Thrush bird photo, description, anatomy, habitat. Thrush bird: description with photo and video, listen to bird singing, black and white (Siberian) thrush Show thrush bird

The thrush bird belongs to the order of passeriformes and the thrush family. In total, there are more than 62 species, of which the redwing, song and gray thrush, fieldfare and mistletoe are most common in Russia. All of them amusingly move on the ground with jumps, as if crouching at the same time. Thrush live in Europe, America and Asia, and were brought to New Zealand from Europe.

The thrush bird belongs to the order of passeriformes and the thrush family.

All northern species of thrush winter in the south, where they move, migrating in huge flocks that change their size and shape in the sky. True thrushes eat various insects, often picking them up from the ground, feeding on worms and spiders, as well as molluscs and berries. All birds of this category are very talented, mobile, skillful and smart. They are characterized by subtle emotions, singing skills, cheerfulness, mobility, and in addition, they are very fond of society.


Thrush live in Europe, America and Asia, and were brought to New Zealand from Europe

Description of fieldfare

In many scanwords and crosswords, you can often find the question: what is the name of the large gray thrush of 8 letters, which swallows berries whole. The correct answer would be - fieldfare. An adult bird is painted gray with black spots scattered over the entire background, its back is chestnut, its breast is reddish with dark longitudinal spots, and its abdomen is white. The young are similar to their parents, but less brightly colored. Sometimes this type of thrush is confused with the thrush, but it is not difficult to distinguish them from each other if you remember that the head of the fieldfare is painted steel gray and the back is chestnut.

In the life of fieldfare, the fruits of mountain ash play an important role, and with a plentiful harvest of berries, birds remain to winter in their homeland, refusing to migrate to warmer climes. but he also eats other types of food, such as snails, worms and spiders. In summer, in search of larvae and worms, flocks of birds settle on fields that are literally plowed, probing the soil millimeter by millimeter. In addition to mountain ash, the bird also eats other berries, such as viburnum, elderberry, raspberries and hawthorn fruits, loves apples, pears and other fruits.

View: Thrush - Turdus
Family: Thrush
Squad: passeriformes
Class: Birds
Type: chordates
Subtype: Vertebrates
Dimensions:
The length of the bird is about 23 cm
Weight - no more than 90 grams
Lifespan: up to 15 years

We all love nightingale trills. This is sweet music, immersing us in romantic memories. But if you heard how thrushes sing (just a line from a song), you would fall in love with the repertoire of this vociferous feathered singer. Still would. Thrush can outshine, for which they call him a forest nightingale.

Habitat

Thrush bird, you will find a photo and description of this bird further in the article, it lives in Asia, Europe and America.

The birds are heat-loving, that is, migratory, so they prefer to spend the winter in southern latitudes.

Interesting! In the second half of the 19th century, thrushes were brought to Australia. They liked it there so much that they decided to occupy New Zealand as well. So these birds are not now except in cold Antarctica and hot Africa.

Characteristic

More than 60 species of thrushes are known in nature. Here are some of them:

  • blackbird
  • Fieldfare
  • Belobrovik
  • song thrush
  • Misery
  • red thrush
  • black-throated thrush
  • white-throated thrush
  • Pale Thrush
  • brown thrush
  • olive thrush
  • Siberian thrush
  • red-throated thrush
  • golden thrush
  • Blue Thrush and others

Interesting! The song repertoire of the thrush includes more than 85 trills. This means that such singing cannot get bored or bored. Some lovers of these songbirds even record singing on a voice recorder, so that they can meditate and relax to these sounds.

Blackbird, redwing, song thrush, fieldfare thrush are omnivorous birds. There are bugs and worms - she will eat them. No - will eat berries, fruits, seeds

Appearance

What a thrush bird looks like - the photo will show the differences in the color of different birds: blue or motley thrush, black or singing. After all, each subspecies has its own distinctive features.

