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Can you help me identify this bird please (1 Viewer)

F

frendlered

Member
United Kingdom
I live in scotland in the South, I live on open hilly farmland
I have this small bird I see daily, its quite small a little bigger than a sparrow, its far too small to be a thrush. (about 24cm)
There are no songs that I hear, it has a nest in a hedge at the back of thte house
can anyone help???
 

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Hi frendlered and a warm welcome from me too. Yes, I agree with Prestdj, that's a Song Thrush, they aren't really very big birds. Something to be aware of is that sizing is extremely difficult when you see a bird on its own especially. But two birds together can also look different sizes somehow LOL.

All things Scottish can be found here. Also, keep an eye on threads titled something like Scottish Bashes; we try to meet up occasionally and they're always great fun. You'd be most welcome to join us on another if you can manage.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
 
Thank you for the welcome.
It really seemed so small, about half the size of a blackbird I guess. I can't remember seeing a thrush so small, but I bow to your supior expertise. Wouldn't i hear it sing if its a song thrush?
There's a lot of beautiful wagtails up here, I am not sure what kind they are, maybe a pied, I'll try and take a snap
cheers
Robert
 
frendlered said:
Thank you for the welcome.
It really seemed so small, about half the size of a blackbird I guess. I can't remember seeing a thrush so small, but I bow to your supior expertise. Wouldn't i hear it sing if its a song thrush?
There's a lot of beautiful wagtails up here, I am not sure what kind they are, maybe a pied, I'll try and take a snap
cheers
Robert
Click to expand...
They seem to avoid singing when around their nest and especially when feeding young. In order to avoid attracting the wrong sort of attention I imagine.

When it does start singing, you'll know about it! They've got some pipes on them!
 
Hi again Robert.

Blackbirds are rather bigger and much more dumpy than Song Thrushes. Blackbirds are 23-29, while Song Thrushes are just 20-23 cm.

The Song Thrush repeats the phrases in their song, as you can hear in our Opus article: Song Thrush - BirdForum Opus
 
Also worth mentioning that gauging a bird's size is always harder to do than you think. If you spend a lot of time looking at birds you end up realising that you never become immune to misjudging size, you just get better at realising you should never totally trust your impression of it 🙂.
 
Once again, thank you guys
I did show this bird to my local farmer as well, we have both seen thrushes before, but honestly this one was very small. I am trying to get another with something alongside to better guage the size. If it was a thrush, I have never seen one this small before, i would say about a third of the size of a blackbird and half size bigger than i sparrow.
can I ask if there is any possibility that it could be something else?
Sorry to harp on about it, but i will try and re-photo if i can so i can make the size more obvious
Is there such a thing as a Dwarf thrush LOL?
 
There is a Bird Identification Q&A forum that I am sure you would find useful. As others have said, this is very clearly a Song Thrush & its size is really irrelevant to that in light of your excellent set of images.

Maybe this thread could be transferred to that forum as its most appropriate home.

👍

All the best

Paul
 
frendlered said:
Once again, thank you guys
I did show this bird to my local farmer as well, we have both seen thrushes before, but honestly this one was very small. I am trying to get another with something alongside to better guage the size. If it was a thrush, I have never seen one this small before, i would say about a third of the size of a blackbird and half size bigger than i sparrow.
can I ask if there is any possibility that it could be something else?
Sorry to harp on about it, but i will try and re-photo if i can so i can make the size more obvious
Is there such a thing as a Dwarf thrush LOL?
Click to expand...
Hi again Robert.

No, that really is a Song Thrush. A third the size of a Blackbird would be right. Have a look at our Opus article: Song Thrush - BirdForum Opus not just at the pictures but at the Identification text and similar species.
 
I cross-posted with Paul. Song Thrushes really do look surprising small, especially when you consider their loud songs LOL

If you wish, I can move your thread to the ID forum.
 
frendlered said:
Once again, thank you guys
I did show this bird to my local farmer as well, we have both seen thrushes before, but honestly this one was very small. I am trying to get another with something alongside to better guage the size. If it was a thrush, I have never seen one this small before, i would say about a third of the size of a blackbird and half size bigger than i sparrow.
can I ask if there is any possibility that it could be something else?
Sorry to harp on about it, but i will try and re-photo if i can so i can make the size more obvious
Is there such a thing as a Dwarf thrush LOL?
Click to expand...
Are you perhaps more used to seeing Mistle Thrush, rather than Song Thrush, in which case that could explain why this bird feels too small to be a Thrush to you. As Delia has pointed out your estimate of the size is more or less in line with a larger Song Thrush. Mistle Thrush is a larger Thrush (26-29cm) and is one that I've seen in similar locations to that you say you are in (more so than Song Thrush - though they are still there too), so I suspect that the Thrushes you are used to seeing are Mistle Thrushes, which would make this one feel too small to you.
 
Sorry guys
I am a man on a mission :)
I have added another photo here, the lengh of two links in the fence is 12 cm's and that makes the size of the birds body at about 8-10cm long - probably 14 cm with the tail, tiny, right?
 

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Stonefaction said:
Are you perhaps more used to seeing Mistle Thrush, rather than Song Thrush, in which case that could explain why this bird feels too small to be a Thrush to you. As Delia has pointed out your estimate of the size is more or less in line with a larger Song Thrush. Mistle Thrush is a larger Thrush (26-29cm) and is one that I've seen in similar locations to that you say you are in (more so than Song Thrush - though they are still there too), so I suspect that the Thrushes you are used to seeing are Mistle Thrushes, which would make this one feel too small to you.
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Yeah, you're probably right, have a look at the picture i posted above/below, maybe it's that i have never seen this kind of thrush before, i had never dreamed that it would be so small
 
Not to pile on, but I am recently back in the US after a week of birding with Heatherlea. The size difference between Mistle Thrush and Song Thrush is dramatic. Your bird really is a Song Thrush. As others have pointed out, size is probably the worst clue we can use when trying to identify a bird. I have many people tell me that a raptor “was huge! It had to be an Eagle,” when in fact they are showing me a picture of a Red-tailed Hawk. (Think Buzzard in the UK) Our eyes deceive us all the time.

Good birding,
Kathi Hutton
USA 🇺🇸
 
Kathi Hutton said:
Not to pile on, but I am recently back in the US after a week of birding with Heatherlea. The size difference between Mistle Thrush and Song Thrush is dramatic. Your bird really is a Song Thrush. As others have pointed out, size is probably the worst clue we can use when trying to identify a bird. I have many people tell me that a raptor “was huge! It had to be an Eagle,” when in fact they are showing me a picture of a Red-tailed Hawk. (Think Buzzard in the UK) Our eyes deceive us all the time.

Good birding,
Kathi Hutton
USA 🇺🇸
Click to expand...
Thank you Kathy, got that :)
I am fairly new to Scotland, the variety of birds I see in the garden every day is huge compared to a garden in Somerset. I am in Farmland, and i would have thought that would make more common varieties that you see near towns less frequent, but is certainly not the case where I am. maybe cause its a little micture of woodland, heath and farm land. There are also 2 woodpeckers here, one red, but another green, not sure what that once is yet
 
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