Stormcock In Elder Poem

[Mike Fowler]

Stormcock in Elder," first published in 1934, is one of the best-known poems by English writer Ruth Pitter. A traditionalist whose work employs classic meters and verse forms, Pitter published 18 volumes of poetry over a 70-year career, and was the first woman to receive the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. "Stormcock in Elder" is an ode to the mistle thrush, a bird that gets its nickname of "stormcock" based on the fact that it sings even in bad weather. This quality stirs the speaker of the poem's faith. "Stormcock in Elder" is an excellent example of the spiritual and rural focus of Pitter's poetry, relying on vivid imagery of the natural world in order to convey its speaker's transformative religious awakening upon hearing the bird's song.

The mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus), also spelled missel thrush, is a bird common to much of Europe, temperate Asia and North Africa. It is a year-round resident in a large part of its range, but northern and eastern populations migrate south for the winter, often in small flocks. It is a large thrush with pale grey-brown upper parts, a greyish-white chin and throat, and black spots on its pale yellow and off-white under parts. The sexes are similar in plumage, and its three subspecies show only minimal differences. The male has a loud, far-carrying song which is delivered even in wet and windy weather, earning the bird the old name of stormcock.

Found in open woods, parks, hedges and cultivated land, the mistle thrush feeds on a wide variety of invertebrates, seeds and berries. Its preferred fruits include those of the mistletoe, holly and yew. Mistletoe is favoured where it is available, and this is reflected in the thrush's English and scientific names; the plant, a parasitic species, benefits from its seeds being excreted by the thrush onto branches where they can germinate. In winter, a mistle thrush will vigorously defend mistletoe clumps or a holly tree as a food reserve for when times are hard.

The mistle thrush was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae under its current scientific name.[2][3] Turdus is the Latin for "thrush", and viscivorus, "mistletoe eater", comes from viscum "mistletoe" and vorare, "to devour".[4][5][6] The bird's liking for mistletoe berries is also indicated by its English name, "mistle" being an old name for the plant.[7]

There are more than 60 species of medium to large thrushes in the genus Turdus, characterised by rounded heads, longish pointed wings, and usually melodious songs.[8] A mitochondrial DNA study identified the mistle thrush's closest relatives as the similarly plumaged song and Chinese thrushes; these three species are early offshoots from the Eurasian lineage of Turdus thrushes after they spread north from Africa. They are less closely related to other European thrush species such as the blackbird (T. merula) which are descended from ancestors that had colonised the Canary islands from Africa and subsequently reached Europe from there.[9][10]

At least eight subspecies have been proposed, but the differences between them are mainly clinal, with birds being paler and less densely spotted in the east of the range. The accepted subspecies as of 2000 are:[11]

An isolated population in Crimea has sometimes been separated as T. v. tauricus, but this is not considered to be a valid form.[11] Mistle thrush fossils have been found in Pleistocene deposits from Poland and Sicily.[12][13]

The eastern subspecies T. v. bonapartei is 30 cm (12 in) in length, and therefore slightly larger than the nominate form. It is paler grey above and whiter below, with fewer black spots. Birds of intermediate appearance are seen west of the Ob River where the range overlaps with viscivorus. The southern race T. v. deichleri resembles bonapartei in appearance, but is closer in size to the nominate viscivorus, although it has a more slender bill.[11]

Adults have a full moult after breeding, beginning between late May and the end of June, and completed by early October. Juvenile birds have a partial moult, replacing their head, body, and covert feathers; this is completed by October, although the start of the moult depends on when the chicks hatched.[11]

The male mistle thrush has a loud melodious song with fluted whistles, sounding like chewee-trewuu ... trureetruuruu or similar, repeated three to six times,[11] and used to advertise his territory, attract a mate and maintain the pair bond.[15] The tone resembles that of the song thrush or blackbird, but compared to its relatives the mistle thrush's repertoire is less varied and the delivery is slower. The song is, however, much louder, often audible up to 2 km (2,000 yd) away. The song is given from a treetop or other elevated position mainly from November to early June. The male is most vocal in the early morning, and its tendency to sing after, and sometimes during, wet and windy weather led to the old name "stormcock".[11][16] The song may be heard in any month, although it is uncommon from July to August while the thrush is moulting.[17] The main call, given by both sexes, is a dry chattering krrrr, louder when it is alarmed or excited.[11][16] It is often likened to the sound of a football rattle, a form of musical ratchet.[18] There is also a squeaky tuk contact call.[3]

