Editing Song thrush

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Redirect|Throstle|the racehorse|Throstle (horse)}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
{{speciesbox
| image = Певчий дрозд на пеньке (Turdus philomelos), Битцевский лес.jpg
| image_upright = 1.1
| image_caption = 
| image2 = Turdus philomelos.ogg
| image2_caption = Song
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=''Turdus philomelos'' |volume=2018 |page=e.T22708822A132076619 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22708822A132076619.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Turdus
| species = philomelos
| authority = [[Christian Ludwig Brehm|Brehm]], 1831
| range_map = TurdusPhilomelosIUCN.svg
| range_map_caption = Distribution{{leftlegend|#0F0|Summer range|outline=grey}}{{leftlegend|#008000|Year-round range|outline=grey}}{{leftlegend|#007FFF|Winter range|outline=grey}}{{leftlegend|#FF0|Introduced range|outline=grey}}
| synonyms = ''Turdus musicus''<ref name=musicus>{{cite book|author-link1=John Gould|last1=Gould|first1=John|title=The Birds of Europe|volume=2|date=1837|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42173481 |at=Plate 78|publisher=R. and J. E. Taylor|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.65989|doi-access=free}}</ref>
}}

The '''song thrush''' ('''''Turdus philomelos''''') is a [[Thrush (bird)|thrush]] that breeds across the West [[Palearctic]]. It has brown upper-parts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has four recognised [[subspecies]]. Its distinctive [[Birdsong|song]], which has repeated musical phrases, has frequently been referred to in poetry.

The song thrush breeds in forests, gardens and parks, and is partially [[bird migration|migratory]] with many birds wintering in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East; it has also been introduced into New Zealand and Australia. Although it is not threatened globally, there have been serious population declines in parts of Europe, possibly due to changes in farming practices.

The song thrush builds a neat mud-lined [[bird nest#Cup|cup nest]] in a bush or tree and lays four to five dark-spotted blue [[bird egg|eggs]]. It is [[omnivorous]] and has the habit of using a favourite stone as an "[[anvil]]" on which to break open the shells of [[land snail|snail]]s. Like other perching birds ([[passerine]]s), it is affected by external and internal [[parasite]]s and is vulnerable to [[predation]] by [[cat]]s and [[bird of prey|birds of prey]].

==Taxonomy and systematics==
===Name===
The song thrush was described by [[Germany|German]] [[ornithology|ornithologist]] [[Christian Ludwig Brehm]] in 1831, and still bears its original [[scientific name]], ''Turdus philomelos''.<ref name="Brehm" /> The generic name, ''Turdus'', is the [[Latin]] for ''thrush'', and the specific epithet refers to a character in [[Greek mythology]], [[Philomela (princess of Athens)|Philomela]], who had her tongue cut out, but was changed into a singing bird. Her name is derived from the [[Ancient Greek]] ''Φιλο'' ''philo-'' (''loving''), and ''μέλος'' ''melos'' (''song'').<ref name="BTO" /> The dialect names ''throstle'' and ''mavis'' both mean ''thrush'', being related to the [[German language|German]] ''drossel'' and [[French language|French]] ''mauvis'' respectively.<ref name="Chambers" /> ''Throstle'' dates back to at least the fourteenth century and was used by [[Geoffrey Chaucer|Chaucer]] in the ''[[Parliament of Fowls]]''.<ref name="Cocker" /> Mavis is derived via [[Middle English]] ''mavys'' and [[Old French]] ''mauvis'' from [[Middle Breton]] ''milhuyt'' meaning "thrush".<ref name="AH Dict 1973 p808" /> Mavis (Μαβής) can also mean "[[purple]]" in [[Greek language|Greek]].<ref name="LP 2006 Greek p244" />

