Habitat & Behaviour:
Sometimes known as the ‘Mountain Blackbird’. It is a summer visitor to Bowland but recently their numbers have declined. In the early nineties, around 35 pairs regularly bred but this had plummeted to just 10 occupied territories in 2006, a decline of around 70%. The reasons for the decline are yet to be ascertained but climate change affecting the availability of food sources such as earthworms is likely to be a major factor. It breeds in moorland and mountainous areas especially around rocky cloughs or outcrops.
Identification & Voice:
The bold white breast crescent of the male, duller and browner in the female, is the best way of identifying this rather secretive thrush.
The first clue to a Ring Ouzel’s presence is often a stony chacking call or fluty song echoing round a valley.