trunk of
a tree or large bush. Into this the female lays four to six eggs, pale blue in colour with
black speckles, reminiscent of the parent's
plumage. The song thrush breeding season runs from around April to October. |
Provide fruit and grated cheese to attract song thrushes to the bird table, and to
help them survive. Planting certain berry bushes such as cotoneaster and fruit trees like
crab apple in your garden will provide winter food for song thrushes.
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Seasonal Migrations
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Go organic in your garden. Stopping the use of nasty insecticides and pesticides,
and spreading compost on your soil will encourage the song thrush's favourite food of
earthworms, slugs and snails. It will give a
better, softer structure to your soil and retain
more moisture that helps the song thrush to forage. Don't worry about the number of
slugs and snails increasing; a song thrush will
have them under control in no time.
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The song thrush in your garden in the summer may not be the same song thrush that you
see in the winter. Although they are resident in most of western and southern Europe,
many song thrushes head for warmer climes in the winter. Much like any holiday-maker, many
British thrushes head for the `Med' or Spain in winter (and who can blame them?).
Wintering in Spain, however, sometimes has a high
price for the beleaguered song thrush, as hundreds are caught and sold in food markets each
year. The thrushes we see in wintertime are likely to be from places such as Scandinavia,
arriving in Britain to escape even colder weather further east. |
Feeding Habits
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| The song thrush is mainly a ground feeding bird, foraging in wet and workable soil for
earthworms, slugs and snails. It will also feed on insects, fruit and berries. Song thrushes
will smash open snail shells on a favourite stone
or obvious rock. This is called an anvil. The song thrush is the only bird to use this
technique widely; a pile of smashed snail shells on
a prominent stone is a sure-fire sign that you've got a resident song thrush. Blackbirds
have learnt to take advantage of the song thrush's skill by waiting until the thrush has done
all the hard work of smashing the snail's shell. The blackbird then swoops in, stealing the
food from under the thrush's beak. |
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Present and Future. . .
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Song Thrush Threats
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If you're doing any work on the trees in
your garden or local area, always check for bird nests, or you could be destroying a
song thrush home. Planting a hedge for the next generation of song thrushes at the same
time would be a great idea. When you're trimming your hedge, consider leaving one or
two plantings in the hedge to grow into a tree, providing the thrush with its favourite
singing perch.
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The song thrush has undergone a massive decline
in many places across the UK. The British population has plummeted by over
65% in the past 20 years. The reason for this dramatic decline is not
fully understood, although the increase in the use of modern farming
methods is a major reason. The destruction and dereliction of hedgerows,
land drainage and the increased use of pesticides which kill slugs and
snails have all played their part in this sad story. The destruction of
its countryside habitat means that suburban and urban gardens have become
some of the last refuges for the song thrush. |
A Happy Ending?
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