- Turdus torquatus
Identification
Dark yellow-brown bill
Dark brown legs
Summer Male
Blackish-brown with a white gorget. Thin white margins on flight feathers, giving a 'pale' appearance
Female and winter male are browner with greyish flecks and duller gorget
Juvenile grey-brown with speckled breast
Alpine/Pyrenees males have broad white scaling on the underparts.
Similar Species
Beware leucistic Eurasian Blackbird, however, these lack the pale wing panel.
Juveniles of both species are very similar.
Distribution
Europe. ssp Torquatus Breeds in northern England and Scotland. Has bred Denmark, and the Faroes.
Vagrant to Iceland.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- T. t. torquatus (Northern):
- Scandinavia, Britain, Ireland and coastal western France
- T. t. alpestris (Alpine}:
- Mountains of central and southern Europe; winters to Asia Minor and North Africa
- T. t. amicorum (Caucasian):
Habitat
Breeds in most remote, mountainous rocky outcrops usually above 300m.
Behaviour
May be found in small loose flocks on migration.
Diet
Its diet includes insects, earthworms and berries.
Breeding
It builds a cup-shaped nest in bushes or amongst rocks, laying several pale blue eggs, mottled with brown.
Flight
Rapid and direct. Hops or runs.
Vocalisation
Call: a hard "tuk"
Song: "tcheru", "tchvi", and "ti-cho-o" repeated several times.
<flashmp3>Turdus torquatus (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Wikipedia
- Birdwatchers Pocket Guide ISBN 1-85732-804-3
- Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds 1966
- Collins Field Guide 5th Edition