Ring ouzel

The ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus) is a European member of the thrush family, Turdidae. It is the mountain equivalent of the closely related common blackbird, and breeds in gullies, rocky areas or scree slopes. 'Ouzel' (or 'ousel') is an old name for common blackbird. The word derives from French 'oiseau', bird, on the common paradigm of French ending -eau converting to English ending -el or -le. The word 'whistle' is cognate: the call of the blackbird family is often characterised as whistling. 'Ouzel' may also be applied to a group of superficially similar but more distantly related birds, the dippers, the European representative of which is sometimes known as the water ouzel. As with the English name, the scientific name also refers to the male's obvious white neck crescent, being derived from the Latin words turdus, 'thrush', and torquatus, 'collared'. About 65 species of medium to large thrushes are in the genus Turdus, characterised by rounded heads, longish, pointed wings, and usually melodious songs. Although two European thrushes, the song thrush and mistle thrush, are early offshoots from the Eurasian lineage of Turdus thrushes after they spread north from Africa, the ring ousel is descended from ancestors that had colonised the Caribbean islands from Africa and subsequently reached Europe from there.