72-480: The redwing ( Turdus iliacus ) is a bird in the thrush family, Turdidae, native to Europe and the Palearctic , slightly smaller than the related song thrush . This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae under its current scientific name. The English name derives from the bird's red underwing. It is not closely related to the red-winged blackbird ,
144-488: A North American species sometimes nicknamed "redwing", which is an icterid , not a thrush. The binomial name derives from the Latin words turdus , "thrush", and ile "flank". About 65 species of medium to large thrushes are in the genus Turdus , characterised by rounded heads, longish, pointed wings, and usually melodious songs. Although two European thrushes, the song thrush and mistle thrush , are early offshoots from
216-745: A better sense of smell. A third stage of bird evolution starting with Ornithothoraces (the "bird-chested" avialans) can be associated with the refining of aerodynamics and flight capabilities, and the loss or co-ossification of several skeletal features. Particularly significant are the development of an enlarged, keeled sternum and the alula , and the loss of grasping hands. † Anchiornis † Archaeopteryx † Xiaotingia † Rahonavis † Jeholornis † Jixiangornis † Balaur † Zhongjianornis † Sapeornis † Confuciusornithiformes † Protopteryx † Pengornis Ornithothoraces † Enantiornithes Song thrush Turdus musicus The song thrush ( Turdus philomelos )
288-473: A definition similar to "all theropods closer to birds than to Deinonychus ", with Troodon being sometimes added as a second external specifier in case it is closer to birds than to Deinonychus . Avialae is also occasionally defined as an apomorphy-based clade (that is, one based on physical characteristics). Jacques Gauthier , who named Avialae in 1986, re-defined it in 2001 as all dinosaurs that possessed feathered wings used in flapping flight , and
360-427: A favorite stone as an "anvil" on which to break the shell of the snail before extracting the soft body and invariably wiping it on the ground before consumption. Young birds initially flick objects and attempt to play with them until they learn to use anvils as tools to smash snails. The nestlings are mainly fed on animal food such as worms, slugs , snails and insect larvae . The grove snail ( Cepaea nemoralis )
432-442: A group called Paraves . Some basal members of Deinonychosauria, such as Microraptor , have features which may have enabled them to glide or fly. The most basal deinonychosaurs were very small. This evidence raises the possibility that the ancestor of all paravians may have been arboreal , have been able to glide, or both. Unlike Archaeopteryx and the non-avialan feathered dinosaurs, who primarily ate meat, studies suggest that
504-634: A group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves ( Latin: [ˈaveːs] ), characterised by feathers , toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart , and a strong yet lightweight skeleton . Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) common ostrich . There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders . More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species;
576-456: A local population. The Redwing song consists of a number of introductory elements of descending or ascending frequency. These elements may be of pure tonal quality, or of a more harsh quality (varying degrees of frequency modulations or " trills "). After the introductory elements, a fast and more complex song pattern often follows. It is the introductory elements which show a geographic variation. The boundaries of any given dialect may vary but in
648-474: A neat cup-shaped nest lined with mud and dry grass in a bush, tree or creeper, or, in the case of the Hebridean subspecies, on the ground. She lays four or five bright glossy blue eggs which are lightly spotted with black or purple; they are typically 2.7 cm × 2.0 cm ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 in × 3 ⁄ 4 in) size and weigh 6.0 g ( 3 ⁄ 16 oz), of which 6%
720-573: A neat nest. The eggs are typically 2.6 x 1.9 centimetres in size and weigh 4.6 grammes, of which 5% is shell, and which hatch after 12–13 days. The chicks fledge 12–15 days after hatching, but the young remain dependent on their parents for another 14 days before they leave the nest. The thrush is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects and earthworms all year, supplemented by berries in autumn and winter, particularly of rowan Sorbus aucuparia and hawthorn Crataegus monogyna . A Russian study of blood parasites showed that many of
792-412: A ravening second". Nineteenth-century Welsh poet Edward Thomas wrote 15 poems concerning blackbirds or thrushes, including The Thrush : I hear the thrush, and I see Him alone at the end of the lane Near the bare poplar's tip, Singing continuously. In The Tables Turned , Romantic poet William Wordsworth references the song thrush, writing Hark, how blithe the throstle sings And he
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#1732772237606864-749: A rural and forested environment in Norway the average size of these dialect areas is around 41.5 km2. The redwing thrush breeds in northern regions of Europe and the Palearctic , from Iceland south to northernmost Scotland , and east through Scandinavia , the Baltic States , northern Poland and Belarus , and through most of Russia to about 165°E in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug . In recent years it has expanded its range slightly, both in eastern Europe where it now breeds south into northern Ukraine , and in southern Greenland , where