===Classification===
[[File:Turdus philomelos -New Zealand -nest-8 (4).jpg|right|thumb|A parent feeding chicks in their nest in a [[New Zealand]] garden|alt=A brown spotted bird standing on the rim of a nest with food for four chicks seen with open gapes]]
A molecular study indicated that the song thrush's closest relatives are the similarly plumaged [[mistle thrush]] (''T. viscivorus'') and [[Chinese thrush]] (''T. mupinensis''); these three species are early offshoots from the Eurasian lineage of ''Turdus'' thrushes after they spread north from Africa. They are less closely related to other European thrush species such as the [[Common blackbird|blackbird]] (''T. merula'') which are descended from ancestors that had colonised the [[Canary islands]] from Africa and subsequently reached Europe from there.<ref name="Voelker et al 2007" /><ref name= reilly>{{cite book | last1 = Reilly | first1 = John | title = The Ascent of Birds| series = Pelagic Monographs | publisher = Pelagic | year = 2018| location = Exeter | pages = 221–225 | isbn =  978-1-78427-169-5}}</ref>

The song thrush has four [[subspecies]],<ref name="IOC">{{cite web | title=Thrushes – IOC World Bird List | website=IOC World Bird List – Version 14.2 | date=2024-08-17 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/thrushes/ | access-date=2025-01-26}}</ref> with the [[Subspecies#Nomenclature|nominate subspecies]], ''T. p. philomelos'', covering the majority of the species' range. ''T. p. hebridensis'', described by [[United Kingdom|British]] [[ornithologist]] [[William Eagle Clarke]] in 1913, is a mainly [[sedentism|sedentary]] (non-migratory) form found in the [[Outer Hebrides]] and [[Isle of Skye]] in [[Scotland]], and western [[Ireland]].<ref name="IOC"/> It is the darkest subspecies, with a dark brown back, greyish rump, pale buff background colour to the underparts and grey-tinged flanks.<ref name="Clement" />

''T. p. clarkei'', described by German zoologist [[Ernst Hartert]] in 1909, and named after [[William Eagle Clarke]], breeds in the rest of [[Great Britain]] and [[Ireland]] and on mainland Europe in [[France]], [[Belgium]], the [[Netherlands]] and possibly somewhat further east. It has brown upperparts which are warmer in tone than those of the nominate form, an olive-tinged rump and rich yellow background colour to the underparts. It is a partial migrant with some birds wintering in southern France and [[Iberian peninsula|Iberia]]. This form [[Hybrid (biology)|intergrades]] with the nominate subspecies in central Europe, and with ''T. p. hebridensis'' in the [[Inner Hebrides]] and western Scotland, and in these areas birds show intermediate characteristics.<ref name="Clement" /> Finally, ''T. p. nataliae'', described by the Russian [[Sergei Aleksandrovich Buturlin|Sergei Buturlin]] in 1929, occurs in the east of the range in [[Siberia]] east of the Ural Mountains.<ref name="IOC"/>

==Description==
[[File:Song thrush (Turdus philomelos philomelos).jpg|thumb|left|Song thrush in Slovenia]]
[[File:Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) in flight.jpg|upright|left|thumb|In flight]]
The song thrush (as represented by the nominate subspecies ''T. p. philomelos'') is {{convert|20|to|23.5|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=off}} in length and weighs {{convert|50|to|107|g|oz|abbr=off|frac=8}}. The sexes are similar, with plain brown backs and neatly black-spotted cream or yellow-buff underparts, becoming paler on the belly. The underwing is warm yellow, the bill is yellowish and the legs and feet are pink. The upperparts of this species become colder in tone from west to east across the breeding range from [[Sweden]] to Siberia. The juvenile resembles the adult, but has buff or orange streaks on the back and wing [[covert (feather)|coverts]].<ref name="Clement" />

The most similar European thrush species is the [[redwing]] (''T. iliacus''), but that bird has a strong white [[supercilium]], red flanks, and shows a red underwing in flight. The [[mistle thrush]] (''T. viscivorus'') is much larger and has white tail corners, and the [[Chinese thrush]] (''T. mupinensis''), although much more similar in plumage, has black face markings and does not overlap in range.<ref name="Clement" />

The song thrush has a short, sharp ''tsip'' call, replaced on migration by a thin high ''seep'', similar to the redwing's call but shorter. The alarm call is a ''chook-chook'' becoming shorter and more strident with increasing danger. The male's song, given from trees, rooftops or other elevated perches, is a loud clear run of musical phrases, repeated two to four times, ''filip filip filip codidio codidio quitquiquit tittit tittit tereret tereret tereret'', and interspersed with grating notes and mimicry. It is given mainly from February to June by the Outer Hebridean race, but from November to July by the more widespread subspecies.<ref name="Clement" /> For its weight, this species has one of the loudest bird calls.<ref name="Brackenbury 1979" />

