Mistle Thrush

The mistle thrush is a large thrush of much of Europe, temperate Asia and North Africa, with pale grey-brown upperparts, a greyish-white chin and throat, and black spots on pale yellow and off-white underparts, the spotting denser on the lower chest. The nominate subspecies is 27–28 cm long with a 45 cm wingspan, weighing 93–167 g. The sexes are similar and the three subspecies differ minimally. The male's loud, far-carrying song, delivered even in wet and windy weather, earned the old name stormcock; in the western Himalaya it could be confused with the plain-backed and long-tailed thrushes (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is a year-round resident in a large part of its range, but northern and eastern populations migrate south in winter, often in small flocks, and in the Himalaya the breeding population moves to nearby lower-altitude sites. It feeds on a wide variety of invertebrates, seeds and berries. Three to five eggs are incubated for 12–15 days mainly by the female. Adults have a full moult after breeding, beginning between late May and the end of June and completed by early October (Wikipedia, general species account).