Mistle thrush
Turdus viscivorus Linnaeus, 1758
The mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus) is a small songbird in the family Turdidae, order Passeriformes. It is an omnivore that lives in forest habitat, has a perching lifestyle and is sedentary.
Quick facts about the mistle thrush
Adults weigh 117.4 g, with reported values from 112.2 g to 123 g, and the wingspan is 44 cm. It lays 3.95 eggs per clutch and 2 clutches per year, with an incubation period of 14.5 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 112.2 g – 123 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 44 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 16.8 years – 21.3 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 14.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.95src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the mistle thrush?
Photos of the mistle thrush
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the mistle thrush live?
Not recorded
What is the mistle thrush?
The mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus) is a bird common to much of Europe, temperate Asia and North Africa. It is a year-round resident in a large part of its range, but northern and eastern populations migrate south for the winter, often in small flocks. It is a large thrush with pale grey-brown upper parts, a greyish-white chin and throat, and black spots on its pale yellow and off-white under parts. The sexes are similar in plumage, and its three subspecies show only minimal differences. The male has a loud, far-carrying song which is delivered even in wet and windy weather, earning the bird the old name of stormcock. Historically, the name was also sometimes spelled "missel thrush".
Found in open woods, parks, hedges and cultivated land, the mistle thrush feeds on a wide variety of invertebrates, seeds and berries. Its preferred fruit include those of mistletoe, holly, rowan, and yew. Mistletoe is favoured where it is available, and this is reflected in the thrush's English and scientific names; the plant, a parasitic species, benefits from its seeds being excreted by the thrush onto branches where they can germinate. In winter, a mistle thrush will vigorously defend mistletoe clumps or other fruit-bearing trees as a food reserve for when times are hard, chasing off other thrushes and other fruit-eating birds like waxwings.
The open cup nest is built against a trunk or in a forked branch, and is fearlessly defended against potential predators, sometimes including humans or cats. The clutch, typically of three to five eggs, is incubated for 12–15 days, mainly by the female. The chicks fledge about 14–16 days after hatching. There are normally two broods. There was a range expansion in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and a small decline in recent decades, perhaps due to changes in agricultural practices. Given its numbers and large range, this thrush is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of least concern.
From the Wikipedia article “Mistle thrush” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mistle_thrush&oldid=1368333436), 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 mistle thrush sound like?
Is the mistle thrush endangered?
The mistle thrush 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 mistle thrush classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyTurdidae
- genusTurdus
- SpeciesTurdus viscivorus Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Ixocossyphus viscivorus, Lamprophonus viscivorus, Merula viscivora, Sylvia viscivora, Turdus arboreus, Turdus hodgsonii, Turdus major, Turdus temporogriseus, Turdus viscivorus reiseri
Other names and names in other languages (91)
- سمنة الدبقArabic
- سمنة كبيرةArabic
- CharloAragonese
- malvís montésAsturian
- Çil qaratoyuqAzerbaijani
- БарҡылдаҡBashkir
- ДзярабаBelarusian
- Шэры дроздBelarusian
- Имелов дроздBulgarian
- Drask roueelBreton
- GrivaCatalan
- griva comunaCatalan
- Кого лагыMari
- Пысӑк сӗлхеChuvash
- Пысăк сĕлхеChuvash
- TrizinaCorsican
- drozd brávníkCzech
- Brych CoedWelsh
- brych y coedWelsh
- Brychod y CoedWelsh
- MisteldrosselGerman
- ΤσαρτσάραGreek
- ΓερακότσιχλαGreek
- ViskoturdoEsperanto
- viska turdoEsperanto
- Zorzal charloSpanish
- hoburästasEstonian
- GarraztarroBasque
- توکای بزرگPersian
- kulorastasFinnish
- DiglutrøsturFaroese
- Grive draineFrench
- Grive du guiFrench
- LiatráiscIrish
- Smólach mórIrish
- smeòrach mhòrScottish Gaelic
- smeòrach ghlasScottish Gaelic
- smeòraichean glasaScottish Gaelic
- smeòraichean mòraScottish Gaelic
- Tordo charloGalician
- Treshlen vooarManx
- קיכלי גדולHebrew
- léprigóHungarian
- ՍոսնձակեռնեխArmenian
- MistilþrösturIcelandic
- MistilßrösturIcelandic
- TordelaItalian
- ヤドリギツグミJapanese
- ჩხართვიGeorgian
- БзуупцӀэкъуэлэнKabardian
- Қылғытпа сайрақKazakh
- 대륙점지빠귀Korean
- 겨우살이지빠귀Korean
- TraskelCornish
- Боз таркылдакKyrgyz
- LäischterLuxembourgish
- MëspeldréischelLuxembourgish
- amalinis strazdasLithuanian
- sila strazdsLatvian
- кугулогоMari
- ИмеличарMacedonian
- Бужмаг хөөндэйMongolian
- Вирень тырдазErzya
- हड्चुर चाँचरNepali
- grote lijsterDutch
- MistellijsterDutch
- duetrastNorwegian Nynorsk
- duetrostNorwegian
- Kuloračoiolo
- paszkotPolish
- tordoveiaPortuguese
- Sturz de vâscRomanian
- ДерябаRussian
- VuovderásttisNorthern Sami
- duvvárásttisNorthern Sami
- guolbbarásttisNorthern Sami
- drozd trskotaSlovak
- cararSlovenian
- mulliverdhaAlbanian
- Tusha e madhe e malitAlbanian
- Drozd imelašSerbian
- Дрозд имелашSerbian
- dubbeltrastSwedish
- БаркылдыкTatar
- Ökse ArdıcıTurkish
- Ökse ardıç kuşuTurkish
- ökse ardıçıTurkish
- Ökseotu ArdıcıTurkish
- дрізд-омелюхUkrainian
- 槲鶇Chinese
- 槲鸫Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the mistle thrush
Other species in the same genus Turdus.
Common blackbird
Turdus merula
Song thrush
Turdus philomelos
Fieldfare
Turdus pilaris
Ring ouzel
Turdus torquatus
Redwing
Turdus iliacus
American robin
Turdus migratorius
CompareMistle thrush vs Common blackbirdMistle thrush vs Song thrushMistle thrush vs FieldfareMistle thrush 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 the mistle thrush?
The mistle thrush is a bird, a songbird of the family Turdidae in the order Passeriformes.
How heavy is the mistle thrush?
An adult Mistle thrush weighs 117.4 g, with reported values from 112.2 g to 123 g. Its wingspan is 44 cm.
What does the mistle thrush eat?
The mistle thrush is an omnivore.
Where does the mistle thrush live?
The mistle thrush lives in forest habitat and is sedentary. Its geographic range covers 13,570,000 km².
Is the mistle thrush endangered?
No. The mistle thrush is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the mistle thrush live?
The mistle thrush has a lifespan of 16.77 years, with values up to 21.25 years reported.
How many eggs does the mistle thrush lay?
The mistle thrush lays 3.95 eggs per clutch and 2 clutches per year. Incubation lasts 14.5 days.
Who named the mistle thrush?
The mistle thrush, Turdus viscivorus, was named 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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CreatureData. (2026). Mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mistle-thrush
“Mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/mistle-thrush.
@misc{mistle_thrush_2026,
title = {Mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mistle-thrush},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}