Wildlife
When the fieldfare begins to arrive en-masse in search of warmer weather, our winter is just around the corner. Of the 750,000 birds that come to our shores, fewer than than five pairs remain during the summer to breed. The rest return to Scandinavia.
These colourful little members of the thrush family are noisy and clamorous birds, gathering in loose flocks on fields and pastures and seen tucking into hawthorn berries. Like other thrushes, the fieldfare is partial to a bit of fruit, so coaxing one into your garden can be as simple as leaving out an apple core or two.
Scientific name: Turdus pilaris
Rank: Species
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Winter migrants
Iolo Williams discovers the difficulties birds face in order to stay alive.
Iolo Williams looks at migrant birds in Wales. Some fly in to feed on insects in summer whereas others don't begin arriving until the autumn.
Aerial attack
Fieldfares will defend their colony from a hungry raven.
Fieldfares will defend their colony from a hungry raven.
The following habitats are found across the Fieldfare distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Least Concern
Year assessed: 2009
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It breeds in woodland and scrub in northern Europe and Asia. It is strongly migratory, with many northern birds moving south during the winter. It is a very rare breeder in the British Isles, but winters in large numbers in these countries.
It nests in trees, laying several eggs in a neat nest. Unusually for a thrush, they often nest in small colonies, possibly for protection from large crows. Migrating birds and wintering birds often form large flocks, often with Redwings.
It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects and earthworms in the summer, and berries in the winter.
The Fieldfare is 22–27 cm long, with a plain brown back, white underwings, and grey rump and rear head. The breast has a reddish wash, and the rest of the underparts are white. The breast and flanks are heavily spotted. The sexes are similar in appearance.
The male has a simple chattering song, and a chattering flight and alarm call.
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Oak wood
Farmland
Beech wood
Hedgerows
Wildflower meadow
Broadleaf forest
Temperate grassland
Urban
Helpless young
Migration
Adapted to flying
Acoustic communication
Maternal care
Egg layer
Social