- Song Thrush: Wanted Poster
- How to recognize the Song Thrush
- Support the song thrush in the garden: How it works
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How do you recognize a song thrush by its appearance and song? When does the song thrush breed and what do their young birds look like? And where is the habitat of the song thrush? We answer these and other questions here.
The Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos), also called Zippe or Summer Thrush, is a close relative of the blackbird and resembles it in shape and size. The untrained eye might even mistake the song thrush for a young blackbird at first glance. This has a slightly lighter pattern than its parents and is even similar to the song thrush in terms of color. At second glance, however, the song thrush is a lot lighter and has a more conspicuous pattern. It gets its name from its melodic, imaginative and varied song, which can also be heard in local parks and gardens in the evening hours. You can find out when and where the song thrush breeds, how you can support it in your own garden and everything else you need to know about the songbird here in our large species portrait.
Song Thrush: Wanted Poster
| Size | About 20 - 22 cm |
| Weight | About 60 - 70 g |
| Incubation | March - August |
| Lifetime | Up to 10 years |
| Habitat | Forests, parks and gardens |
| Food Preference | Worms, Snails, Insects, Berries and Fruits |
| Threats | Declining food and habitat |
How to recognize the Song Thrush
The song thrush is a tad smaller and slimmer than the well-known blackbird. At first glance, it resembles the female and young blackbirds and shares their brown-grey plumage on the back and elytra. In contrast, their abdomen is colored white and the chest of the song thrush shines in a warm shade of yellow. Black, arrowhead-shaped spots also form a high-contrast pattern on the light background. These spots are a good distinguishing feature that separates the song thrush from other thrush species. The very similarcolored mistle thrush, for example, has round spots and can therefore be clearly distinguished.
Unfortunately it is not possible to visually distinguish between male and female song thrushes. And the young birds also look confusingly similar to their parents as soon as they have reached their full size.
What does the song thrush sound like?
The song thrush's song consists of varied, polysyllabic motifs that are typically repeated two to four times. It's quite melodic, but not as resonant and throaty as the blackbird's song.
You can listen to the song thrush singing in this audio recording:
The call of the song thrush consists of a sharp "zip" which, when excited, turns into a sharp "tix-tix-tix-tix-tix", which is similar to the warning call of the blackbird.
What does a typical song thrush egg look like?
Female song thrushes lay between four and six bright blue-green eggs that are about 2.7 centimeters in size and covered with black spots of varying intensity.
In which habitat is the song thrush found?
The summer thrush prefers forests rich in undergrowth with adjacent areas of open land used as feeding grounds. But it can also do well in city parks, cemeteries or natural gardens, as long as there is enough protective undergrowth.
Where does the song thrush build its nest?
The Zippe builds its nest in the dense vegetation of trees, hedges or bushes. But man-made structures such as wall niches or building projections are also used by the free breeders as nesting sites. The nest itself is made from small branches, moss and other plant matter and is lined with a mixture of wood fibers and saliva, which when dry forms a solid shell.
What time does it breed?
The breeding season of the song thrush extends from March to August. During this time, a breeding pair can raise up to three broods successfully. The incubation period per clutch is between 12 and 14 days. The young are born naked and blind and are fed by their parents in the nest for a further two weeks beforethey make their first attempts at flight and leave the nest.
Where does the song thrush spend the winter?
Song thrushes are migratory birds that winter mainly in southern or southwestern Europe. In mild winters, however, you can occasionally observe Zippen here in Central Europe, which go in search of food in the barren landscape. As with other bird species, wintering attempts in breeding areas could become more frequent as climate change increases.
Support the song thrush in the garden: How it works
Due to the increasing monotonization and intensification of our landscape, more and more wild birds are found in urban areas and cities, where they seek refuge in parks and gardens. Find out here how you can make your garden bird-friendly and offer the song thrush an inviting home.
What do song thrushes eat?
Most of the time, song thrushes feed on animal foods such as worms, snails, and insects. In order to get to the fleshy interior of the snail shells, Zippen have also adopted a clever method: They knock the snails on a stone until the shell breaks and the small animals are exposed. In late season, however, they also use berries and fruits.
Seeds and grains don't particularly interest song thrushes, which is why you can't lure them with classic bird seed. However, you can still support the songbirds - for example with berry-bearing, bird-friendly plants or an insect-friendly garden.
Are nest boxes suitable for song thrushes?
Because song thrushes are free breeders and prefer to hide their nests in trees and other vegetation, closed nest boxes are not suitable for them. These only benefit cave breeders such as coal tits, redstarts or nuthatches. On the other hand, song thrushes can be better supported with natural nesting sites such as hedges, shrubs or trees. These should grow as densely as possible and only be thinned out a little or not at all, so that the thrushes can hide their nests well in them.
Additional Support Tips
In addition to plenty of food, birds naturally also need water. In hot summers, however, built-up areas such as settlements and cities can often experience shortages due to the lack of water sources such as puddles, ponds or streams. With the installation of a bird bath in the garden, you can therefore provide excellent support for the song thrush and a variety of other garden birds. WhatYou can find out what you should consider when installing and cleaning a bird bath in our info article.
Another species of bird, which also belongs to the thrushes and is happy about a rich garden and a bird bath, is the fieldfare. Get to know this native wild bird a little better in our species portrait.