936-406: A sister group, the order Crocodilia , contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria . During the late 1990s, Aves was most commonly defined phylogenetically as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of modern birds and Archaeopteryx lithographica . However, an earlier definition proposed by Jacques Gauthier gained wide currency in the 21st century, and
1008-458: A strong white supercilium , red flanks, and shows a red underwing in flight. The mistle thrush ( T. viscivorus ) is much larger and has white tail corners, and the Chinese thrush ( T. mupinensis ), although much more similar in plumage, has black face markings and does not overlap in range. The song thrush has a short, sharp tsip call, replaced on migration by a thin high seep , similar to
1080-717: A time, sometimes for years, and rarely for life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males). Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction . They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds , parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano (bird excrement)
1152-478: Is 10 years 8 months. The song thrush is occasionally a host of parasitic cuckoos , such as the common cuckoo , but this is very rare because the thrush recognizes the cuckoo's non-mimetic eggs. However, the song thrush does not demonstrate the same aggression toward the adult cuckoo that is shown by the blackbird . The introduced birds in New Zealand, where the cuckoo does not occur, have, over
1224-478: Is a thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic . It has brown upper-parts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has three recognised subspecies . Its distinctive song , which has repeated musical phrases, has frequently been referred to in poetry. The song thrush breeds in forests, gardens and parks, and is partially migratory with many birds wintering in southern Europe, North Africa and
1296-540: Is called ornithology . Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs . Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians . Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx ) which first appeared during the Late Jurassic . According to recent estimates, modern birds ( Neornithes ) evolved in
1368-569: Is found in the Odyssey : "Then, as doves or thrushes beating their spread wings against some snare rigged up in thickets—flying in for a cosy nest but a grisly bed receives them." Hunting continues today around the Mediterranean, but is not believed to be a major factor in this species' decline in parts of its range. In Spain, this species is normally caught as it migrates through the country, often using birdlime which, although banned by
1440-493: Is given mainly from February to June by the Outer Hebridean race, but from November to July by the more widespread subspecies. For its weight, this species has one of the loudest bird calls. An individual male may have a repertoire of more than 100 phrases, many copied from its parents and neighbouring birds. Mimicry may include the imitation of man-made items like telephones, and the song thrush will also repeat
1512-429: Is harvested for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure throughout human culture. About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry. The first classification of birds
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#17327722376061584-409: Is included in regional Red Lists . The decreases are greatest in farmlands (73% since the mid-1970s) and believed to be due to changes in agricultural practices in recent decades. The precise reasons for the decline are not known but may be related to the loss of hedgerows, a move to sowing crops in autumn rather than spring, and possibly the increased use of pesticides. These changes may have reduced
1656-488: Is no mean preacher Come forth into the light of things Let Nature be your teacher The song thrush is the emblem of West Bromwich Albion Football Club , chosen because the public house in which the team used to change kept a pet thrush in a cage. It also gave rise to Albion's early nickname, The Throstles . A few English pubs and hotels share the name Throstles Nest . Thrushes have been trapped for food from as far back as 12,000 years ago and an early reference
1728-503: Is not considered a direct ancestor of birds, though it is possibly closely related to the true ancestor. Over 40% of key traits found in modern birds evolved during the 60 million year transition from the earliest bird-line archosaurs to the first maniraptoromorphs , i.e. the first dinosaurs closer to living birds than to Tyrannosaurus rex . The loss of osteoderms otherwise common in archosaurs and acquisition of primitive feathers might have occurred early during this phase. After
1800-485: Is regularly eaten by the song thrush, and its polymorphic shell patterns have been suggested as evolutionary responses to reduce predation; however, song thrushes may not be the only selective force involved. The song thrush has an extensive range, estimated at 10 million square kilometres (4 million square miles), and a large population, with an estimated 40 to 71 million individuals in Europe alone. In
