Thrush

Scientific Name Turdus philomelos

Native No

Family Turdidae

Common Weight 70 Grams

Common Height 12-14 CM

Common Length 21-23 CM

Identification

The thrush is a medium-sized songbird with a speckled brown-on-cream breast, usually heard before it is seen, found in grass reserves, gardens and trees on Waiheke.

The song thrush is smaller than a blackbird and is distinguished from the female blackbird by its pale cream underparts speckled with fawn-brown chevrons. The head, back and upper wings and tail are smooth grey-brown with indistinct streaking on the head. In flight the upper wing is mostly uniform brown. The sexes are alike; juveniles have similar colouring but the speckling on the breast is less distinct.

It is often heard before it is seen, as it is one of the main songsters of suburban New Zealand, with a very long singing season. Thrushes sing from a high branch, at the top of a tree or on power poles and lines.

Their distinctive song comprising a wide range of notes, with each phrase typically repeated 2-3 times in succession. These notes are mainly heard from May to November, but calling can occur throughout the year. Calling can commence before sunrise. Singing is thought to be by males advertising territorial ownership.

Although they eat snails and slugs, song thrushes can damage ripening fruit and spread the seeds of weedy plants. They have no recognised impacts on native bird species.

Waiheke Wildlife

Common Myna

Mynas are stocky brown birds with a shiny black head and shoulders. Commonly found on road sides on Waiheke, usually playing chicken with cars while foraging for food.

Kaka

The Kaka is a large, olive-brown parrot with grey-white crown, red-orange underwing and deep crimson belly, located in tree covered areas around Onetangi.

Magpie

The Magpie is a large black-and-white songbird, It was introduced from Australia. It can be found on Waiheke around farmland and large grass reserves.

Little Shag

The little shag is a small shag, with a short yellow bill, black feet, a relatively long tail, usually spotted in the ocean searching for food or hanging around Waiheke…

Black Bird

The black bird is a medium-sized songbird that is entirely black in adult males with a yellow bill. Abundantly found on Waiheke around household properties and trees.

Tui

The Tui is a iridescent blue-green honeyeater with two curled white feather tufts on the throat. Locations found on Waiheke are around flaxes feeding off nectar.

Fantail

The Fantail is a well known NZ bird due to its distinctive fanned tail. Locations found on Waiheke are any well-treed parks, bush walks and even properties.

White Fronted Tern

The white-fronted tern is a medium-sized, long-tailed sea tern commonly around New Zealand coasts. Spotted congregating on Waiheke wharfs such as Matiatia and Orapiu.

Spur-winged Plover

The Spur-winged plover is a large stocky wader with a yellow bill and spurs on each wing, locations found on Waiheke are Blackpool, Maori hill and Whakanewha.

White Faced Heron

The white-faced heron is a tall, elegant, blue-grey bird usually spotted stalking prey. Locations found on Waiheke are Mangroves, Anzac bay and quiet beaches.

Sacred Kingfisher

The sacred kingfisher is a distinctive bird with a green-blue back, buff to yellow undersides and a large black bill. they can be found nearby tidal beaches on waiheke.

Variable Oyster Catcher

The variable oystercatcher is a stocky coastal bird with a long, bright orange bill, it is located on many quiet beaches such as Blackpool, Whakanewha and Anzac bay.

Australasian Gannet

The gannet is a large slender-bodied seabird with mainly white plumage, buff-yellow head and neck. Occassionally seen around Waiheke searching for food in ocean depths.

Pūkeko

The Pukeko is a large relatively compact rail with a deep blue-violet head, breast and throat and a red bill. Found in swamp/Mangrove areas of Waiheke Island.

Pied Stilt

The pied stilt is a dainty wading bird, It is common at wetlands and coastal areas, found on Waiheke at Putiki Bay, Anzac Bay and Blackpool.

NZ Dotterel

The New Zealand Dotterel is a shorebird which breeds on beaches in NZ's North Island. Locations found on Waiheke are Whakanewha, Anzac Bay and Blackpool.

Spotted Turtle Dove

The spotted dove is a medium-sized, long-tailed dove, with a greyish head and speckled greyish brown upperparts. Found on Waiheke around gardens and the rooster reserve.

White-Eye

A small songbird, immediately recognisable by its distinctive white eye-ring. This quick little bird can be found feeding off flax and kowhais or fruit trees on Waiheke.

Wood Pigeon

The Wood pigeon is a large distinctively-coloured pigeon, it is easy to find on Waiheke due to its size, they are usually perched on powerlines or trees.

Pied Shag

This large black-and-white shag is often seen individually or in a group, usually spotted in the ocean searching for food or hanging around fisherman by the rocks of Waiheke.

Great black-backed gull

The Black-backed gull is a large black-and-white gull with a white head and underparts, black back, yellow bill with a red spot near the tip. Located on Waiheke beaches.

Welcome Swallow

Welcome swallows are small fast-flying birds, they are usually seen around waiheke during breeding season between August and February on powerlines, fences and beaches.

The thrush is a medium-sized songbird with a speckled brown-on-cream breast, usually heard before it is seen, found in grass reserves, gardens and trees on Waiheke.

Bar-tailed Godwit

The Godwit is a migrant from Alaska, they fly 8-9 days straight to arrive in NZ. They can be found on Waiheke from September - March located at Blackpool.

Grey Warbler

The Grey Warbler is a tiny olive-grey song bird often heard before seen. Locations on Waiheke are dense woody vegetations. The warbler can be difficult to spot.

Red Billed Gull

The red-billed gull also known as a "Seagull" is common around New Zealand Coasts. Located everywhere on Waiheke beaches where food or bait is readily accessible.

Breeding

Song thrushes are territorial and nest as solitary, monogamous pairs, breeding from August to February, peaking in September – November in most localities.

They nest in the forks of shrubs or trees several metres above the ground and usually well concealed by foliage. The nest is a tightly woven bowl of grass, small twigs, lichen, wool, dead leaves and lightly lined with mud.

Two, three or more clutches of 3-4 (sometimes 5-6) eggs may be laid during a season especially if an earlier clutch is lost. The eggs are light blue-green or pale blue with tiny dark spots at the larger end. Incubation is mostly by the female and takes 12-13 days. Young are blind and naked when hatched and open their eyes after 5-6 days. They are well-feathered 12 days after hatching, and fledge at 12-14 days.

Both sexes share feeding, including of fledglings. A song thrush has been observed to have laid its eggs in the nest of a blackbird (an example of brood parasitism) but the two song thrush young that hatched out were ejected from the nest, which was subsequently deserted.

Food

Song thrushes mainly eat earthworms, various insects, spiders, snails and slugs found on lawns, under trees, hedges, forests or in woodlands. They also eat the small berries of some shrubs such as coprosma, and can eat ripening fruit in orchards.

Like blackbirds, they tend to ‘listen’ for food, e.g. earthworms, beneath the ground surface. They are well known to break the shell of snails to get at the soft animal, by smashing the shell on a stone or path with a quick flick of the head.

Waiheke Locations

Abundantly found all over Waiheke

Thrush’s are flying birds so they can really be anywhere on Waiheke but not just Waiheke they are all over New Zealand, these are just areas I’ve spotted them and photographed.