Bird guide · Turdus pilaris
Fieldfare
What the fieldfare eats, where it lives, when it comes to feeders and how to recognise it – with sightings from across the UK.
- Season
- Migrant
- Size
- 9.8 in (25 cm)
- Eats
- apples, berries
- Feeds
- ground
- Most common
- England, Scotland, Northern Ireland
Food
What do fieldfares eat?
At feeders, fieldfares take apples, berries.
Roams the countryside in chuckling flocks of ten to several hundred birds.
Feeder that suits it
A low tray or platform feeder, or seed scattered on the ground below your feeder.
Range
Where do fieldfares live?
Winter visitor from Fennoscandia, western Russia and eastern Europe, arriving in October; Red-listed. By share of all bird sightings, fieldfares are most common in England (0.3%).
Nations where fieldfares are most common
- England0.3%
- Scotland0.2%
- Northern Ireland0.2%
- Wales0.1%
Share of all bird sightings in each nation that are fieldfares, 2019–2024.
Season
When can you see the fieldfare?
Migrant. Across the UK, it is mainly reported from October to April, most often in November.
Share of all bird sightings in the UK that are fieldfares, by month.
Identification
How to identify the fieldfare
Adults: Grey head and rump, chestnut back and spotted breast.
Size: 9.8 in (25 cm)
On camera
Getting the fieldfare on a feeder camera
Most visits happen on the ground or on low trays. A camera feeder with a wide tray, placed low near cover, catches far more than a hanging tube.
Questions
Fieldfare: questions
What do fieldfares eat?
At feeders, apples, berries.
Do fieldfares migrate?
Migrant. Across the UK, it is mainly reported from October to April, most often in November.
Where do fieldfares live?
By share of all bird sightings, they are most common in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales.
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