The song thrush (Turdus philomelos) is known as a park bird in London and elsewhere in the world. In Finland, however, it has been known as a somewhat timid forest bird. Nowadays it nests even in the southern parts of Helsinki’s Central Park, and is perhaps adapting to a more urban lifestyle.
The song thrush‘s song is chatty, repeating various beautiful themes a few times each. It has been imagined as berating woodcutters, saying ‘Lazy man, lazy man. Put it in, put it in. Not good, not good.’
Song thrush nests are usually found in spruce trees, and sometimes in log piles. It builds a curious, cardboard-like nest cup out of a mix of saliva and rotting wood. Another bird species that is known to make use of rotting wood in its nests is the blackbird.
The redwing (Turdus iliacus) also nests in forests near population centres. It is easy to distinguish by the red spot on its side and by its white eye stripe. Redwings prefer to make their nests in buildings, on porches, in piles of twigs and in berry bushes.
The song thrush, photo Eero Haapanen.