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BTO Blueline
MISTLE THRUSH
Turdus viscivorus
Mistle Thrush © Tommy Holden
 

• Population
  changes

• Productivity
  trends

• Additional
  information
Conservation listings
Europe: no SPEC category (concentrated in Europe, conservation status favourable)
UK: amber (25–50% population decline)
Long-term trend
UK, England: moderate decline
UK population size
222,500 territories in 2000 (1988–91 Atlas estimate updated using CBC/BBS trend: BiE04, APEP06)
Status summary
Like those of Song Thrush and Blackbird, Mistle Thrush populations have declined significantly since the mid 1970s, especially on farmland. The species was recently moved from the green to the amber list because of population decline, and recent BBS data suggest that this decline is continuing. The Scottish BBS trend, in contrast to those elsewhere in the UK, is of strong increase since the late 1990s. There have been no trends in breeding performance, other than a minor increase in clutch size, and the decline is likely to have been driven by reduced annual survival (Siriwardena et al. 1998). Numbers have fallen widely in Europe since 1980 (PECBM 2006).
 

Population changes
CBC/BBS UK graph
 
Table of population changes for Mistle Thrush

Source Period
(yrs)		 Years Plots
(n)		 Change
(%)		 Lower
limit		 Upper
limit		 Alert Comment
CBC/BBS UK 38 1967-2005 422 -41 -52 -28 >25  
  25 1980-2005 567 -37 -45 -29 >25  
  10 1995-2005 1128 -5 -12 4    
  5 2000-2005 1162 -8 -12 -3    
CBC/BBS England 38 1967-2005 348 -48 -55 -38 >25  
  25 1980-2005 463 -45 -51 -37 >25  
  10 1995-2005 907 -18 -24 -13    
  5 2000-2005 914 -17 -21 -13    
BBS UK 10 1995-2005 1059 -3 -10 6    
  5 2000-2005 1145 -8 -12 -3    
BBS England 10 1995-2005 846 -17 -22 -10    
  5 2000-2005 898 -17 -20 -13    
BBS Scotland 10 1995-2005 64 62 32 115    
  5 2000-2005 68 13 0 33    
BBS Wales 10 1995-2005 93 2 -16 25    
  5 2000-2005 109 -3 -16 12    
BBS N.Ireland 10 1995-2005 52 26 -42 121    
  5 2000-2005 66 6 -13 30    

BBS acknowledgement
 
CBC/BBS England graph
BBS UK graph
BBS England graph
BBS Scotland graph
BBS Wales graph
BBS N Ireland graph
 

Productivity trends
Table of productivity changes for Mistle Thrush

Variable Period
(yrs)		 Years Mean
annual
sample		 Trend Modelled
in first year		 Modelled
in 2005		 Change Comment
Clutch size 37 1968-2005 35 Linear increase 3.88 eggs 4.07 eggs 4.7%  
Brood size 37 1968-2005 67 None        
Daily failure rate (eggs) 37 1968-2005 58 None        
Daily failure rate (chicks) 37 1968-2005 60 None        
Laying date 37 1968-2005 29 None       Small sample

 
Clutch size graph
Brood size graph
Egg nest failure graph
Chick nest failure graph
Laying date graph

 

 

Insufficient data on CES
available for this species
 

Additional information
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This report should be cited as:
Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Barimore, C., Coombes, R.H.,
Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. & Thewlis, R.M. (2007)
Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2007.
BTO Research Report No. 487. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 3 January, 2008