The mistle thrush breeds in much of Europe and temperate Asia, although it is absent from the treeless far north, and its range becomes discontinuous in southeast Europe, Turkey and the Middle East. In these warmer southern areas, it tends to be found in the milder uplands and coastal regions. Nominate T. v. viscivorus breeds in Europe and in Asia east to the Ob, beyond which it is replaced by T. v. bonapartei. The southern form T. v. deichleri is resident in North Africa, Corsica and Sardinia.[11]

The mistle thrush is a partial migrant: birds from the north and east of the range wintering in the milder areas of Europe and North Africa. Scandinavian and Russian birds start moving south from mid-September onwards, most birds wintering in Europe, western Turkey and the Middle East. Between mid-October and November, large numbers cross the Strait of Gibraltar and others pass through Cyprus, but there is hardly any migration across the North Sea. Breeding birds in the British Isles and north-west Europe are resident or move only short distances. In the Himalayas, the breeding population moves to nearby lower-altitude sites in winter. Return migration starts mainly from late March, although it can be a month earlier in the Middle East, and northern breeders may not arrive back on their territories until late April or early May. Migration may be by day or night, and typically involves individuals or small groups.[11] Vagrant birds have occurred in the Azores, China, Crete, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Japan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sikkim and the United Arab Emirates.[1][11] In the winter 2017/2018 the first record of a mistle thrush for North America was at Miramichi in New Brunswick.[19]

There is evidence that this species has changed its natural habitat in at least parts of its range. In Germany and elsewhere in central Europe, it was found only in coniferous forest until the mid-1920s when its range rapidly expanded, first into farmland, and then to suburbs and urban parks. The reasons for this expansion are unclear.[20] In areas of intensive farming, such as eastern England, arable land has in turn largely been abandoned in favour of built-up areas with their greater variety of green habitats.[21]

Perhaps the most notable find of the 118th Christmas Bird Count in Canada was a single vagrant mistle thrush found in Miramichi, New Brunswick. This was the first record for this species in North America.[22] The discovery attracted many birders from Canada and the United States; sightings continued from early December 2017 through late March 2018.[23]

Mistle thrushes are found as individuals or pairs for much of the year, although families forage together in late summer,[11] and groups may merge to form large flocks when food sources are plentiful.[24] It is not uncommon for up to 50 thrushes to feed together at that time of year. They roost at night in trees or bushes, again typically as individuals or pairs, except in late summer or autumn when families may roost together.[11]

The mistle thrush is quite terrestrial, hopping with its head held up and body erect; when excited, it will flick its wings and tail. The flight consists of undulating bounds interspersed with glides.[11]

In a study carried out in Britain, the survival rate for juveniles in their first year is 57 per cent, and the adult annual survival rate is 62 per cent. Life expectancy is typically three years,[14] but the maximum age recorded from bird ringing recoveries is 21 years and 3 months for a bird shot in Switzerland.[28]

Mistle thrushes feed mainly on invertebrates, fruit and berries. Animal prey include earthworms, insects and other arthropods, slugs and snails.[11] Snails are sometimes smashed on a stone "anvil", a technique also used by the song thrush.[17] The mistle thrush has been known to kill slowworms and the young of the song thrush, blackbird and dunnock.[11]

Plant food includes the fruits and seeds of bushes and trees, mainly holly, yew, ivy and mistletoe, but also, for example, blackberry, cherry, elder, hawthorn, olive and rose. It may eat the flowers and shoots of grasses and other plants, and will take fallen apples and plums. It forages within its breeding habitat and in open fields, sometimes sharing these feeding areas with redwings or fieldfares.[11]

Young birds are initially mainly fed on invertebrates, often collected from low foliage or under bushes rather than in the grassland preferred by the adults. Adults will roam up to 1 km (approximately 1,100 yards) from the nest on pasture or ploughed land. After fledging the young may accompany their parents until the onset of winter.[24] Individuals or pairs will defend one or more fruit-bearing trees throughout the winter, with preference shown for trees which host mistletoe, the parasitic plant from which the bird derives its name. Where mistletoe is not present, holly is the most common tree chosen.[29] Although the thrush normally feeds on the ground and from low bushes, the defence of this resource conserves fruit for later in the season when other food items become scarce.[16] The trees are defended against other thrushes as well as birds such as the bullfinch and great spotted woodpecker. In milder winters with an abundance of fruit, however, this strategy is less used and thrushes can be observed foraging in flocks.[30] Conversely, in hard winters, the defender may be overwhelmed by large flocks of fieldfares, redwings or Bohemian waxwings.[29]

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