Ring Ouzel
Here's a more face-on view of a Ring Ouzel I photographed not far from home a couple of weeks ago. Ring Ouzels are the upland counterpart of Blackbird. Apart from the gorget (neck crescent) Ring Ouzels also have silvery edgings to the flight feathers creating a pale wing panel, visible here. If you look closely at the flanks you can also see pale edgings to the body feathers, looking like the bird is wrapped in a pale hairnet. The songs and calls are different too. Unlike the Blackbird's rich, fluty song, Ring Ouzel has a rather flat, repeated whistle. They also make a harsh chacking noise. Unlike our resident Blackbirds, Ring Ouzels spend the winter in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa where they feed on Phoenician Juniper berries. For completeness I should say that Britain receives large numbers of Blackbirds from Scandinavia each winter, even though ours are largely resident. And a very small number of Ring Ouzels will spend the winter in Britain.
Ring Ouzel
Here's a more face-on view of a Ring Ouzel I photographed not far from home a couple of weeks ago. Ring Ouzels are the upland counterpart of Blackbird. Apart from the gorget (neck crescent) Ring Ouzels also have silvery edgings to the flight feathers creating a pale wing panel, visible here. If you look closely at the flanks you can also see pale edgings to the body feathers, looking like the bird is wrapped in a pale hairnet. The songs and calls are different too. Unlike the Blackbird's rich, fluty song, Ring Ouzel has a rather flat, repeated whistle. They also make a harsh chacking noise. Unlike our resident Blackbirds, Ring Ouzels spend the winter in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa where they feed on Phoenician Juniper berries. For completeness I should say that Britain receives large numbers of Blackbirds from Scandinavia each winter, even though ours are largely resident. And a very small number of Ring Ouzels will spend the winter in Britain.