Belongs to: thrushes and chats
Compare with: song thrush
Mistle thrush turdus viscivorus
Also known as: storm cock
BoCC Red list
Best time to see: all year
Key facts
Largest of our resident thrushes, with a characteristic pot-bellied look
Habitat: large gardens, parks, sports fields, open woodland or parkland
Widespread resident
Recognition
Greyish-brown back; heavily speckled whitish breast; white margins to tail; 26–28 cm
Less gregarious than other thrushes, usually seen individually or in small groups searching grassland for food
Feeds on insects and worms, supplemented in winter by berries
Lifecycle
Nest is a cup in the fork of a tree; two broods from March to May
4–5 blue eggs, spotted reddish; young fledge in 20 days
After breeding takes to open country and guards sources of food such as trees bearing berries
© Reston Kilgour