An individual male may have a repertoire of more than 100&nbsp;phrases,<ref name="Devoogd et al 1993" /> many copied from its parents and neighbouring birds. Mimicry may include the imitation of man-made items like telephones,<ref name="Slater 1983" /> and the song thrush will also repeat the calls of captive birds, including exotics such as the [[white-faced whistling duck]].<ref name="Clement" />

==Distribution and habitat==
[[File:Turdus philomelos -New Zealand -juvenile-8.jpg|right|thumb|Juvenile in New Zealand]]
The song thrush breeds in most of Europe (although not in the greater part of [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]], lowland Italy or southern Greece), and across Ukraine and Russia almost to [[Lake Baikal]]. It reaches to 75°N in Norway, but only to about 60°N in Siberia. Birds from [[Scandinavia]], [[Eastern Europe]] and Russia winter around the [[Mediterranean]], North Africa and the [[Middle East]], but only some of the birds in the milder west of the breeding range leave their breeding areas.<ref name="Clement" /> The song thrush has been sighted in North America as a rare [[Vagrancy (biology)|vagrant]], with records from [[Quebec]] in [[Canada]], [[Greenland]], as well as in [[Alaska]], [[California]], and [[Washington (state)|Washington]] in the [[United States]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Auchu |first=Claude |last2=Girard |first2=Christiane |last3=Savard |first3=Germain |date=2007-03-01 |title=First Record of Song Thrush (turdus Philomelos) in North America |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/nab/vol61/iss1/40/ |journal=North American Birds |volume=61 |issue=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boertmann |first=David |date=January 1994 |title=A annotated checklist to the birds of Greenland |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258838869_A_annotated_checklist_to_the_birds_of_Greenland |journal=BioScience |publisher=Meddeleser om Grønland (Monographs on Greenland) |volume=38 |isbn=978-87-635-1225-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Checklist of Alaska Birds |url=https://www.universityofalaskamuseumbirds.org/products/checklist.pdf |access-date=March 16, 2025 |website=www.universityofalaskamuseumbirds.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Washington State Checklist – Washington Ornithological Society |url=https://wos.org/records/checklist/ |access-date=2025-03-16 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-11 |title=ML626157778 - Song Thrush - Macaulay Library |url=https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/626157778 |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=macaulaylibrary.org}}</ref> It has also been sighted in various Atlantic islands and [[West Africa]].<ref name="Clement" /> In South America, there is a record of a song thrush from [[Colombia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=de Schauensee |first=Rodolphe Meyer |date=1959 |title=Additions to the "Birds of the Republic of Colombia" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4064506 |journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |volume=111 |pages=53–75 |issn=0097-3157}}</ref>

In [[Great Britain]] song thrushes are commonly found where there are trees and bushes. Such areas include parks, gardens, coniferous and deciduous woodland and hedgerows.<ref>{{cite book |last=Holden |first=Peter|date=2012 |title=RSPB Handbook Of British Birds |pages=228 |publisher=Christopher Helm |isbn=978-1-4081-2735-3}}</ref>

Birds of the subspecies ''T. p. clarkei'' were introduced to New Zealand and Australia by [[Acclimatisation society|acclimatisation societies]] between 1860 and 1880, apparently for purely sentimental reasons.<ref>{{cite web | title=Manu-kai-hua-rakau | website=New Zealand Birds Online | date=2010-09-02 | url=https://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/song-thrush | access-date=2025-01-26}}</ref><ref name="ENZ" /> In New Zealand, where it was introduced on both the main islands, the song thrush quickly established itself and spread to surrounding islands such as the [[Kermadec Islands|Kermadecs]], [[Chatham Islands|Chatham]] and [[Auckland Islands]].<ref name="NZ" /> Although it is common and widespread in New Zealand, in Australia only a small population survives around [[Melbourne]].<ref name="Oz" /> In New Zealand, there appears to be a limited detrimental effect on some invertebrates due to predation by introduced bird species,<ref name="snail" /> and the song thrush also damages commercial fruit crops in that country.<ref name="DAFWA" /> As an introduced species it has no legal protection in New Zealand, and can be killed at any time.<ref name="MENZ" />

