Meet the Song thrushes
Song thrushes are charming songbirds known for their melodious calls and striking appearance. Found across Europe and parts of Asia and Africa, these birds are treasured for their beautiful songs and clever way of eating snails.
What they need
- Song thrushes inhabit a variety of habitats, including woodlands, parks, gardens, and hedgerows. They prefer areas with dense vegetation for nesting and foraging.
- Their diet primarily consists of invertebrates such as worms, snails, and insects, along with berries and fruits. Maintaining healthy populations of these food sources is essential for their survival.
- Song thrushes build cup-shaped nests made of grass, leaves, and twigs in shrubs, trees, or other vegetation. Providing suitable nesting sites, safely concealed from predators like cats, is crucial for breeding success.
What you can do to help
- Preserve and enhance natural habitats such as hedges, shrubs and wild patches where song thrushes live, feed and breed.
- Plant native shrubs and trees that produce berries and fruits, which song thrushes rely on for food. Song thrushes like to feed on the ground, and will appreciate suet pellets and apples, especially in the winter, and a clean bird bath in summer.
- Cool and damp areas like water features, log piles and compost heaps are great for the invertebrates they like to feed on. You can also provide food directly – all these and more will help sustain food prey for them.
- Look after your soil so they can find their favourite food – juicy earthworms – to feast on. Replace hard surfaces with planted areas, whether that’s grass, wild patch, meadow or shrubs and perennials, and avoid using pesticides and herbicides that can harm their food sources. They’re famous for munching on freshly smashed snails so slug pellets can cause secondary poisoning to these beautiful garden friends.
- Install open-fronted nest boxes or leave areas of dense vegetation undisturbed to provide nesting opportunities for song thrushes.
Fascinating facts
- Song thrushes are renowned for their beautiful, flute-like songs, which they use to establish territory and attract mates. Each individual has its own unique repertoire of melodies.
- Some song thrushes exhibit remarkable tool-using behaviour when feeding on snails. They are known to use rocks as anvils to crack open the shells of snails to access the nutritious soft tissues inside.
- While some song thrush populations are sedentary (they stay in the same area), others undertake seasonal migrations, moving to warmer regions during the winter months. Their migratory routes can span thousands of kilometres.
