Song thrush "Turdus", is the Latin for "thrush", and the specific epithet refers to a character in Greek mythology, Philomela, who had her tongue cut out, but was changed into a singing bird. Her name is derived from the Ancient Greek "Φιλο" "philo-" ("loving"), and "μέλος" "melos" ("song"). The dialect names "throstle" and "mavis" both mean "thrush", being related to the German "drossel" and French "mauvis" respectively. "Throstle" dates back to at least the fourteenth century and was used by Chaucer in the "Parliament of Fowls". Mavis is derived via Middle English "mavys" and Old French "mauvis" from Middle Breton "milhuyt" meaning
Song thrush rich yellow background colour to the underparts. It is a partial migrant with some birds wintering in southern France and Iberia. This form intergrades with the nominate subspecies in central Europe, and with "T. p. hebridensis" in the Inner Hebrides and western Scotland, and in these areas birds show intermediate characteristics. Additional subspecies, such as "T. p. nataliae" of Siberia, proposed by the Russian Sergei Buturlin in 1929, are not widely accepted. The song thrush (as represented by the nominate subspecies "T. p. philomelos") is 20 to 23.5 centimetres (8 to 9.25 in) in length and weighs 50–107 grammes (1.8