[[File:2007.07.03 juvenile song thrush Dombaih, Russia 108 cc.jpg|thumb|left| Juvenile in a forest near Dombaih, [[Russia]] ([[Caucasus Mountains]])]]

The song thrush typically nests in forest with good undergrowth and nearby more open areas, and in western Europe also uses gardens and parks. It breeds up to the tree-line, reaching {{convert|2,200|m|ft|abbr=off}} in [[Switzerland]]. The island subspecies ''T. p. hebridensis'' breeds in more open country, including [[Heath (habitat)|heathland]], and in the east of the song thrush's Eurasian range, the nominate subspecies is restricted to the edge of the dense conifer forests.<ref name="Clement" />

In intensively farmed areas where agricultural practices appear to have made cropped land unsuitable, gardens are an important breeding habitat. In one English study, only 3.5% of [[territory (animal)|territories]] were found in farmland, whereas gardens held 71.5% of the territories, despite that habitat making up only 2% of the total area. The remaining nests were in woodlands (1% of total area).<ref name="Mason" />

The winter habitat is similar to that used for breeding, except that high ground and other exposed localities are avoided;<ref name="BWP" /> however, the island subspecies ''T. p. hebridensis'' will frequent the seashore in winter.<ref name="Clement" />

==Behaviour and ecology==
[[File:Song Thrush cracking a snail shell.ogg|thumb|Breaking the shell of a snail]]
The song thrush is not usually gregarious, although several birds may roost together in winter or be loosely associated in suitable feeding habitats, perhaps with other thrushes such as the blackbird, [[fieldfare]], redwing and [[dark-throated thrush (disambiguation)|dark-throated thrush]].<ref name="Clement" /> Unlike the more nomadic fieldfare and redwing, the song thrush tends to return regularly to the same wintering areas.<ref name="BWP" />

This is a [[monogamy|monogamous]] territorial species, and in areas where it is fully migratory, the male re-establishes its breeding territory and starts singing as soon as he returns. In the milder areas where some birds stay year round, the resident male remains in his breeding territory, singing intermittently, but the female may establish a separate individual wintering range until pair formation begins in the early spring.<ref name="BWP" />

During migration, the song thrush travels mainly at night with a strong and direct flight action. It flies in loose flocks which cross the sea on a broad front rather than concentrating at short crossings (as occurs in the migration of large soaring birds), and calls frequently to maintain contact.<ref name="Clement" /> Migration may start as early as late August in the most easterly and northerly parts of the range, but the majority of birds, with shorter distances to cover, head south from September to mid-December. However, hard weather may force further movement. Return migration varies between mid-February around the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] to May in northern Sweden and central [[Siberia]].<ref name="Clement" /> 

===Breeding and survival===
[[File:Turdus philomelos -Apenheul Primate Park, Netherlands -eggs-8.jpg|thumb|upright|Three eggs in a [[nest]]]]
The female song thrush builds a neat cup-shaped nest lined with mud and dry grass in a bush, tree or creeper, or, in the case of the Hebridean subspecies, on the ground. She lays four or five bright glossy blue [[Egg (biology)|eggs]] which are lightly spotted with black or purple;<ref name="Clement" /> they are typically {{cvt|2.7|x|2.0|cm|in|frac=8}} size and weigh {{cvt|6.0|g|oz|frac=16}}, of which 6% is shell.<ref name="BTO" /> The female incubates the eggs alone for 10–17&nbsp;days, and after hatching a similar time elapses until the young fledge. Two or three broods in a year is normal, although only one may be raised in the north of the range.<ref name="Clement" /> On average, 54.6% of British juveniles survive the first year of life, and the adult annual survival rate is 62.2%. The typical lifespan is three years, but the maximum recorded age is 10&nbsp;years 8&nbsp;months.<ref name="BTO" />
The song thrush is occasionally a host of [[brood parasite|parasitic]] [[cuckoo]]s, such as the [[common cuckoo]], but this is very rare because the thrush recognizes the cuckoo's [[mimicry|non-mimetic]] eggs.<ref name="BB95" /> However, the song thrush does not demonstrate the same aggression toward the adult cuckoo that is shown by the [[Common blackbird|blackbird]].<ref name="Grim" /> The introduced birds in New Zealand, where the cuckoo does not occur, have, over the past 130&nbsp;years, retained the ability to recognise and reject non-mimetic eggs.<ref name="JAB" />

