A recently fledged fieldfare, Turdus pilaris, photographed in Skien, Norway.
Image: Ernst Vikne, 26 May 2004 (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license) [velociraptorize].
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Question: This lovely Norwegian mystery bird winters throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Among its family members, it exhibits a unique reproductive strategy. Can you tell me what that is and why this bird uses this strategy?
Response: This is a recently fledged Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris, a member of the turdidae (thrush family). The Fieldfare is quite large, with attractively patterned colours, and the sexes are similar. Among the thrushes, the fieldfare is unusual because they often nest in small colonies, possibly for protection from large crows. Male and female both care for the young.
Here is a long but artistic video showing a fieldfare nest on a fence in the Russian countryside (part 2; you can view part 1 here; uploaded 7 June 2010):
Did you see the chicks on the eaves trying to grab that wasp in flight? I thought that entire interaction was quite amusing.
You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.
If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative international audience here at The Guardian, feel free to contact me to learn more.
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