Fieldfare

🔍 Overview

A winter visitor, the Fieldfare arrives in numbers across Sussex from October to March. A striking plump thrush with a loud contact call.

🪶 Key Identification Features

Size: Medium (24–25 cm)

Plumage: Grey head, reddish-brown back, heavily spotted underparts

Distinctive Marks: White rump visible in flight

Bill: Yellow with dark tip

Tail: Longish and squared-off

Flight: Direct with steady wingbeats

🗺️ Habitat & Distribution

Common in farmland, orchards, and hedgerows, especially during winter months.

🎶 Voice & Behaviour

A harsh “chack-chack” flight call. Feeds on the ground in loose flocks of thrushes.

🍴 Diet

Berries, apples, and earthworms.

📸 Birding Tip

Look in flocks with redwings and mistle thrushes under feeding sites or winter fruiting trees.