Adult birds may be killed by [[cat]]s, [[little owl]]s and [[Eurasian sparrowhawk|sparrowhawks]], and eggs and nestlings are taken by [[European magpie|magpies]], [[Eurasian jay|jays]], and, where present, [[Eastern gray squirrel|grey squirrels]].<ref name="Brown" /><ref name="RSPB" /><ref name="NatEng" /> As with other passerine birds, parasites are common, and include endoparasites, such as the [[nematode]] ''Splendidofilaria (Avifilaria) mavis'' whose specific name ''mavis'' derives from this thrush.<ref name="nematode" /> A Russian study of blood parasites showed that all the fieldfares, redwings and song thrushes sampled carried haematozoans, particularly ''Haemoproteus'' and ''[[Trypanosoma]]''.<ref name="Markovets" /> ''[[Ixodes]]'' ticks are also common, and can carry pathogens, including tick-borne [[encephalitis]] in forested areas of central and [[eastern Europe]] and Russia,<ref name="Pentagon" /> and, more widely, ''[[Borrelia]]'' [[bacteria]].<ref name="Kipp" /> Some species of ''Borrelia'' cause [[Lyme disease]], and ground-feeding birds like the song thrush may act as a reservoir for the disease.<ref name="EID" />

===Feeding===
[[File:Song Thrush anvil close up.JPG|thumb|Broken [[gastropod shell|shells]] of [[grove snail]]s on an 'anvil']]
[[File:01 Song Thrush (2 Dec 2020).webm|thumb|Foraging in hedgerow (UK)]]
The song thrush is [[omnivorous]], eating a wide range of [[invertebrate]]s, especially [[earthworm]]s and [[snail]]s, as well as soft fruit and [[berry|berries]]. Like its relative, the blackbird, the song thrush finds animal prey by sight, has a run-and-stop hunting technique on open ground, and will rummage through leaf-litter seeking potential food items.<ref name="Clement" />

[[Land snail]]s are an especially important food item when drought or hard weather makes it hard to find other food. The thrush often uses a favorite stone as an "anvil" on which to break the shell of the snail before extracting the soft body and invariably wiping it on the ground before consumption.<ref name="BWP" /> Young birds initially flick objects and attempt to play with them until they learn to use anvils as tools to smash snails.<ref name="Henty 1986" /> The nestlings are mainly fed on animal food such as worms, [[slug]]s, snails and [[insect]] [[larva]]e.<ref name="Clement" />

The [[grove snail]] (''Cepaea nemoralis'') is regularly eaten by the song thrush, and its [[Polymorphism (biology)|polymorphic]] shell patterns have been suggested as evolutionary responses to reduce predation;<ref name="Goodhart" /> however, song thrushes may not be the only selective force involved.<ref name="Owen Bengtson 1972" />

==Status and conservation==
[[File:Song thrush.jpg|thumb|left|In [[New Zealand]]]]
The song thrush has an extensive range, estimated at {{convert|10|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=off|sigfig=1}}, and a large population, with an estimated 40 to 71&nbsp;million individuals in Europe alone.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" />

In the western [[Palaearctic]], there is evidence of population decline, but at a level below the threshold required for global conservation concern (i.e., a reduction in numbers of more than 30% in ten years or three generations) and the [[IUCN Red List]] categorises this species as of "[[Least Concern]]".<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /> In Great Britain and the Netherlands, there has been a more than 50% decline in population, and the song thrush is included in [[regional Red List]]s.<ref name="BWP" /><ref name="BTO2" /> The decreases are greatest in farmlands (73% since the mid-1970s) and believed to be due to changes in agricultural practices in recent decades.<ref name="Cocker" /> The precise reasons for the decline are not known but may be related to the loss of hedgerows, a move to sowing crops in autumn rather than spring, and possibly the increased use of pesticides. These changes may have reduced the availability of food and of nest sites.<ref name="ukbap" /> In gardens, the use of poison bait to control slugs and snails may pose a threat.<ref name="NatEng" /> In urban areas, some thrushes are [[road kill|killed]] while using the hard surface of roads to smash snails.<ref name="Erritzoe Mazgajski Rejt 2003" />

