Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos): The Virtuoso Singer of Our Gardens
The Song Thrush, famous for its powerful and melodious song, often perched in plain sight.
Introduction to the Song Thrush
Often heard before it’s even spotted, the Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) is like the soloist of our parks and gardens. Its song, a delightful mix of short, clear, and insistently repeated phrases, fills the air from treetops starting in late winter. Unlike its more boisterous cousin, the Common Blackbird, the Song Thrush stands out with its cream-colored breast, beautifully adorned with V-shaped spots. But this bird isn’t just about its melodious tunes; it’s also a clever hunter, renowned for its unique method of smashing snail shells against a stone, which serves as its favorite "anvil." Watching a thrush in action is truly captivating and showcases the remarkable intelligence of this stunning bird.
Identification: A Speckled Breast
The Song Thrush is a medium-sized bird, whose main characteristics are its plumage and posture.
Plumage Details
The upperparts, from the head to the tail, are a plain, warm brown. The underparts are much lighter, creamy-white to buff, and covered with many small, dark spots shaped like arrowheads or inverted Vs, which are particularly neat on the breast. In flight, a warm buff-orange panel on the underwing can be seen.
Male, Female, and Juvenile Differences
The sexes are virtually identical and cannot be distinguished in the field. Juveniles resemble adults, but their back is flecked with small, pale buff spots, giving them a slightly scaled appearance. The spots on their breast are also a bit less defined.
Size and Build
Length: Approx. 20-24 cm (8-9.5 in).
Wingspan: Approx. 33-36 cm (13-14 in).
Weight: Approx. 65-90 grams (2.3-3.2 oz).
It has a typical thrush shape, plump but slender, with a relatively short tail. It moves on the ground with a series of hops, often pausing with its head cocked to listen for prey beneath the surface.
Habitat & Distribution
The Song Thrush is an adaptable bird that thrives in a variety of wooded or semi-wooded environments.
Preferred Habitats
It favors deciduous and mixed forests, parks, large gardens, orchards, and hedgerows. The key requirement is the presence of dense undergrowth for nesting and open areas (like lawns) for feeding. It needs soft, damp soil for finding earthworms and areas with snails.
Geographic Range
It is a widespread species across Europe, from the Atlantic to Siberia, absent only from Iceland and the most arid parts of the Mediterranean. Northern and eastern populations are highly migratory, wintering in Western and Southern Europe and North Africa.
Behavior: The Clever Loner
Unlike finches, the Song Thrush is rather territorial and solitary, especially during the breeding season.
The Use of the Anvil
Its most famous behavior is the use of an "anvil." The thrush picks up a snail in its beak and repeatedly and vigorously smashes it against a hard stone, paving slab, or piece of concrete until the shell breaks. It can then extract the flesh. One can often locate these anvils by the pile of broken shells that accumulates beside them.
A Territorial Bird
The male fiercely defends his territory through song, which he delivers from a high perch (treetop, antenna). Outside the breeding season, thrushes can be more gregarious, especially during migration or at feeding sites rich in berries.
Diet & The Art of the Anvil
The Song Thrush has a varied diet that changes with the seasons.
An Adaptable Menu
In spring and summer, it is mainly carnivorous. Its diet consists of earthworms, snails, slugs, spiders, and a wide variety of insects and their larvae. In the fall and winter, when animal prey becomes scarce, it becomes largely frugivorous, feeding on berries (rowan, holly, yew, ivy) and fallen fruit.
How to Help the Song Thrush
It does not frequent seed feeders. To help it, it's best to maintain a "natural" garden: avoid using toxic slug pellets, leave untreated lawn areas, maintain leaf piles, and plant berry-producing shrubs.
Nesting & Reproduction
The Song Thrush's nest is a unique and robust construction.
Nest Building
Built by the female, the nest is a deep, sturdy cup made of grass, twigs, and moss. Its unique feature is its inner lining: the female lines it with a mixture of rotten wood pulp, mud, and saliva, which she smooths with her body to form a hard, perfectly smooth bowl. This waterproof lining protects the eggs from ground moisture. The nest is often placed in a dense bush, ivy, or the fork of a tree.
Eggs and Raising the Young
The female lays 3 to 5 stunning, bright blue eggs, speckled with a few black or purple spots. Incubation lasts about 11 to 15 days, mainly by the female. Both parents feed the chicks, which leave the nest after 12 to 16 days. Song Thrushes can have 2 to 3 broods a year.
Vocalizations: A Repetitive Concert
The Song Thrush's song is one of the most recognizable and powerful in the European bird world.
Song and Calls
Its song is loud, clear, and fluty. It consists of a succession of short musical phrases (motifs), each repeated two to four times before the bird moves on to the next one. This repetitive structure is the best way to identify it by ear.
For an in-depth analysis of this structure and to listen to our recording, visit our dedicated page on the Song Thrush's song.
For a wider library of reference sounds, the RSPB also provides excellent recordings.
Its contact call is a thin, high-pitched "tsic," and its alarm call is a sharp, agitated "tchook-tchook-tchook."
Conservation Status & How to Help
Although common, the Song Thrush has faced declines in some areas.
Current Status
Classified as "Least Concern" (LC) by the IUCN globally, the Song Thrush has suffered declines in some parts of Europe, likely due to changes in agricultural practices and garden management.
Threats and Support Actions
The main threats are the use of pesticides (especially molluscicides that poison slugs and snails) and the excessive "tidiness" of gardens and parks, which reduces food availability and nesting sites. To help:
Ban slug pellets and use alternative methods.
Maintain damp soil and leave piles of dead leaves that harbor invertebrates.
Plant native, berry-producing shrubs.
Leave a flat stone in a quiet corner of your garden; it might become an anvil!
Interesting Facts about Song Thrushes
Its scientific name, Turdus philomelos, comes from the Latin Turdus ("thrush") and the Greek philomelos, meaning "lover of song."
A single thrush may use the same anvil for weeks, creating a small graveyard of shells.
The hard inner lining of its nest is so distinctive that an empty nest is easily identifiable.
Despite its name, it's not the only "singing" thrush; the Mistle Thrush also has a powerful song, but it is less varied and repetitive.