1872-416: Is shell. The female incubates the eggs alone for 10–17 days, and after hatching a similar time elapses until the young fledge. Two or three broods in a year is normal, although only one may be raised in the north of the range. On average, 54.6% of British juveniles survive the first year of life, and the adult annual survival rate is 62.2%. The typical lifespan is three years, but the maximum recorded age
1944-516: Is synonymous to Avifilopluma. † Scansoriopterygidae † Eosinopteryx † Jinfengopteryx † Aurornis † Dromaeosauridae † Troodontidae Avialae Based on fossil and biological evidence, most scientists accept that birds are a specialised subgroup of theropod dinosaurs and, more specifically, members of Maniraptora , a group of theropods which includes dromaeosaurids and oviraptorosaurs , among others. As scientists have discovered more theropods closely related to birds,
2016-535: Is used by many scientists including adherents to the PhyloCode . Gauthier defined Aves to include only the crown group of the set of modern birds. This was done by excluding most groups known only from fossils , and assigning them, instead, to the broader group Avialae, on the principle that a clade based on extant species should be limited to those extant species and their closest extinct relatives. Gauthier and de Queiroz identified four different definitions for
2088-722: The Late Cretaceous and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non- ornithuran dinosaurs. Many social species preserve knowledge across generations ( culture ). Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs , and participating in such behaviour as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking , and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous , usually for one breeding season at
2160-650: The Mediterranean , North Africa and the Middle East , but only some of the birds in the milder west of the breeding range leave their breeding areas. In Great Britain song thrushes are commonly found where there are trees and bushes. Such areas include parks, gardens, coniferous and deciduous woodland and hedgerows. Birds of the nominate subspecies were introduced to New Zealand and Australia by acclimatisation societies between 1860 and 1880, apparently for purely sentimental reasons. In New Zealand, where it
2232-472: The Qaqortoq area was colonised in 1990–1991. It is often replaced by the related ring ouzel in areas of higher altitude. The thrush is migratory , wintering in western, central and southern Europe, north-west Africa, and south-west Asia east to northern Iran . Birds in some parts of the west of the breeding range (particularly south-western Norway ) may be resident, not migrating at all, while those in
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2304-669: The Tiaojishan Formation of China, which has been dated to the late Jurassic period ( Oxfordian stage), about 160 million years ago. The avialan species from this time period include Anchiornis huxleyi , Xiaotingia zhengi , and Aurornis xui . The well-known probable early avialan, Archaeopteryx , dates from slightly later Jurassic rocks (about 155 million years old) from Germany . Many of these early avialans shared unusual anatomical features that may be ancestral to modern birds but were later lost during bird evolution. These features include enlarged claws on
2376-540: The Eurasian lineage of Turdus thrushes after they spread north from Africa, the redwing is descended from ancestors that had colonised the Caribbean islands from Africa and subsequently reached Europe from there. The redwing has two subspecies : The thrush is 20–24 cm long with a wingspan of 33–34.5 cm and a weight of 50–75 g. The sexes are similar, with plain brown backs and with dark brown spots on
2448-467: The Eurasian lineage of Turdus thrushes after they spread north from Africa. They are less closely related to other European thrush species such as the blackbird ( T. merula ) which are descended from ancestors that had colonised the Canary islands from Africa and subsequently reached Europe from there. The song thrush has three subspecies , with the nominate subspecies , T. p. philomelos , covering
2520-508: The Middle East; it has also been introduced into New Zealand and Australia. Although it is not threatened globally, there have been serious population declines in parts of Europe, possibly due to changes in farming practices. The song thrush builds a neat mud-lined cup nest in a bush or tree and lays four to five dark-spotted blue eggs . It is omnivorous and has the habit of using a favourite stone as an " anvil " on which to break open
2592-428: The appearance of Maniraptoromorpha, the next 40 million years marked a continuous reduction of body size and the accumulation of neotenic (juvenile-like) characteristics. Hypercarnivory became increasingly less common while braincases enlarged and forelimbs became longer. The integument evolved into complex, pennaceous feathers . The oldest known paravian (and probably the earliest avialan) fossils come from
2664-435: The availability of food and of nest sites. In gardens, the use of poison bait to control slugs and snails may pose a threat. In urban areas, some thrushes are killed while using the hard surface of roads to smash snails. The song thrush's characteristic song, with melodic phrases repeated twice or more, is described by the nineteenth-century British poet Robert Browning in his poem Home Thoughts, from Abroad : That's
