It sings through a gale, which earned it the name stormcock.
From Mistle Thrush
Its scientific name means mistletoe eater, and it is the plant's main disperser in Europe: the seeds pass through its gut and stick to branches when the bird wipes its bill, planting them exactly where they will germinate.
From Mistle Thrush
A single bird can defend a berry-laden tree all winter, driving off every other thrush and securing the larder until spring.
From Mistle Thrush
It migrates at night, and its calls carry down to the ground as it passes.
From Redwing
In the olive groves of southern Spain a study found that 86% of its winter diet was plant matter, and of that fraction 97% was olives: in the Altiplano of Granada they call it "aceitunero", the olive-eater.
From Redwing
It is so nomadic and so unfaithful to its wintering areas that the Iberian wintering population can swing between several million and a few thousand from one year to the next.
From Redwing
The colony defends its nests by bombarding predators with droppings.
From Fieldfare
It defends the colony by bombing predators with droppings: several adults dive at a crow or a raptor and fire faeces that mat its plumage, and there are documented cases of raptors left unable to fly.
From Fieldfare

Ecosystems