==Relationship with humans==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:old west bromwich albion crest.png|thumb|upright|[[West Bromwich Albion]]'s former club crest, replaced in 2006 with a modified crest also featuring a song thrush]] -->
The song thrush's characteristic song, with melodic phrases repeated twice or more, is described by the nineteenth-century British poet [[Robert Browning]] in his poem ''[[Home Thoughts from Abroad|Home Thoughts, from Abroad]]'':
<blockquote>
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,<br />
Lest you should think he never could recapture<br />
The first fine careless [[rapture]]!<ref name="Browning" />
</blockquote>
The song also inspired the nineteenth-century British writer [[Thomas Hardy]], who spoke in ''Darkling Thrush'' of the bird's "full-hearted song evensong/Of joy illimited",<ref name="stallings" /> but twentieth-century British poet [[Ted Hughes]] in ''Thrushes'' concentrated on its hunting prowess: "Nothing but bounce and/stab/and a ravening second".<ref name="thrushes" /> Nineteenth-century Welsh poet [[Edward Thomas (poet)|Edward Thomas]] wrote 15&nbsp;poems concerning blackbirds or thrushes, including ''The Thrush'':
<blockquote>
I hear the thrush, and I see<br />
Him alone at the end of the lane<br />
Near the bare poplar's tip,<br />
Singing continuously.<ref name="Cocker" />
</blockquote>
[[File:Song Thrush93.ogv|thumb|[[Dunfermline]], [[Scotland]]]]

In ''The Tables Turned'', [[Romanticism|Romantic]] poet [[William Wordsworth]] references the song thrush, writing
<blockquote>
Hark, how blithe the throstle sings<br />
And he is no mean preacher<br />
Come forth into the light of things<br />
Let Nature be your teacher<ref name="Wordsworth" />
</blockquote>

The song thrush is the emblem of [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion Football Club]], chosen because the [[public house]] in which the team used to change kept a pet thrush in a cage. It also gave rise to Albion's early nickname, ''The Throstles''.<ref name="McOwan" /> A few English pubs and hotels share the name ''Throstles Nest''.<ref name=BB113>{{cite journal | last= Lawton | first= John |year=2020 | title= Pub birds | journal= British Birds | volume=113 | issue= 8 | pages=432–435}}</ref>

===As food===
Thrushes have been trapped for food from as far back as 12,000&nbsp;years ago<ref name="Bocheñski 2004" /> and an early reference is found in the ''[[Odyssey]]'': "Then, as doves or thrushes beating their spread wings against some snare rigged up in thickets—flying in for a cosy nest but a grisly bed receives them."<ref name="Homer" /> Hunting continues today around the Mediterranean, but is not believed to be a major factor in this species' decline in parts of its range.<ref name="Cocker" />

In Spain, this species is normally caught as it migrates through the country, often using [[birdlime]] which, although banned by the [[European Union]], is still tolerated and permitted in the [[Valencian Community]].<ref name="case c79" /> In 2003 and 2004 the [[European Union|EU]] tried, but failed, to stop this practice in the Valencian region.<ref name="parany1" /><ref name="parany2" />

===As pets===
Up to at least the nineteenth century the song thrush was kept as a cage bird because of its melodious voice.<ref name="Dyson" /> As with hunting, there is little evidence that the taking of wild birds for [[aviculture]] has had a significant effect on wild populations.<ref name="Clement" />

==References==
{{Reflist
| colwidth = 30em
| refs =



<ref name="Brehm">
{{cite book | last = Brehm | first = Christian | title = Handbuch der Naturgeschichte aller Vogel Deutschlands | year = 1831 | page = 382 
|language=de}}
</ref>

<ref name="BTO">
{{cite web | title= Song Thrush ''Turdus philomelos'' [CL Brehm, 1831 ] | work= BTO Birdfacts | url= http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob12000.htm | publisher= [[British Trust for Ornithology]] | access-date=2008-01-25
}}
</ref>

<ref name="Chambers">
{{cite book | title = The [[Chambers Dictionary]] (2006) | year = 2006 | publisher = Chambers | pages = 195, 1581 | isbn = 0-550-10185-3
}}
</ref>

