Turdus philomelos
Silhouette: Zeynel Cebeci · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The song thrush (Turdus philomelos) is a thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic. It has brown upperparts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has four recognised subspecies. Its distinctive song, which features repeated musical phrases, has frequently been referenced in poetry.
The song thrush breeds in forests, gardens and parks. It is partially migratory, with many birds wintering in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The species has also been introduced into New Zealand and Australia. While it is not globally threatened, serious population declines have been observed in some European regions, potentially 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 the shells of snails. Like other perching birds (passerines), it is susceptible to 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...
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auckland | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 4 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | Jerusalem | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 8 | Tehran | 🇮🇷 Iran | |
| 9 | Nizhny Novgorod | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 10 | Essen | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prague Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 2 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 3 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Schönbrunn Zoo | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 5 | Tierpark Hexentanzplatz | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Rákosův pavilon | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 7 | Velemlokárium | 🇨🇿 Czechia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Song Thrush sighting in Oosterschelde National Park on a given day, based on 64 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 82nd most-seen of the 157 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Song Thrush in Oosterschelde National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, August–September and November, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Song Thrush sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
30th of 36
Of the 36 parks where we can rate Song Thrush sightings, Oosterschelde National Park ranks 30th at about 10%. The best odds are in Białowieża National Park (Poland, about 60%), Arthur's Pass National Park (New Zealand, about 60%) and Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia, about 60%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Song Thrush is recorded against all the birds logged in Oosterschelde National Park (64 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
