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Recordings
Length
28.0 cm
Similar species
Information
Rare winter visitor. As with most forest birds from the north this species usually seeks farmland and plantations in Kuwait. It is a large thrush that has similar markings to a Song Thrush. Its flight-call is a distinctive dry rattling trill.
Where in Kuwait
It is a large, pale thrush with a long tail and a distinctive upright stance and has typically been recorded in quiet farmlands more often at Al Abraq in the west
In the world
It has an extremely large range and in Europe, trends since 1980 show that populations have undergone a moderate decline. It occurs across Europe, east to Siberia, and south to North Africa and southern Asia. The subspecies T. v. viscivorus is found from Europe to western Siberia and northern Iran, and winters in North Africa and Southwest Asia. It forages on the ground or in the trees and this bird's liking for mistletoe berries is indicated by both its English and scientific names. Desiderius Erasmus's early sixteenth century collection of Latin proverbs included Turdus malum sibi ipse cacat, (The thrush himself excretes his own trouble), which refers to the use of the sticky berries favoured by this species to make birdlime. The thrush is literally spreading the seeds of his own destruction
Local threats
Habitat loss and degradation