The song thrush belongs to one of the largest bird populations. He became known to the townspeople and summer residents because of his amazing singing, which can be heard throughout the summer.
What territories does the thrush inhabit
Very often you can hear the phrase: "The thrush is a songbird." Residents of the countries of Central Asia, Europe and Siberia are familiar with it. Representatives of this species fly away from their usual habitats for wintering in Africa and Southern Europe. The territories where the thrush lives are classified as cold-resistant and northern birds.
After wintering, they return at night and in small groups, females arrive 7 days later, this phenomenon is typical for the middle part of Russia.
Characteristic and description of the species
The song thrush belongs to the Thrush family and to the order Passerines. Their coloring does not attract attention. Brown with a chocolate tint, gray in places, predominant on the upper parts of the head, tail and back. The breast is white, sometimes pale yellow, the sides are slightly buffy. You can also notice that the abdomen is covered with dark and brown spots, similar to droplets, their number is significant.decreases closer to the throat. The place under the wings is characterized by a reddish tint. The bird's beak is dark and brown, its base has a light color. Legs are brown-yellow. There are no significant differences between females and males. The younger generation of thrushes can be seen immediately, the colors on their bodies are more variegated, but slightly duller than those of mature individuals.
The length of the bird reaches 20-25 cm, the weight is small - 50-100 g, the wingspan of this baby can be about 34-39 cm.
Presence of subspecies
Only three subspecies of the song thrush are known. The first of them populates mainly England, the second prefers Ireland, the third is distributed in all other spaces characteristic of thrushes.
Where does the song thrush live?
Very diverse types of forests become home to thrushes after returning from wintering. However, the bird prefers places where spruce and juniper thickets predominate, but deciduous forests are also no exception. The most favorite for them can be forests of maple, alder and birch, pine and spruce, oak forests.
The largest number of these birds is observed on the territory of the Eurasian continent. Their habitats are located towards the north to the Eastern European crooked forests, in the Urals they can be found up to the borders of birch forests. The steppes and forest-steppes are also not deprived of the attention of the thrush, river floodplains among the forests serve as a road for them to these areas. The bird is not afraid of mountains. It can be said that they prefer morenatural areas where people rarely visit. Although recently there has been a tendency to populate city parks with these inhabitants, especially if there are spruces there. This phenomenon is typical for Western Europe, for Russia it is still rare.
There is an active settlement of song thrushes in suburban parts, forest-type parks. These birds perfectly coexist with other representatives of their species, such as blackbird, mistletoe, redwing, fieldfare. Of all the individuals of its family, only the song thrush tends to go deep into large forests, but its nests can still be seen on their outskirts, glades. The most favorite areas in the forests are more humid. The bird does not like small deserted places in them, does not have the habit of nesting in areas of agricultural cities, but during flights it can use these areas for its livelihood.
Excellent thrush song
There are the most varied and amazing voices of birds, the song thrush stands out among them all. Connoisseurs of such beauty very often argue among themselves about who sings better - a nightingale or a thrush. Both this and this bird always have supporters. However, the voice of the song thrush sounds more mysterious and unusual.
His song can be described as a combination of short and infrequent whistles and trills that don't sound very loud. Each element in them is repeated all the time for a long time. Very often they intertwine their singing with the songs of other birds, which sounds very playful.
Behind this amazingYou can catch a song thrush in the very tops of tall trees, singing songs does not bother him all day. However, the best singing happens in the morning and evening hours. There is a certain cyclicity in the intensity of thrush songs, a short break is observed in early June, the next decline can be seen in mid-July.
Many people say that in the song of a thrush you can sometimes distinguish words that are repeated all the time. What exactly are the phrases he says? There are different answers to this question, as everyone perceives a song differently.
The Life of the Song Thrush
During their nesting period, the birds live in pairs, after this period of life they try to stay in flocks.
After the arrival of the females, the males begin to look for a chosen one. In order for the lady to choose him, a mating dance is performed, during which he lowers his wings and fluffs his feathers. If the female begins to dance in response, then this means that the courtship is accepted. After the pair has been formed, the female is looking for a suitable place for the nest. And after 7 days, the joint construction of the future home begins.
Establishing a nest can be called a real construction, as branches, twigs, grass, lichen and a lot of moss are used for this. After the main frame of the nest is built, the plastering process begins. The inner surface is smeared with a mixture of earth, clay, tree dust and saliva. After everything dries, the female lays up to 6 eggs, they are blue with black spots. The mother is usually engaged in incubation, sometimes the male replaces her so that she can eat. The chicks appear after two weeks, and the parents work together to get food for them. Even after the babies fly out of the nest for the first time, they are unable to feed on their own, and the female and male help them in this.
Singing thrushes begin their second clutch around mid-June, with slightly fewer eggs than the first.
The nest of the song thrush can usually be seen in trees among strong branches, on bushes, on fallen trunks, on deadwood and sometimes on the ground. It is located no lower than 2 and no higher than 10 meters from the ground, near this place there are often edges and clearings.
Desperate daredevils
The song thrush bravely defends its nest. Noticing a possible danger, he will immediately begin to attack. In the event that the enemy is large, the bird pretends to be wounded and, jumping on the ground, leads the predator to a safe distance. Many fairy tales and stories have been written that describe such situations.
Thrush in cinema
In the 70s of the last century, a film called "There Lived a Song Thrush" was made. The protagonist named Gia plays in the orchestra on an unusual instrument - the timpani. Its sound can only be heard a few times, at the beginning of the piece and at the end. It is clear that the musician does not have to constantly be near him, and in between his work he manages to arrange his hectic life. Perhaps the film was named so only because its creators found a similaritythe main character with the life of a song thrush.
These birds are known to almost everyone, their amazing singing captivates even musicians. They also benefit nature by destroying a huge number of pests.