<ref name="Cocker">
{{cite book | last = Cocker | first = Mark |author2=Mabey, Richard | title = Birds Britannica | year = 2005 | location=London | publisher = Chatto & Windus | isbn = 0-7011-6907-9}} 355–359
</ref>

<ref name="AH Dict 1973 p808">
{{cite book | publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company | title = [[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]] | year = 1973 | page = 808 
}}
</ref>

<ref name="LP 2006 Greek p244">
{{cite book | publisher = [[Lonely Planet]] | title = Greek | year = 2006 | page = [https://archive.org/details/greek0000unse/page/244 244] | isbn = 1-74059-140-2 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/greek0000unse/page/244 }}
</ref>

<ref name="Voelker et al 2007">
{{cite journal |vauthors=Voelker G, Rohwer S, ((Bowie RCK)), Outlaw DC | year=2007 | title=Molecular systematics of a speciose, cosmopolitan songbird genus: Defining the limits of, and relationships among, the ''Turdus'' thrushes | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=42 | pages=422–434 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2006.07.016 | pmid=16971142 | issue=2
| bibcode=2007MolPE..42..422V }}
</ref>

<ref name="Clement">
{{cite book | title=Thrushes (Helm Identification Guides) | last= Clement | first= Peter | author2= Hathway, Ren| author3=Wilczur, Jan | publisher=Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd | year=2000 | pages = 392–395 | isbn= 0-7136-3940-7
}}
</ref>

<ref name="Brackenbury 1979">
{{cite journal | last = Brackenbury | first = J. H. | year = 1979 | title = Power capabilities of the avian sound-producing system | journal=Journal of Experimental Biology | volume=78 | pages=163–166 | url=http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/78/1/163.pdf | issue=1
| doi = 10.1242/jeb.78.1.163 }}
</ref>

<ref name="Devoogd et al 1993">
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{{cite web | title= Song thrush (''Turdus philomelos'') | work= Birds | url= http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/content/pw/vp/bird/songthrush.htm | publisher= Department of Agriculture, Western Australia | access-date= 2008-01-25 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071208062121/http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/content/PW/VP/BIRD/songthrush.htm | archive-date= 2007-12-08 }}
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<ref name="EID">
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<ref name="Henty 1986">
{{cite journal | last=Henty | first=C. J. | year=1986 | title=Development of snail-smashing by song thrushes | journal=British Birds | volume=79 | pages=277–281
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<ref name="BTO2">{{cite web | title= Song Thrush ''Turdus philomelos'' | work= Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside | url= http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2009/wcrsonth.shtml | publisher= [[British Trust for Ornithology]]/[[Joint Nature Conservation Committee]] | access-date= 2008-01-27 | archive-date= 2016-06-24 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160624035103/http://www.bto.org/birdtrends2009/wcrsonth.shtml | url-status= dead }}</ref>

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{{cite web | title= Song Thrush (''Turdus philomelos'') | work= Species Action Plan | url= http://www.ukbap.org.uk/UKPlans.aspx?ID=621#2 | publisher= UK Biodiversity Action Plan | access-date= 2008-03-11 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080415111704/http://www.ukbap.org.uk/UKPlans.aspx?ID=621#2 | archive-date= 2008-04-15 }}
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}}

==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|En-Song thrush-article.ogg|date=2018-05-06}}
{{Wikispecies}}
{{Commons|Turdus philomelos}}
* [http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/songthrush/ RSPB species page]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/258.shtml BBC species page]
* [http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/bird-guide/song-thrush.asp Birds of Britain species page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070421164156/http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/bird-guide/song-thrush.asp |date=2007-04-21 }}
* [http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/songthrush.htm Garden Birds species page]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090225124752/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/radio/dawn_chorus/video/songthrush_song.ram Recording of song]
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/song-thrush-turdus-philomelos Song Thrush videos, photos & sounds] on the Internet Bird Collection
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141202064439/http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/346_SongThrushTphilomelos.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 1.7 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze]
* [http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Turdus_philomelos/Turdus_philomelos.htm Feathers of Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223080445/http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Turdus_philomelos/Turdus_philomelos.htm |date=2018-02-23 }}

{{Featured article}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q26349}}
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[[Category:Turdus|song thrush]]
[[Category:Thrushes|song thrush]]
[[Category:Birds of Europe]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1831|song thrush]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Christian Ludwig Brehm|song thrush]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]