Fieldfare

© All rights reserved by www.mahmiyat.ps

Rare Winter visitor to Paletine

Social birds, spend the winter in flocks, feeding on shells, insects, earthworms, ants, beetles, and cockroaches in the summer, and berries, grains, seeds, and fruits in the winter.

Biological measurements: Length: 25 cm, weight 80-130 g. It has a gray crown, neck, and rump, and a plain brown back, it has dark wings and tail and white underwings, with a chestnut cloak and back and shoulder with some faintly edged feathers. The rump and upper tail cover are gray, the upper part is dark brown or black, the flight feathers are black with lighter edges, the wings are pale orange with black spots, and the lower covers are white. In summer, lives in pine forests, often near swamps or on open lands. It does not avoid closeness to humans and can be seen in cultivated areas, orchards, parks, and gardens.

 In winter, groups of them are found mainly in open ground, farmland, orchards, and open woodlands. It breeds in northern Norway, northern Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Siberia in the Far East to northwest China. Its winter range extends across western and southern Europe to northern Africa, although it is uncommon in the Mediterranean region. They migrate to Anatolia, Palestine, Iran, north-western India, and sometimes north-eastern India.

They build huge cup-shaped nests made of grass, twigs, leaves, and roots, tied together with mud and lined with soft grass and horsehair. The Female lays 3-7 smooth, shiny, pale, or bright blue eggs with brown or reddish markings which the female incubates alone for 10-14 days. Chicks spawn 12-15 days after hatching but they still depend on their parents for food for another two weeks.