The Song thrush (Turdus philomelos) lives up to its name by singing loudly through most of the year, using repeated phrases and often mimicking other birds. It is smaller and browner than a mistle thrush with smaller spotting. It has brown upperparts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts. A century ago song thrushes were regarded as one of Britain’s commonest birds, even outnumbering blackbirds. Song thrushes are one of the few British birds to eat snails – it pulls the snail out of the shell and wipes it on the ground before it eats it. Snails are a critically important food in late summer when more favoured prey items are not available. Though the sexes are similar in appearance, the female is slightly heavier than the male and tends to be more heavily spotted.
