Fieldfare
Turdus pilaris Linnaeus, 1758
The fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup, belonging to the order Passeriformes and the family Turdidae. It is a small, migratory bird with an adult body mass of 106 g and a wingspan of 42 cm.
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Quick facts about the fieldfare
The fieldfare has an invertivore diet, sits at the carnivore trophic level, forages as a generalist and lives in forest habitat. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category, and its geographic range covers 15,230,000 km².
- Weight
- 99.7 g – 106 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 25 cmsrc for Length
- Wingspan
- 42 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 18 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 13.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.32 – 5.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the fieldfare?
Photos of the fieldfare
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the fieldfare live?
Not recorded
What is the fieldfare?
The fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It breeds in woodland and scrub in northern Europe and across the Palearctic. It is strongly migratory, with many northern birds moving south during the winter. It is a very rare breeder in the British Isles, but winters in large numbers in the United Kingdom, Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of molluscs, insects and earthworms in the summer, and berries, grain and seeds in the winter.
Fieldfares often nest in small colonies, possibly for protection from predators. The nest is built in a tree where five or six eggs are laid. The chicks are fed by both parents and leave the nest after a fortnight (a period of two weeks). There may be two broods in southern parts of the range but only one further north. Migrating birds and wintering birds often form large flocks, often in the company of redwings.
The fieldfare is 25 cm (10 in) long, with a grey crown, neck and rump, a plain brown back, dark wings and tail and white underwings. The breast and flanks are heavily spotted. The breast has a reddish wash and the rest of the underparts are white. The sexes are similar in appearance but the females are slightly more brown. The male has a simple chattering song and the birds have various guttural flight and alarm calls.
From the Wikipedia article “Fieldfare” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fieldfare&oldid=1371937958), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the fieldfare sound like?
Is the fieldfare endangered?
The fieldfare is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the fieldfare classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyTurdidae
- genusTurdus
- SpeciesTurdus pilaris Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Alauda calandrotte, Arceuthornis pilaris, Arceuthornis pilaris, Lamprophonus pilaris, Merula pilaris, Planesticus pilaris, Sylvia pilaris, Turdus fuscilateralis, Turdus juniperorum, Turdus pilaris glacioborealis, Turdus pilaris tertius, Turdus pilaris zarudnyi, Turdus subpilaris, Turdus subpuilaris, Turdus ultrapilaris
Other names and names in other languages (98)
- دج الغيطArabic
- سمنة الحقولArabic
- Charro gabachoAragonese
- carrascalAsturian
- malvís carrascalAsturian
- Мышар барҡылдағыBashkir
- РабіннікBelarusian
- Дрозд-піскунBelarusian
- Дрозд-пiскунBelarusian
- Хвойнов дроздBulgarian
- Drask louetBreton
- Tord ReialCatalan
- griva cerdanaCatalan
- Пӹзӹлмӹ лагыMari
- Пилеш кайӑкӗChuvash
- Пилеш кайăкĕChuvash
- drozd kvíčalaCzech
- JagódnikKashubian
- socan eiraWelsh
- Socanod EiraWelsh
- SjaggerDanish
- KrammetsvogelGerman
- WacholderdrosselGerman
- ΚεδρότσιχλαGreek
- griza turdoEsperanto
- Zorzal realSpanish
- PaskrästasEstonian
- HallrästasEstonian
- hallrästas e. paskrästasEstonian
- DurdulaBasque
- توکای پشت بلوطیPersian
- räkättirastasFinnish
- FjalltrøsturFaroese
- Grive litorneFrench
- Merle litorneFrench
- KraansfögelNorthern Frisian
- FjildlysterWestern Frisian
- SacánIrish
- LiathruisgScottish Gaelic
- liath-truisgScottish Gaelic
- liath-truisgeanScottish Gaelic
- uiseag-sneachdaScottish Gaelic
- Tordo realGalician
- Ushag sniaghteeManx
- קיכלי אפורHebrew
- drozd bravenjakCroatian
- fenyőrigóHungarian
- ՍինակեռնեխArmenian
- GráþrösturIcelandic
- CesenaItalian
- ノハラツグミJapanese
- ბოლოშავაGeorgian
- რუხთავა შაშვიGeorgian
- orpimmiutarsuaqKalaallisut
- ДжэдгъалӀэхуэлъэKabardian
- Шетен сайрағыKazakh
- 회색머리지빠귀Korean
- ПелыськайKomi
- BoqijeKurdish
- Molgh lasCornish
- JackertLuxembourgish
- smilginis strazdasLithuanian
- pelēkais strazdsLatvian
- пызлыгайыкMari
- дрозд боровинкарMacedonian
- kramsvogelDutch
- gråtrastNorwegian Nynorsk
- gråtrostNorwegian
- kwiczołPolish
- tordo-zornalPortuguese
- SturzRomanian
- CocoşarRomanian
- CocoșarRomanian
- РябинникRussian
- Дрозд-рябинникRussian
- КвічRusyn
- Хара чаччыгыныарYakut
- RásttisNorthern Sami
- bákterásttisNorthern Sami
- ránesrásttisNorthern Sami
- drozd čvíkotaSlovak
- drozd čvíkotavýSlovak
- brinovkaSlovenian
- tushaAlbanian
- baribojaAlbanian
- Tusha e madhe e fushësAlbanian
- Drozd borovnjakSerbian
- Дрозд боровњакSerbian
- björktrastSwedish
- snöskataSwedish
- Миләш кошыTatar
- Tarla ArdıcıTurkish
- Tarla ardıç kuşuTurkish
- tarla ardıçıTurkish
- чикотеньUkrainian
- GardenaVenetian
- 田鶇Chinese
- 田鸫Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the fieldfare
Other species in the same genus Turdus.
Common blackbird
Turdus merula
Song thrush
Turdus philomelos
Mistle thrush
Turdus viscivorus
Ring ouzel
Turdus torquatus
Redwing
Turdus iliacus
American robin
Turdus migratorius
CompareFieldfare vs Common blackbirdFieldfare vs Song thrushFieldfare vs Mistle thrushFieldfare vs Ring ouzel
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a fieldfare?
The fieldfare is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds subgroup, part of the order Passeriformes and the family Turdidae.
How big is a fieldfare?
The fieldfare is a small bird with an adult body mass of 106 g and a wingspan of 42 cm.
What does a fieldfare eat?
The fieldfare has an invertivore diet and sits at the carnivore trophic level.
Is the fieldfare endangered?
No. The fieldfare is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does a fieldfare live?
The fieldfare has a lifespan of 18 years, with values up to 18.1 years reported by our sources.
How many eggs does a fieldfare lay?
The fieldfare lays 5.3 eggs per clutch, with up to 5.5 reported, and has 1.5 clutches per year. The eggs are incubated for 13.5 days.
Does the fieldfare migrate?
Yes, the fieldfare is migratory.
Who named the fieldfare?
The fieldfare was named Turdus pilaris by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/fieldfare
“Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/fieldfare.
@misc{fieldfare_2026,
title = {Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/fieldfare},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}