Fieldfare

How to recognise it

• Ash-grey crown, nape and rump against chestnut-brown shoulders and upper back
• Orange-buff breast with dark streaks, white belly and black arrowhead spots on the flanks
• Yellow-orange bill with a grey tip, pale eyebrow and dark between eye and bill
• White underwing coverts show clearly in flight, sexes alike but female slightly browner

Call and song

The commonest call is a harsh, repeated chattering ”schäck”. In flight it gives a repeated ”tjack” for a few seconds and a thin, high ”giih”. The male's song is weak and not very melodic, and is often given in flight during the breeding season.

Where and when

The Fieldfare is a partial migrant that breeds in large numbers all over Sweden, though roughly speaking birds breeding north of Mora move south for the winter. It is reported from all 21 counties and most in December and January. The population was estimated at 594 000 pairs in 2018, but the species has declined and is red-listed as Near Threatened (NT).

Food and behaviour

It usually breeds in small colonies and defends the nest aggressively by dropping droppings on predators. It readily uses its chatter to warn of tawny owls, cats and other dangers. Migrating and wintering birds often form large flocks, often together with Redwings.