Blackbird
The Common Blackbird is a species of true thrush. It is also called Eurasian Blackbird (especially in North America in order to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds) or simply Blackbird where this does not lead to confusion with a similar-looking local species.
The Blackbird’s name derives form 2 Latin words: turdus meaning “thrush” and merula meaning “blackbird”. It may not immediately be clear why the name "blackbird", first recorded in 1486, was applied to this species but not to one of the various other common black English birds, such as the Carrion Crow, Raven, Rook or Jackdaw. However, in Old English and in modern English up to about the 18th century, "bird" was used only for smaller or young birds and larger ones such as crows were called "fowl". At that time, the Blackbird was therefore the only widespread and conspicuous black bird in the UK.
The Blackbird is around 9.25 to 11.5 inches in length including a long tail. The adult male has glossy black plumage, blackish-brown legs, a yellow eye-ring and an orange-yellow bill. The bill darkens somewhat in winter. The adult female is sooty-brown with a dull yellowish-brownish bill, a brownish-white throat and some weak mottling on the breast. The juvenile is similar to the female but has pale spots on the upperparts and the very young juvenile also has a speckled breast. Young birds vary in the shade of brown, with darker birds presumably males. The first year male resembles the adult male but has a dark bill and weaker eye ring and its folded wing is brown rather than black like the body plumage.
The Blackbird breeds in temperate Eurasia, north Africa, the Canary Islands and south Asia. Populations are sedentary in the south and west of the range although northern birds migrate south as far as north Africa and tropical Asia in winter. Common over most of its range in woodland, the Blackbird has a preference for deciduous trees with dense undergrowth. However, gardens provide the most successful breeding habitat. It occurs up to around 3300 feet in Europe and is often replaced by the related Ring Ousel in areas of higher altitude.
The Blackbird has an extensive range and a large population which is generally stable or increasing. However, there have been local declines, especially on farmland, which may be due to agricultural policies that encouraged farmers to remove hedgerows (which provide nesting places) and to drain damp grassland and increase the use of pesticides, both of which could have reduced the availability of invertebrate food.
The Blackbird may commence breeding in March when the breeding pair prospect for a suitable nest site in a creeper or bush, favouring evergreen or thorny species such as ivy, holly, hawthorn, honeysuckle or pyracantha. Sometimes they will nest in sheds or outbuildings where a ledge or cavity is used. The cup-shaped nest is made with grasses, leaves and other vegetation and bound together with mud. It is built by the female alone. The nest is often ill-concealed compared with those of other species and many breeding attempts fail due to predation. The female lays 3 to 5 (average 4) bluish-green eggs marked with reddish-brown blotches which are incubated for 12 to 14 days before the chicks are hatched naked and blind. Fledging takes another 10 to 19 (average 13.6) days, with both parents feeding the young. The young are fed by the parents for up to 3 weeks after leaving the nest and they will follow the adults begging for food. If the female starts another nest, the male alone will feed the fledged young. Second broods are common with the female reusing the same nest if the brood was successful.
The first-year male Blackbird may start singing as early as late January in fine weather in order to establish a territory, followed in late March by the adult male. The male's song is a varied and melodious low-pitched fluted warble which is given from trees, rooftops or other elevated perches mainly in the period from March to June and sometimes into the beginning of July. During the winter, the Blackbird can be heard quietly singing to itself, so much so that September and October are the only months which the song cannot be heard.
The Blackbird is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, earthworms, seeds and berries. It feeds mainly on the ground, running and hopping with a start-stop-start progress. It pulls earthworms from the soil, usually finding them by sight but sometimes by hearing, and roots through leaf litter for other invertebrates. Small amphibians and lizards are occasionally hunted. The Blackbird will also perch in bushes to take berries and collect caterpillars and other active insects. Animal prey predominates and this is particularly important during the breeding season with windfall apples and berries taken more in the autumn and winter.
Near human habitation the main predator of the Blackbird is the domestic cat, with newly fledged young especially vulnerable. Foxes and predatory birds, such as the Sparrowhawk, also predate the Blackbird when the opportunity arises. Eggs and chicks are also taken by corvids, such as the Magpie or Jay.
