There is a widely held belief that the cause of the decline in Song Thrushes in
the UK is due to them eating snails poisoned with slug pellets. However as far
as I am aware there is no evidence at all for this - and it assumes that most
Song Thrushes live in gardens which they don't. (I am still unclear myself
whether a diet of poisoned snails will actually poison an individual Song
Thrush though I am sure that the overall effects on populations are likely to
be minimal) The intensification of agriculture together with dry spring
weather, especially in the SE is thought to be a more likely cause. They have
actually reversed their decline at the moment and are doing OK in the wetter
parts of the country.
I was interested in the remark about size of territories - which explains why
Song Thrushes are always much less common than Blackbirds.
Rosemary Royle
Wales, UK
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