The song thrush gets in tune for the upcoming dawn chorus

A regular visitor to many gardens, the song thrush is one of our most common birds. The songsters now seem to be particularly active and a few are hopping around on the grass outside the window at the time of writing.

Smaller than the mistle thrush, which has bolder markings on its breast, the song thrush — appropriately known in Irish as ‘an smolach ceoil’ — is a melodious bird. Perhaps song thrushes are getting their vocal chords in tune for the upcoming dawn chorus and they can be heard clearly these days.