Appearance:

Small thrush with rufous flanks, strong white supercilium and whitish moustache stripe. Upperparts evenly brown, underparts white with dark spots on chest and sides. Underwing coverts rufous. Fairly compact build, with slightly more pointed wings and shorter tail than Song Thrush. Juveniles less brightly coloured, with buff spots on upperparts. Behaviour less secretive than Song Thrush.

Sound:

Song delivered in two parts. First a simple, melodic phrase of 3 - 6 notes, usually followed by a more silent, indistinct, fast and less melodic, chattering sequence. First part highly variable from place to place, but constant in individuals. Often causes confusion when a new dialect is heard at a distance, since only the first part is far-reaching, and the diagnostic two-part structure gets lost. Contact call a thin, drawn and sharp "sreee". Often heard at night during migration. Alarm call harder, dryer and more raucous than other thrushes.

Song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Appearance:

Medium sized, brown raptor with shallowly forked tail. Juveniles with mottled appearance, due to buffed tips of wing coverts. Easily mistaken for Red Kite, but tail is not that deeply forked, upper side of tail is dark brown and head not so pale (plumage colours overall more uniform). Base of primaries paler than the rest of the underwing (especially in Middle-East birds), but with much less contrast to the black wing tips than in Red Kite. Differs from dark morphed Booted Eagle by the forked tail. Wings held horizontally (separates it from harriers). Typically twists it's tail frequently to maintain position in the air (like Red Kite).

Sound:

A piercing, first ascending then descending long "piuuu". Starting as a clear tone then gradually taking on a vibrating character that differs from Red Kite. Also a sharp "kieee -ki- ki-ki". More vocal than Red Kite.

Call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Patrik Åberg, Licence,Link.