Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

Song thrushes take a variety of food but earthworms form a very important part of the diet. Towards the end of summer if the ground is too hard to obtain earthworms, they take snails and break the shells by tapping them on stones (2). These 'snail anvils' can often be found in gardens with the remains of a snail around them. This behaviour is unique to the song thrush, but occasionally a blackbird will steal the snail once an unfortunate thrush has carried out the hard work of breaking the shell (2). The long breeding season lasts from March to August. Two or three broods are produced in this time; each clutch contains 3 to 5 pale blue-black spotted eggs that are incubated by the female. Both parents feed the young, which become independent about 5 weeks after hatching (2).

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