Fieldfares are winter visitors to the UK from Scandinavia, gathering in large flocks in open countryside. Their welfare depends on winter berry and invertebrate availability.
Fieldfares in hard winters face food scarcity when both berries are exhausted and ground is frozen. Large flocks can strip berry crops quickly, requiring movement to find new food sources. Maintaining berry-rich hedgerows provides essential food for fieldfares and other winter thrushes throughout the season.