The ring ouzel is a member of the thrush family, closely related to the common blackbird. In fact, ouzel, is an old name for the common blackbird. The main difference between the ring ouzel and the blackbird is the broad white crescent on the breast.

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The ring ouzel is red-listed in Ireland due to its small and declining breeding population. It is restricted to only a handful of sites (scree slopes in mountainous terrain).

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Image (c) by Andrej Chudy used under Creative Commons License BY-SA 2.0.