2736-409: The belly. The underwing is warm yellow, the bill is yellowish and the legs and feet are pink. The upperparts of this species become colder in tone from west to east across the breeding range from Sweden to Siberia. The juvenile resembles the adult, but has buff or orange streaks on the back and wing coverts . The most similar European thrush species is the redwing ( T. iliacus ), but that bird has
2808-509: The birds that descended from them. Despite being currently one of the most widely used, the crown-group definition of Aves has been criticised by some researchers. Lee and Spencer (1997) argued that, contrary to what Gauthier defended, this definition would not increase the stability of the clade and the exact content of Aves will always be uncertain because any defined clade (either crown or not) will have few synapomorphies distinguishing it from its closest relatives. Their alternative definition
2880-414: The blackbird, fieldfare , redwing and dark-throated thrush . Unlike the more nomadic fieldfare and redwing, the song thrush tends to return regularly to the same wintering areas. This is a monogamous territorial species, and in areas where it is fully migratory, the male re-establishes its breeding territory and starts singing as soon as he returns. In the milder areas where some birds stay year round,
2952-456: The calls of captive birds, including exotics such as the white-faced whistling duck . The song thrush breeds in most of Europe (although not in the greater part of Iberia , lowland Italy or southern Greece), and across Ukraine and Russia almost to Lake Baikal . It reaches to 75°N in Norway, but only to about 60°N in Siberia. Birds from Scandinavia , Eastern Europe and Russia winter around
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3024-665: The earliest members of Aves, is removed from this group, becoming a non-avian dinosaur instead. These proposals have been adopted by many researchers in the field of palaeontology and bird evolution , though the exact definitions applied have been inconsistent. Avialae, initially proposed to replace the traditional fossil content of Aves, is often used synonymously with the vernacular term "bird" by these researchers. † Coelurus † Ornitholestes † Ornithomimosauria † Alvarezsauridae † Oviraptorosauria Paraves Most researchers define Avialae as branch-based clade, though definitions vary. Many authors have used
3096-435: The east of the song thrush's Eurasian range, the nominate subspecies is restricted to the edge of the dense conifer forests. In intensively farmed areas where agricultural practices appear to have made cropped land unsuitable, gardens are an important breeding habitat. In one English study, only 3.5% of territories were found in farmland, whereas gardens held 71.5% of the territories, despite that habitat making up only 2% of
3168-796: The far east of the range migrate at least 6,500–7,000 km to reach their wintering grounds. There are multiple records of vagrants from the north-east coast of North America, as well as two sightings on the north-west coast (one in Washington in 2005, and one in Seward, Alaska in November 2011). While migrating and wintering, redwing thrushes often form a loose flock. The size of the flock varies between 10 and at least 200 birds. They often feed together with fieldfares , common blackbirds and starlings . Sometimes, they will also feed alongside mistle thrushes , song thrushes , and ring ouzels . Unlike
3240-404: The fieldfares, redwings and song thrushes sampled carried haematozoans , particularly Haemoproteus and Trypanosoma . The redwing has an extensive range, estimated at 10 million square kilometres (3.8 million square miles), and an estimated population of 26 to 40 million individuals in Europe alone. The European population forms approximately 40% of the global population, thus
3312-403: The fieldfares, redwings and song thrushes sampled carried haematozoans, particularly Haemoproteus and Trypanosoma . Ixodes ticks are also common, and can carry pathogens, including tick-borne encephalitis in forested areas of central and eastern Europe and Russia, and, more widely, Borrelia bacteria . Some species of Borrelia cause Lyme disease , and ground-feeding birds like
3384-451: The first avialans were omnivores . The Late Jurassic Archaeopteryx is well known as one of the first transitional fossils to be found, and it provided support for the theory of evolution in the late 19th century. Archaeopteryx was the first fossil to display both clearly traditional reptilian characteristics—teeth, clawed fingers, and a long, lizard-like tail—as well as wings with flight feathers similar to those of modern birds. It
3456-580: The fourteenth century and was used by Chaucer in the Parliament of Fowls . Mavis is derived via Middle English mavys and Old French mauvis from Middle Breton milhuyt meaning "thrush." Mavis (Μαβής) can also mean " purple " in Greek . A molecular study indicated that the song thrush's closest relatives are the similarly plumaged mistle thrush ( T. viscivorus ) and Chinese thrush ( T. mupinensis ); these three species are early offshoots from