  • females redwing paler than males. And those have a brownish plumage with a green tint on the back and dark spots below. The wings (lower feathers) and the breast on the sides are cast with rust. The name of the variety was given by a strip located above the eye - it is light yellow with a whitish tinge.
  • song thrush can be recognized by the chocolate or grayish tail, head (top) and back, white tummy and yellowish sides. The breast of the song thrush seems to be dotted with brown strokes.
  • blackbird - a bird whose photo is known, for sure, not to many. The male looks like a jackdaw, the same black, only the plumage is not glossy, but matte, and the beak is bright yellow, even orange. But in size it is twice as small as a jackdaw and exactly the same number of times larger than a sparrow. The female is not black, but dark gray, there are spots on the back.
  • Thrush fieldfare has a white belly and lower feathers on the wings, a dark brown back and brownish-black tail and wings. The sides and chest are variegated.
  • white-throated thrush similar to black - also black plumage, but there is a white stripe on the chest, which distinguishes this variety.
  • At pied thrush gray-blue head, orange belly and tail, white stripe on the back. And in winter, the bird loses its orange color and becomes gray. Females of the Spotted Thrush are similar to males in winter (gray): they have a white neck and a gray head with a brown tint.
  • Deryaba. He has a white belly with spots, white lower wings, brown and gray back. The tail is long. Females are surprisingly similar to males, that is, there is no sexual dimorphism.
  • Bluebird has a grayish-blue plumage, black tail and wings. The female is of a different color - it is brown with variegated patches.

These are just some of the varieties of thrushes that are most common in our latitudes.

Key Features

The song thrush eats mainly on the ground and moves in leaps: crouched - jumped, crouched again - jumped again. When he stops, he tilts his little head thoughtfully to one side, listening to see if the enemy is coming. But in fact, in this way he is trying to see where the worm or insect is located - his eyes are not in front, but on the sides of his head.

Nutrition

The diet of thrushes consists of butterflies, earthworms, caterpillars, and insects. However, it depends on the time of year. So, in the spring they are earthworms, in the summer - caterpillars, closer to autumn - seeds and fruits. Some species (white-throated thrush) also eat snails, mollusks, insect larvae, thus helping to rid plants and trees of pests.

Interestingly thrushes eat snails. They pinch a shell with their beak and beat it on a stone. Ornithologists from the remains of shells near the stones understand that there is a nesting place for a thrush nearby.

Nesting

Thrushes prefer to avoid dark places for nests, and therefore they build them in the form of a bowl in bushes on the edge or near a forest clearing. During the year, the female rushes up to five times 4 - 5 eggs. Two weeks later, chicks emerge from the eggs. Both parents take part in the upbringing and feeding of the chicks.

Interesting! Thrushes are very brave creatures. They rush at enemies if they encroach on their nests and offspring. However, if the enemy is large or stubborn, the female or male pretends to be hit and, limping, hobbles away, luring the enemy away from home.

With the onset of cold weather, thrushes gather in large flocks and go to winter in the south.

Thrushes, like nightingales, are often caught and kept in cages. Someone - in order to listen to the singing. It happens that a chick or a downed bird is found. After feeding or treatment, they can no longer return to their natural environment, and they remain to live with a person. These birds are being bred.

Fishing is best in spring, when tired and hungry thrushes return home from the south, and before they build their nests. Each ornithologist has his own tricks, but they consist in feeding: prepare worms, insects, ant eggs. Then, when the thrush realizes that there is food in this place, you can put a cache.

Advice: keep in mind - you won’t catch a thrush at once, you will have to wait a year. Thrushes are very distrustful and remember a dangerous place well.

And here is the thrush caught. The cage should be wooden so that the bird does not get hurt, and covered with fabric - also for safety. The size of the cage is 40x80x55 cm (approximately). Do not forget to install a drinker, perch and feeder. After a month, the thrush can be moved to a permanent home.

The permanent habitat should be rectangular and practically deaf: the front side is latticed, all other sides are deaf. So the bird will feel calmer and begin to sing earlier.

Thrushes need to be fed twice a day with food for insectivorous birds or mealy worms (up to 10 pieces per day), ant eggs, earthworms (5 pieces per day). You can prepare a nightingale mixture: grated carrots, chopped white crackers, cottage cheese and boiled eggs. Vegetables, fruits, fruits - give as a supplement.

With a good attitude, after two months you can hear uncertain singing. Do not make noise, and after the end of the song, feed the artist in gratitude. In this way, you can win the favor of the singer.

For those who have not yet heard the singing of thrushes, we offer you to listen to one of the incredibly beautiful arias.

Thrush (lat. Turdus)- a bird that belongs to the order of passerines. The thrush family includes 62 species, about 20 species are found on the territory of Russia. The most common is the song thrush, its weight reaches 55-100 grams, body length is 21-25 cm. The back and tail are painted chocolate brown with silvery stains. The belly is white, the sides are variegated. The chest is yellowish, with dark brown spots, the area under the wings is reddish. In young, the color is duller, sexual dimorphism is not expressed.

photo: Song Thrush. It is he who has the most beautiful vocal among blackbirds.

