Thrushes | Turdidae

Lijsters | Zorzales y mirlos

Medium-sized birds with an upright carriage, long strong legs and a moderately long slender bill. On the ground they work in short stages — a few hops, a halt to look and listen, then a strike — and from late summer into winter they turn largely to berries and fallen fruit, which is why whole populations shift southwest when the ground freezes. The song is loud and fluting, built of repeated motifs and delivered from a high open perch, above all at dawn and dusk. The nest is a solid cup, in many species plastered inside with mud; young birds are spotted even where the adults are plain.