Date: 12th February 2012
Location: Pennington Flash, Greater Manchester
The Blackbird’s name derives form 2 Latin words: turdus meaning “thrush” and merula meaning “blackbird”. It may not immediately be clear why the name "blackbird", first recorded in 1486, was applied to this species but not to one of the various other common black English birds, such as the Carrion Crow, Raven, Rook or Jackdaw. However, in Old English and in modern English up to about the 18th century, "bird" was used only for smaller or young birds and larger ones such as crows were called "fowl". At that time, the Blackbird was therefore the only widespread and conspicuous black bird in the UK.
The Blackbird is around 9.25 to 11.5 inches in length including a long tail. The adult male has glossy black plumage, blackish-brown legs, a yellow eye-ring and an orange-yellow bill. The bill darkens somewhat in winter. The adult female is sooty-brown with a dull yellowish-brownish bill, a brownish-white throat and some weak mottling on the breast. The juvenile is similar to the female but has pale spots on the upperparts and the very young juvenile also has a speckled breast. Young birds vary in the shade of brown, with darker birds presumably males. The first year male resembles the adult male but has a dark bill and weaker eye ring and its folded wing is brown rather than black like the body plumage.
The Blackbird breeds in temperate Eurasia, north Africa, the Canary Islands and south Asia. Populations are sedentary in the south and west of the range although northern birds migrate south as far as north Africa and tropical Asia in winter. Common over most of its range in woodland, the Blackbird has a preference for deciduous trees with dense undergrowth. However, gardens provide the most successful breeding habitat. It occurs up to around 3300 feet in Europe and is often replaced by the related Ring Ousel in areas of higher altitude.
The Blackbird has an extensive range and a large population which is generally stable or increasing. However, there have been local declines, especially on farmland, which may be due to agricultural policies that encouraged farmers to remove hedgerows (which provide nesting places) and to drain damp grassland and increase the use of pesticides, both of which could have reduced the availability of invertebrate food.
The Blackbird may commence breeding in March when the breeding pair prospect for a suitable nest site in a creeper or bush, favouring evergreen or thorny species such as ivy, holly, hawthorn, honeysuckle or pyracantha. Sometimes they will nest in sheds or outbuildings where a ledge or cavity is used. The cup-shaped nest is made with grasses, leaves and other vegetation and bound together with mud. It is built by the female alone. The nest is often ill-concealed compared with those of other species and many breeding attempts fail due to predation. The female lays 3 to 5 (average 4) bluish-green eggs marked with reddish-brown blotches which are incubated for 12 to 14 days before the chicks are hatched naked and blind. Fledging takes another 10 to 19 (average 13.6) days, with both parents feeding the young. The young are fed by the parents for up to 3 weeks after leaving the nest and they will follow the adults begging for food. If the female starts another nest, the male alone will feed the fledged young. Second broods are common with the female reusing the same nest if the brood was successful.
The first-year male Blackbird may start singing as early as late January in fine weather in order to establish a territory, followed in late March by the adult male. The male's song is a varied and melodious low-pitched fluted warble which is given from trees, rooftops or other elevated perches mainly in the period from March to June and sometimes into the beginning of July. During the winter, the Blackbird can be heard quietly singing to itself, so much so that September and October are the only months which the song cannot be heard.
The Blackbird is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, earthworms, seeds and berries. It feeds mainly on the ground, running and hopping with a start-stop-start progress. It pulls earthworms from the soil, usually finding them by sight but sometimes by hearing, and roots through leaf litter for other invertebrates. Small amphibians and lizards are occasionally hunted. The Blackbird will also perch in bushes to take berries and collect caterpillars and other active insects. Animal prey predominates and this is particularly important during the breeding season with windfall apples and berries taken more in the autumn and winter.
Near human habitation the main predator of the Blackbird is the domestic cat, with newly fledged young especially vulnerable. Foxes and predatory birds, such as the Sparrowhawk, also predate the Blackbird when the opportunity arises. Eggs and chicks are also taken by corvids, such as the Magpie or Jay.
Date: 12th February 2012
Location: Pennington Flash, Greater Manchester
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Also in: Thrushes
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