04-Jan Discovering Winter Birdsong

Although cold, January is not usually as wet as December, which means the birds do not look quite so miserable in the trees and on warmer days tend to sing a little more. In woods and gardens there are many ‘ticking’ calls and abbreviated songs. The most noise is heard on park lakes where visiting wildfowl are particularly vocal. There are not many birds singing at the beginning of the month, but the number gradually increases and also the length of time they sing as the month progresses.

The song of the mistle thrush is arguably the best of the month. His full song, which you can hear throughout the month, is renowned for its strength and the determination of its delivery. The male has a habit of positioning himself at the very top of an enormous tree, often in a large park, which adds some theatre to his performance. Osterley, Cannizaro and Syon parks are all good places to listen out for them. They are also famous for singing in windy, even stormy, situations giving rise to their alternative name of storm cocks. Another alternative name was Jeremy Joy thought to be a corruption of January Joy, presumably referring to their welcome song.

There is a uniquely loud wild quality to the voice which distinguishes it from the more relaxed, but similar, blackbird’s song. Blackbirds can be heard occasionally in January in more central areas. Mistle thrushes, in between singing, can be quite aggressive. They will guard a bush which is covered in berries and drive away all other birds that may attempt to feed upon it. They may also already be prospecting for a place to nest and becoming quite quarrelsome with any rivals. In such cases they produce a harsh rattle which is not unlike the sound of a football rattle.

This striking sound is special to the mistle thrush’s vocabulary and is another of the more evocative sounds of the month. These thrushes derive their name from mistletoe because of their love of the berries. However, this is not likely to be our native mistletoe, which the birds show no great preference for, but rather a red-berried Mediterranean species that grows on olive trees.

It was Aristotle in the fourth century who is said to have coined the bird’s name and it seems likely he saw them eating the red berries. Certainly in Britain they are said to prefer red yew berries more than any other and small patches of these half-digested berries are now a common sight, especially along the North downs.

The song thrush is also singing more often and better as the month progresses. His song is always recognised among others by the way he repeats each phrase, anything from two to five times. This feature was identified in a poem by Robert Browning:

“That’s the wise thrush, he sings his song twice over lest you should think he could never replace the first careless rapture.”

At this time of year both thrushes and robins are best heard when competing against rival birds in the next territory at dusk.