Chirp 5

Each week I’m posting a Chirpy Chirp Challenge, listening to different bird calls.

Today we’re listening to the song thrush.

Last week we listened to the blackbird. How did you get on recognising its calls? I’d be interested to hear from you!

All you’ll need to join in is a piece of paper and a pencil.

The song thrush

Clothes and behaviour

The male (Mr) and female (Mrs) look the same; they have a chestnut head and back, with prominent brown speckles on a creamy white breast and belly:

From very young the chicks look like their parents:

As part of the thrush family, their shape is similar to the blackbird and they move with the same ‘hop-hop-hop-look-around’ movement.

Song thrushes are shy and not as plentiful as blackbirds. It is unusual to see them in the open, they are secretive and will flit for cover if disturbed.

Calls

Although you rarely see a song thrush, there is an exception – when they sing! They often find a prominent branch and their song is definitely not missable!

Listen here:

Write ‘Song thrush’ at the top of your paper and below it write ‘song’.

Challenge – what words would you use to describe the song?

Now see if you can write or draw the pattern of how the call sounds to you. There’s a few questions below to help you.

Can you hear any repeats of the song? If you think of each bit as a ‘sentence’, answer the following:

Do some notes stay on the same level like this – – – – – – -? 

When do they go up and when down? Do you hear it as a wave – moving up to a point and then back down?  Or is there another way you can describe it?

If you try and clap the rhythm, what do you get?

There’s no right or wrong answer, it’s just to help you remember the sounds.

Chirp Challenge

Now your challenge is to listen to the recording of bird chorus below. There’s a few singing in this one – see if you can spot the thrush (please excuse the background noise):

How did you get on?

Remember, the more you listen, the easier it will become 🙂

More chirps next week!