3528-615: The majority of the species' range. T. p. hebridensis , described by British ornithologist William Eagle Clarke in 1913, is a mainly sedentary (non-migratory) form found in the Outer Hebrides and Isle of Skye in Scotland . It is the darkest subspecies, with a dark brown back, greyish rump, pale buff background colour to the underparts and grey-tinged flanks. T. p. clarkei , described by German zoologist Ernst Hartert in 1909, and named for William Eagle Clarke , breeds in
3600-635: The migration of large soaring birds), and calls frequently to maintain contact. Migration may start as early as late August in the most easterly and northerly parts of the range, but the majority of birds, with shorter distances to cover, head south from September to mid-December. However, hard weather may force further movement. Return migration varies between mid-February around the Mediterranean to May in northern Sweden and central Siberia . Vagrants have been recorded in Greenland , various Atlantic islands, and West Africa . The female song thrush builds
3672-831: The nominate subspecies in central Europe, and with T. p. hebridensis in the Inner Hebrides and western Scotland, and in these areas birds show intermediate characteristics. Additional subspecies, such as T. p. nataliae of Siberia , proposed by the Russian Sergei Buturlin in 1929, are not widely accepted. The song thrush (as represented by the nominate subspecies T. p. philomelos ) is 20 to 23.5 centimetres ( 7 + 3 ⁄ 4 to 9 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches) in length and weighs 50 to 107 grams ( 1 + 3 ⁄ 4 to 3 + 3 ⁄ 4 ounces). The sexes are similar, with plain brown backs and neatly black-spotted cream or yellow-buff underparts, becoming paler on
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#17327722376063744-523: The only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds . Wings, which are modified forelimbs , gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds , including ratites , penguins , and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds , have further evolved for swimming. The study of birds
3816-402: The outermost half) can be seen in the evolution of maniraptoromorphs, and this process culminated in the appearance of the pygostyle , an ossification of fused tail vertebrae. In the late Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, the ancestors of all modern birds evolved a more open pelvis, allowing them to lay larger eggs compared to body size. Around 95 million years ago, they evolved
3888-504: The past 130 years, retained the ability to recognize and reject non-mimetic eggs. Adult birds may be killed by cats , little owls and sparrowhawks , and eggs and nestlings are taken by magpies , jays , and, where present, grey squirrels . As with other passerine birds, parasites are common, and include endoparasites, such as the nematode Splendidofilaria (Avifilaria) mavis whose specific name mavis derives from this thrush. A Russian study of blood parasites showed that all
3960-536: The previously clear distinction between non-birds and birds has become blurred. By the 2000s, discoveries in the Liaoning Province of northeast China, which demonstrated many small theropod feathered dinosaurs , contributed to this ambiguity. The consensus view in contemporary palaeontology is that the flying theropods, or avialans , are the closest relatives of the deinonychosaurs , which include dromaeosaurids and troodontids . Together, these form
4032-402: The redwing's call but shorter. The alarm call is a chook-chook becoming shorter and more strident with increasing danger. The male's song, given from trees, rooftops or other elevated perches, is a loud clear run of musical phrases, repeated two to four times, filip filip filip codidio codidio quitquiquit tittit tittit tereret tereret tereret , and interspersed with grating notes and mimicry. It
4104-414: The resident male remains in his breeding territory, singing intermittently, but the female may establish a separate individual wintering range until pair formation begins in the early spring. During migration, the song thrush travels mainly at night with a strong and direct flight action. It flies in loose flocks which cross the sea on a broad front rather than concentrating at short crossings (as occurs in
4176-521: The rest of Great Britain and Ireland and on mainland Europe in France , Belgium , the Netherlands and possibly somewhat further east. It has brown upperparts which are warmer in tone than those of the nominate form, an olive-tinged rump and rich yellow background colour to the underparts. It is a partial migrant with some birds wintering in southern France and Iberia . This form intergrades with
4248-452: The same biological name "Aves", which is a problem. The authors proposed to reserve the term Aves only for the crown group consisting of the last common ancestor of all living birds and all of its descendants, which corresponds to meaning number 4 below. They assigned other names to the other groups. Lizards & snakes Turtles Crocodiles Birds Under the fourth definition Archaeopteryx , traditionally considered one of
4320-551: The second toe which may have been held clear of the ground in life, and long feathers or "hind wings" covering the hind limbs and feet, which may have been used in aerial maneuvering. Avialans diversified into a wide variety of forms during the Cretaceous period. Many groups retained primitive characteristics , such as clawed wings and teeth, though the latter were lost independently in a number of avialan groups, including modern birds (Aves). Increasingly stiff tails (especially
