Birdwatching - 1918 🐦

🦉 The fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)

• Turdus (lat) - Thrush
• pilaris the etymology is mysterious, although it is now believed that pilaris in later Latin means simply thrush (Jobling, 2017). However, since lat. "pilus" hair, pilare to remove hair, but pila ball, pilaris anything related to ball, and pilarius is a juggler (and at the same time, the Greek "trikhos" is hair, and "trikhas" is a thrush!), all this puzzling. Two assumptions arise. First: when the fieldfare in summer, how usually pulls earthworms out of the ground, this can be associated with hair removal (pilare). Second: when in autumn and winter the fieldberry picks rowan berries and throws them up, swallows, it may resemble a juggler (pilarius).

I associate this bird with the word “brotherhood”.
Thrushes (and not only these) nest in colonies. Their nests are sometimes located high, sometimes low, sometimes completely open on the ground, sometimes they can be camouflaged. Simply put, they don't pay much attention to security. Because of this, their nests are sometimes destroyed by corvids or other predators.

But because of their “brotherhood”, they are always ready to help each other, rallying to defend their territory. Seeing an intruder, thrushes defend themselves by rushing at their enemies and dousing them with droppings. This dung bombardment is a rather dangerous weapon, as it can contaminate and gum up the feathers of enemies so much that they will not be able to fly.
By the way, this applies not only to birds. People can expect the same “shelling.” They fired at me repeatedly.