Gardening
Wildlife watch
The cold weather and the fieldfare
The recent cold weather has caused huge problems for birds and many usually wary species have been recorded in gardens across the country, writes David Chapman
Of particular note are the thrushes which, having bred in Scandinavia and further east, regularly spend their winter in Britain to take advantage of the usually mild weather. Having polished off the last of the holly berries they would naturally turn their attention to ground feeding, taking grubs and worms from short grassy areas, but frozen ground is preventing that. Ivy berries, which sustain them through the late winter, are still only just ripening so these birds are struggling to survive.
We have five species of thrush which are commonly seen in Britain during the winter, these are: song thrush, mistle thrush, blackbird, redwing and fieldfare. Two of them are seen only in the winter, I wrote about the redwing in December and, sure enough their numbers have increased dramatically, but even more noticeable to me has been the influx of fieldfares.
Fieldfares are large thrushes, nearly as big as the mistle thrush. They have a grey head and rump contrasting with brown wings. They have spotted breasts but these are quite different to the other familiar thrushes since, along the flanks, the spots are shaped like arrow-heads and the upper breast has an ochre-tinged background colour.
We always get fieldfares but they tend to be shy and avoid close contact with people but not this year. The cold weather has forced them much closer to us than has been the case for many years. I was visiting family in York last week and due to six inches of snow the fieldfares had little choice but to visit gardens to find food. To my surprise, when I returned to Cornwall, we had fieldfares in our garden too.
Apples are a great source of food for fieldfares, so too are pears, so go to your greengrocer and try to buy their rotten fruit for a song. All thrushes would rather feed on the ground than on a bird table so scatter the fruit on your lawn and sit back and watch.
Fieldfares are sociable birds, in a way! They nest in colonies where they protect each other but to watch them squabble over food in the cold of our current winter you would think they were sworn enemies. Fieldfares will try to chase off all other birds from ‘their apple’ so try to spread the food out as much as possible to allow the greatest number of birds to feed.
As I write this article I am watching a fieldfare out of my study window just feet from the house but thankfully the thaw has started in Cornwall and soon this bird will be able to find its fare in the fields where it will no doubt be happier.
First published 29/01/2010
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Reader comments
I live in Angus Scotland and have now at last seen my first fieldfare it came to eat the apples still left on our tree in the garden. I hadnt realised how beautiful they really were.
Posted by: sheila Masterton | 05/03/2010 22:25:42
I have had 1 fieldfare feeding in my garden for the past 5 weeks now. He has become so territorial that I've nicknamed him Dennis the Menance! My poor blackbirds don't stand a chance anymore because he simply dive-bombs them and they are left no option other than to fly away. I wonder if he has become separated from his flock as he looks so odd on his own, can anyone please advise?
Posted by: Juanita | 14/02/2010 10:56:54
I have had 1 fieldfare feeding in my garden for the past 5 weeks now. He has become so territorial that I've nicknamed him Dennis the Menance! My poor blackbirds don't stand a chance anymore because he simply dive-bombs them and they are left no option other than to fly away. I wonder if he has become separated from his flock as he looks so odd on his own, can anyone please advise?
Posted by: Juanita | 14/02/2010 10:56:03
during the snow I saw a thrush,pair of Jays, moor hens, along with the regular birds. I had to go to my bird book to identify some of them. The Jays were lovely to see, they came for the peanuts.
Posted by: L C Barr | 08/02/2010 17:08:29
Just as in last year's snow, we had a large flock of fieldfares eating the apples we put out in the snow on our Newbury lawn for blackbirds and song thrushes. This year, for the first time, we had a pair of mistle thrushes too.
Posted by: David Haverty | 05/02/2010 22:33:31
We live in the Croydon area and have been lucky to have a fieldfare this year in the garden. at frist i thougth it was a thrush but no it was a fieldfare.
Posted by: co co | 05/02/2010 15:04:36
I, too, have seen fieldfares in my garden, eating the apples that have fallen from my tree- yes, I still have apples on it!"
Posted by: DeeBolton | 02/02/2010 22:36:49
