Wetland Word of the Week 11
The wetland words this week is...
... mavis. In Southwest Scotland, mavis refers to a mistle thrush while in other areas it is used for a song thrush. So what is a song thrush called here? A throstle - two wetland words for the price of one this week!
Our favourite throstle fact is that although they can be heard singing at any time of day, they aren't early risers: they normally don't join the dawn chorus until blackbirds and robins have already started!
Mistle and song thrushes are often confused for each other. Here is a guide to tell them apart.
| hhhhhh | Song thrush | ...hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh | Mistle thrush |
| warmer toned, buff/ olive brown | ... | cooler toned, almost grey | |
| streaked speckles on chest | ... | rounder chest speckles | |
| rusty-buff coloured underwing | ... | white underwing | |
| more frequently seen in gardens | ... | less likely to be seen in gardens |
On the left is a song thrush (or a throstle). On the right is a mistle thrush (or a mavis). You can see the difference in their chest speckles.
Words by Marianne Nicholson
Song thrush image by Alex Hillier
Mistle thrush image by Mike Youlande
Feature image of song thrush with snail in its beak by Jacob Campbell
