Common thrush: what is it and what are its characteristics

common thrush perched on branch

The common thrush (Turdus philomelos) is a passerine bird belonging to the family turdidae whose members are frequently designated as thrushes, blackbirds or thrushes. In Spain, the blackbird is the best-known thrush bird and is often confused with the common thrush or other species of thrush, even though they are different.

The common thrush is a medium-sized bird, of forest habitat and omnivorous diet. It is distributed throughout Eurasia and part of North Africa. Its colors are brown, with a brown back and a yellowish or cream belly with black or brown spots. It is very similar to the thrush charlo, to whom it is closely related. If you want to know more about this endearing singing bird, in this article we introduce you to the common thrush: what it is and what are its characteristics.

The thrush or common thrush: what it is and what are its main characteristics

In the following lines you will learn in a simple way everything you need to know about the common thrush: what it is and what are its characteristics. You will easily visualize what this endearing little animal looks like and you will understand its reproduction strategy and everything related to its behavior and area of ​​distribution. we started.

What is the common thrush? A short class on taxonomy

comparative photographs of the main thrush birds

The common thrush is a bird of the order passerine that belongs to the family turdidae y has a wide area of ​​distribution with location in Eurasia and North Africa. It is not currently listed as an endangered species.

The passerines they are a great order de birds of medium size that covers more than half of the species of birds around the world and are commonly known as "birds", songbirds or songbirds. They are forest, many migratory. For this reason, thrushes and other types of birds with these characteristics are colloquially designated as "birds".

The turdid would then be all the birds or passerine birds belonging to the family turdidae, whose members are commonly designated as thrushes, blackbirds or thrushes.

There are quantity of species of thrushes and on this occasion our protagonist is the thrush. It is important not to confuse it with the common blackbird, a black thrush with an orange beak very common in Spain (turdus merula)

Molecular studies indicate that the common thrush (Turdus philomelos) is closely related to the charlo thrush (both of very similar plumage) and the mongolian thrush. These three species would be the first to appear within the thrush lineage, from which they diversified and spread throughout the world. This means that these three mentioned species are phylogenetically further away from European thrushes, such as the common blackbird, with whom they are paradoxically popularly associated.

Which are your principal characteristics

common thrush perched on ground in field

The common thrush is a medium-sized bird (measures between 20-23,5 cm and weighs 50-107g) with plumage that blends in with forests, its main habitat. It has a brown torso and its belly is yellowish or cream, with small and numerous dark brown or black spots. The underside of the wings is warm yellow, the yellow bill and pink legs and fingers.

Both males and females have these characteristics, so it is a species with little or no dimorphism.

These characteristics are very similar to those of the charlo thrush, with whom he is closely related as we have already mentioned.

Range and habitat

Thrushes occupy a wide area of ​​the Eurasian territory and also part of North Africa. They are migratory birds that nest in winter territories during the breeding season.

We will therefore find the common thrush in most of Europe, passing through Russia and Siberia to the Middle East and North Africa.

passerines they are forest habitat birds, so we will see the thrushes occupying fundamentally inside the forests. They can also be found in cultivated areas and gardens, and in some regions by the sea in winter. Its area of ​​distribution is so wide that the different weather conditions to which thrushes can be exposed mean that their places of occupation can be certainly varied.

Ethology

The common thrush is a solitary, monogamous and territorial species.. Therefore, it is not gregarious, although it is possible to find them sharing space with other birds in winter or casually associated with other thrushes such as the blackbird, the royal thrush or the red-winged thrush. Unlike the latter two, which are more nomadic, the common thrush tends to return to the same wintering grounds.

The song of the thrushes is characteristic, with a sonorous and pleasant melody, which they emit mainly for reproduction reasons, especially the male to indicate their arrival in the territory at breeding stations.

Feed type

The common thrush is omnivore and feeds on a wide variety of invertebrate animals, especially worms and snails, and soft fruits and berries.

It easily catches prey with the naked eye in a similar way to its relative the blackbird: rummaging through the leaf litter of the forest, running and foraging in the open.

Reproduction and life expectancy

Blue thrush eggs with brown spots

In this species, the male only intervenes for fertilization, the breeding work is assigned to the female, who will deal alone with the construction of the nest and the incubation of the eggs.

They build a bowl-shaped nest out of mud and dry grass. They usually choose a tree or shrub, although some subspecies may do so on the ground.

The eggs are a beautiful and striking bright blue color., which may have some black or purple spots. They are small, 2,7 x 2,0 cm, and weigh about 6 g.

The incubation period lasts from 10 to 17 days and nesting occurs two or three times a year, except for the specimens from the north of the distribution area, which will only do so once a year.

The life expectancy of thrushes is three years., although the maximum age recorded to date is ten years and eight months.


Be the first to comment

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *

*

*

  1. Responsible for the data: Actualidad Blog
  2. Purpose of the data: Control SPAM, comment management.
  3. Legitimation: Your consent
  4. Communication of the data: The data will not be communicated to third parties except by legal obligation.
  5. Data storage: Database hosted by Occentus Networks (EU)
  6. Rights: At any time you can limit, recover and delete your information.