The redwing thrush is smaller, its mass rarely exceeds 60 grams. The back is colored olive-brown, the area under the wings and sides of the chest is reddish, above the eyes there are “eyebrows”, pigmented in whitish-yellow, which is why the bird got its name.


photo: Blackwing thrush

The blackbird is completely black, the beak is bright orange.


photo: Blackbird. He is also a good vocalist.

The white-throated thrush is very similar to the blackbird, but has a distinct white stripe on the chest, and the beak is pigmented orange.


photo: white-throated thrush

Fieldfare, red thrush, mistletoe, red-throated, gray-gray, olive, Siberian, golden and other species are also common. You can see what different types of thrushes look like in the video below.

Distribution, feeding, nesting of thrushes

Thrushes mainly feed on various caterpillars, butterflies, insects, earthworms. They can also peck at ripe berries and fruits on trees.


photo: Blackbird with prey

By feeding the chicks, representatives of this species destroy many insects: every day they have to fly in search of food for their offspring 200 or more times.


photo: Song Thrush feeding chicks

Thrush nests can be seen on trees, shrubs, stumps, often near a forest clearing or on the edge, birds avoid dark places. The bird's nest itself is built in the form of a bowl of thin twigs, roots, leaves, pieces of moss, it is plastered with clay from the inside. Basically, females make two clutches per year: 5-6 and 4-5 eggs, respectively, incubate the chicks for 13-15 days. Both parents feed the offspring.


photo: Song thrush in a spacious cage

At home, it is recommended to keep thrushes in large cages, from 70 cm long. Equip them with a house, perches, drinking bowls, and toys. You can give the birds soft food, grated vegetables, cottage cheese, berries, fruits, cereals, bread, flour and other worms. In captivity, they also breed, but in enclosures.

  • These birds move in an interesting way: jumping, slightly crouching;
  • Distributed in Europe, America, Asia, fly south in flocks for the winter;
  • The most popular species for breeding are: songbird and blackbird - such individuals have beautiful voices, they were even nicknamed "forest nightingales";
  • To drive enemies away from the nest, thrushes attack them. If the tactic does not work, then the bird pretends to be sick and lame and takes the predator away from the nesting place;
  • Thrushes are bold but cautious birds. Once deceived, an individual will never again fall into the same trap.

See photos of different types of thrushes and listen to the voice of the song thrush

Birds such as thrushes belong to the passeriformes. In total there are 62 species. In length, an adult usually reaches 25 cm. They move quite interestingly - they jump and squat at the same time.

Thrush habitat

song thrush not so picky in terms of the area where to settle, and the type of forest does not really matter to him. But usually nesting sites are located closer to juniper bushes, or next to small spruce trees.

In late spring and early summer, their diet includes caterpillars, which are later replaced by worms again. When summer comes to an end, they eat various seeds and fruits. So they accumulate the necessary energy before flying south. Throughout the year, song thrushes also eat snails, breaking their shells on rocks.

Thrush reproduction and lifespan

Song thrushes attract the attention of females with the help of songs. If males compete, they open their tails, fluff their feathers and raise their heads high. When meeting with a female, the thrush walks with an open beak and open tail.

You can hear the trills of birds from April to June. The thrush is a brood bird, and they nest in the crown of trees or in the bush. It also happens that they are located on the ground and in the cracks of buildings.

Listen to the song of the thrush

The nests themselves are made of grass, moss and small twigs, which are fastened with a mixture of clay, animal feces and various dust. Thrush eggs lay about 5, which the female incubates for two weeks. In the second week of life, the chicks are already learning to fly.

Redwings during the nesting period are very shy and cautious. They try to hide their shelter well. Thrush nests are placed on the ground at the end of April. If the weather is favorable, then after the first chicks leave the nest, the redwing female can make another clutch.

Thrush nest with eggs and chicks

She brings up to 6 eggs at a time. The chicks begin to get out of the nest already on the 12th day of life, while many still do not know how to fly. Despite this, they are very active.

Children are always close to their parents. After the chicks learn to fly, they become even more active, but they use the flight skill only in case of any threat.

Insofar as thrush migratory bird, then the fieldfare leaves their winter quarters from March to April, migrating to procreate in Europe and Asia. They create nests in the same way as song thrushes, spreading soft blades of grass in the nest.

They are often located high in the trees, mostly in colonies, but at a decent distance from each other. The female brings up to 6 eggs and incubates them exclusively by herself. After a couple of weeks, chicks are born, which are fed by both parents.

