fieldfare

Turdus pilaris

Facts

Why not download our fieldfare fact sheet?

fieldfare fact sheet

• One of the larger thrushes, slightly bigger than a blackbird
  
  
• Characteristic blue-grey head and rump
  
  
• Chestnut back
  
  
• White underwing flashes show in flight
  
  
• Commonest call is “chack, chack, chack” in flight -click on the recording below to listen:

Where found

Look for them in single-species flocks or with redwings. Open country, fields, hedges and orchards throughout the UK, and gardens when weather is hard.

When to look for

• Winter visitor arriving from October onwards -
  view live map
  
  
• Leaving in April - view live map
  

Fabulous fieldfare facts

• Robert Marsham, in his notes on birds written the late 1700s, notes that fieldfares 'taste very bitter'
  
  
• They are very social birds, spending the winter in flocks of anything from a dozen to several hundred strong
  
  
• They feed on insects, worms and berries - hawthorn hedges are a favourite feeding area
  
  
• The RSPB estimates that there are 720,000 fieldfares overwintering in the UK (here from November to March)