Mistle Thrushes (especially the eastern race "bonapartei") are
the largest thrushes native to Europe. They have a mostly
grey head and nape of the neck, with light-grey malar stripes
and a grey throat/chin lined on either side by a brown stripe.
The chest and sides are heavily spotted dark-brown. The base
colour of the upper chest is light-brown, while the lower
chest, belly, vent and undertail are off-white. The upperparts
are olive-grey; the tail is dark-grey.
The irises are black.
The bill is dark-grey, with a yellowish base of the lower
mandible. The legs and feet are grey.
Juveniles
have plainer colours than adults.
Twitcher's tip
Compared to
Fieldfares, Mistle Thrushes do not have an ochre or
rufous chest patch and thereby look much plainer.
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Mistle Thrush is available
HERE
.
Mistle Thrushes are a migratory Eurasian species with three
recognized races. They are present all year round in central
and southern Europe and eastward from there. They
also stay all year round in some northern parts of Asia Minor,
between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea and to the South-east
of the Caspian Sea.
In summertime they migrate and thereby extend their range to
include much of Scandinavia, all of eastern Europe (except the
far-northern Arctic parts of Russia) and eastward into central
Asia.
They are winter visitors to parts of south-eastern Europe,
Asia Minor, the Mediterranean East coast and north-western
Africa.
In central Europe nominate race "viscivorus"
is found.
They are permanent residents basically anywhere to the West
and South of a line connecting Frisia, on the Dutch/German
border, with the Danube delta.
During the breeding season they extend their range to include
almost all of Scandinavia (except the western and
northern parts of Norway), Finland, the Baltic states and
much of north-western Russia.
Sightings
Click here for sighting information
Race "viscivorus"
D. Wilczynska reports spotting Mistle Thrushes, race
"viscivorus",
in Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, in May 2015, and in Biebrza NP,
Poland, in May 2017.
J. Pires reports finding Mistle Thrushes, race
"viscivorus",
in Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, in July 2015 and in Mora, Evora, Portugal,
in May 2019. Another was found in November 2020.
M. Eaton found Mistle Thrushes, race
"viscivorus",
in Mequinenza, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, in September 2019.
M. Eaton also spotted Mistle Thrushes, race
"viscivorus",
in Hyde Park, London, England, in September 2019.
Photos
Race "viscivorus"
ADULT
Sex unknown
Frontal view of an adult Mistle Thrush
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, January 2016]
Frontal view of an adult Mistle Thrush with its head turned
more sideways (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, January 2016]
Near-frontal view of a Mistle Thrush
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mequinenza, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, September 2019]
Lateral view of a Mistle Thrush
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Hyde Park, London, England, September 2019]
Near-dorsal view of a Mistle Thrush
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Hyde Park, London, England, September 2019]
Near-dorsal view of a Mistle Thrush
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mequinenza, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, September 2019]
Dorsal view of a Mistle Thrush
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mequinenza, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, September 2019]
Direct comparison of a Mistle Thrush, left, with a female
Common Blackbird
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]
Food, Diet
As their scientific name already suggests ("viscivorus" =
"Mistletoe-Eater"), Mistle Thrushes have a liking for the
fruit of mistletoe (and other fruit and berries). Their
mainstay throughout the year are invertebrates, such as
earthworms.
Lateral view of a Mistle Thrush inspecting muberries
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]
Mistle Thrushes are not picky - the totally unripe fruit is taken
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]
More Mistle Thrush sound recordings are available at
xeno-canto.org
.
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.