4392-406: The shells of snails . Like other perching birds ( passerines ), it is affected by external and internal parasites and is vulnerable to predation by cats and birds of prey . The song thrush was described by German ornithologist Christian Ludwig Brehm in 1831, and still bears its original scientific name , Turdus philomelos . The generic name, Turdus , is the Latin for thrush , and
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#17327722376064464-558: The song thrush also damages commercial fruit crops in that country. As an introduced species it has no legal protection in New Zealand, and can be killed at any time. The song thrush typically nests in forest with good undergrowth and nearby more open areas, and in western Europe also uses gardens and parks. It breeds up to the tree-line, reaching 2,200 metres (7,200 feet) in Switzerland . The island subspecies T. p. hebridensis breeds in more open country, including heathland , and in
4536-544: The song thrush may act as a reservoir for the disease. The song thrush is omnivorous , eating a wide range of invertebrates , especially earthworms and snails , as well as soft fruit and berries . Like its relative, the blackbird, the song thrush finds animal prey by sight, has a run-and-stop hunting technique on open ground, and will rummage through leaf-litter seeking potential food items. Land snails are an especially important food item when drought or hard weather makes it hard to find other food. The thrush often uses
4608-423: The song thrush, the more nomadic redwing does not tend to return regularly to the same wintering areas. Migration occurs between autumn and early winter, and the birds often move at night. Oftentimes, they may make a "Tseep" contact call that can carry a long distance. The redwing thrush breeds in conifer and birch forests, and the tundra . Redwings nest in shrubs or on the ground, laying four to six eggs in
4680-532: The specific epithet refers to a character in Greek mythology , Philomela , who had her tongue cut out, but was changed into a singing bird. Her name is derived from the Ancient Greek Φιλο philo- ( loving ), and μέλος melos ( song ). The dialect names throstle and mavis both mean thrush , being related to the German drossel and French mauvis respectively. Throstle dates back to at least
4752-478: The total area. The remaining nests were in woodlands (1% of total area). The winter habitat is similar to that used for breeding, except that high ground and other exposed localities are avoided; however, the island subspecies T. p. hebridensis will frequent the seashore in winter. The song thrush is not usually gregarious, although several birds may roost together in winter or be loosely associated in suitable feeding habitats, perhaps with other thrushes such as
4824-560: The very preliminary estimate of the global population is 98 to 151 million individuals. The species is believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations), and is therefore precautionarily uplisted to near threatened . Numbers can be adversely affected by severe winters, which may cause heavy mortality, and cold wet summers, which reduce breeding success. Bird Birds are
4896-472: The western Palaearctic , there is evidence of population decline, but at a level below the threshold required for global conservation concern (i.e., a reduction in numbers of more than 30% in ten years or three generations) and the IUCN Red List categorises this species as of " Least Concern ". In Great Britain and the Netherlands, there has been a more than 50% decline in population, and the song thrush
4968-457: The white underparts. The most striking identification features are the red flanks and underwing, and the creamy white stripe above the eye. Adults moult between June and September, which means that some start to replace their flight feathers while still feeding young. The male has a varied short song, and a whistling flight call. Redwings show a distinct dialectic variation in song, having a considerable similarity in song patterns among birds within
5040-557: The wise thrush; he sings each song twice over, Lest you should think he never could recapture The first fine careless rapture ! The song also inspired the nineteenth-century British writer Thomas Hardy , who spoke in Darkling Thrush of the bird's "full-hearted song evensong/Of joy illimited", but twentieth-century British poet Ted Hughes in Thrushes concentrated on its hunting prowess: "Nothing but bounce and/stab/and
5112-466: Was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae . Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use. Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy . Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the clade Theropoda as an infraclass or a subclass, more recently a subclass. Aves and
5184-547: Was introduced on both the main islands, the song thrush quickly established itself and spread to surrounding islands such as the Kermadecs , Chatham and Auckland Islands . Although it is common and widespread in New Zealand, in Australia only a small population survives around Melbourne . In New Zealand, there appears to be a limited detrimental effect on some invertebrates due to predation by introduced bird species, and
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