The difference between blackbirds and others is that they build nests on the ground, less often in tree stumps. After the nest is ready, the female begins to "dance" in front of the male, who sings in response.

They lay 3-5 eggs in a spot. Until the children appear, the female watches them, usually a couple of weeks. Parents bring food to children together. In total, such birds of the thrush family manage to make two clutches per season.


The thrush is a genus of birds of the thrush family of the passerine order. There are 62 species in total. On the territory of Russia there are about 20 species. The most common are: white-browed, mistle, fieldfare, black and song thrushes.

Appearance

song thrush
Its body length is 210-250 mm, wing - 113-122 mm, wingspan - 340-390 mm, weight - 55-100 g. The top of the head, back and tail are chocolate brown, grayish. The belly is white, slightly buffy on the sides. The chest is yellowish, it and the belly are dotted with clear dark brown streaks, decreasing towards the throat. Underwings are reddish. Sexual and seasonal dimorphism is absent. Juveniles are more variegated and duller.

Belobrovik
Length 22 cm, weight rarely exceeds 60 g. The color is brownish-green (olive-brown) on the back and light with dark (olive-brown) spots below. Breast-flanks and underwing coverts are rusty-red. Above the eyes is a whitish-yellow eyebrow; hence the Russian name for this bird. The female looks paler than the male.

blackbird
A bird half the size of a jackdaw but twice the size of a sparrow. Matte black, with a bright orange-yellow beak. Females are passerine in color, chicks are the same, but with small spots.

white-throated thrush
It is very similar to the blackbird in size and structure. Males have black plumage with a prominent thick white chest stripe. The lower part of the beak in males is orange. In females, the shade of plumage is rather brown, and the stripe on the chest is light gray. The size of white-throated thrushes is about 25 cm. In chicks, the plumage is at first spotty and without a strip on the chest. Singing resembles the sounds of so-so and try-try.

Nutrition

The food of Redwings consists mainly of insects, earthworms, various butterflies and caterpillars. Earthworms, during the period of feeding chicks, are brought in their beaks not one at a time, but in a whole bunch, which descends into the nest, and then is already distributed among the chicks. The method of obtaining food from these birds is very similar to that of the song thrush and fieldfare.

The white-throated thrush feeds on mollusks, berries, insects and their larvae. Especially often, earthworms are prey.
The rest of the thrushes have a similar diet.

Spreading

Some thrushes are very widespread - for example, songbird, fieldfare, mistletoe, black thrush live in Europe, Asia, Africa. Others are not so widespread: the little thrush, for example, nests only in Siberia and in the forest-tundra of North America; The blue stone thrush, although it lives in southern Europe, some parts of Asia and Africa, is limited in its distribution by specific landscape conditions: it needs dry mountain gorges, steep rocky shores of the ocean.
Benefit
Thrushes bring many benefits. In spring and summer, they feed almost exclusively on insects. By feeding the chicks, they destroy especially a lot of insects. Suffice it to say that song thrushes fly to the nest every day for about 200 times for about two weeks and each time they bring several insects. The thrushes that left the nest are still in the care of their parents for another two weeks, who continue to work just as intensively all this time. But even in the future, when the birds switch to plant food, their useful activity continues: they distribute plant seeds.

Thrush. A photo

Photo of a thrush on a spruce branch. Photo: Frank Vassen

Thrush on the grass. Photo: Petra & Wilfried

Thrush nesting

The song thrush nests on various trees and shrubs, often also on piles of deadwood, on trunks and among the branches of fallen trees, on stumps, but always not far from the edge, forest clearing or just near a sparse forest stand. The nest is usually located in a whorl of branches near the trunk at a height of 1 to 10 m from the ground, sometimes higher, most often at a height of 2-5 m.

The nest itself is a bulky bowl-shaped structure built from dry leaves of herbaceous plants, thin woody twigs, rootlets, lichens and usually a large amount of moss. Inside the bird's nest is coated with clay mixed with wood dust. Song thrushes work quite quickly: it usually takes 3 days to build the nest itself; on his plaster - 1-2. During the day, the nest dries out, after which the female lays the first egg in it.

Almost everywhere, song thrushes have two clutches a year: one occurs in late April - early May, the other in June. The first clutch consists of 5-6, the second - of 4-5 blue eggs with small black-brown spots. Only the female incubates for 12-13 days. Both parents feed the chicks, flying to the nest with food 150-200 times a day. On the 13-15th day of life, the chicks leave the nest, although they cannot fly, and even more so, feed on their own at this time.

 

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