Song Thrush

Turdus philomelos

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: abundant
IUCN (global): LC · Least concern
In Spanish: Zorzal común

Photograph: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, vía Wikimedia Commons

Length: 23 cm
Weight: 70 g

Presence in the Strait

Abundant winter visitor to scrub and forests.

Identification

Slightly smaller than a Blackbird and with a shorter tail. Plain brown upperparts, yellowish-buff breast and flanks with arrow-head spots. In flight, prominent rusty-buff underwings. Form large communal roosts.

Movements

Peaks in 2nd hf. March and 2nd hf. October.

Ring recoveries

Finland (20), Sweden (20), Germany (19), Denmark (17), Belgium (13), Holland (13), Norway (8), United Kingdom (5), Poland (4), Lithuania (3), France (2), Italy (2), Latvia (1), Switzerland (1) and Russia (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

23 %

Peak in November. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 10 March 1959
Latest record: 10 April 2026

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

129 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Finland20
Sweden20
Germany19
Denmark17
Belgium13
Netherlands13

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Ring Ouzel24–24 cm · Migrant
Common Blackbird24–25 cm · Resident
Redwing21–21 cm · Seasonal
Mistle Thrush27–27 cm · Resident
Fieldfare25.5–25.5 cm · Occasional

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
GBIF taxon key: 7901064

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, vía Wikimedia Commons
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Song Thrush

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery