Common Blackbird
Turdus merula· 鸫科(5 photos)
Common Blackbird
25-26 cm. Male: dull black with yellow-orange bill/eye-ring; black legs. Female: bill yellow-brown; plumage dark brown; throat dull white, finely streaked darker. Immature: like female; bill brown, plumage mottled rufous. Singles, pairs: hops, runs on lawns; droops, flicks wings, jerks longish tail; jabs bill into soil. Short flights low, undulating; sustained flight fast, direct. Aggressive, territorial, vocal; pest in fruit, berries, grapes, seedlings. Part-albinos occur, mostly in urban populations.
- Other name
- Eurasian Blackbird.
- Similar Species
- Common Starling, Song Thrush.
- Voice
- serene, mellow, song; in alarm, ringing 'tchink, tchink'; anxious 'tsooi?'; screeching chatter; thin 'tseeep'.
- Habitat
- gardens, lawns, parks, orchards, citrus, vineyards, woodlands/forests, watercourses, coastal scrubs, islands.
- Breeding
- Sept.-Dec.
- Nest
- robust cup of grass, rootlets, bark, with mud, horse-manure.
- Eggs
- 3-5; blue-green, freckled, streaked, blotched red-brown, grey.
- Range & Status
- native to Europe, Asia; introduced Melbourne by 1862, later Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, ACT. Common, widespread Tas., much of Vic., ACT and s. SA, from s. Flinders Ras. to s. Eyre Pen., Kangaroo I. In NSW, patchy over much of state except ne. coast and drier inland areas; present Cobar, Broken Hill. Penetrating into se. Q. Sedentary, dispersive, spreading.
- Distribution key to races
- 1. Turdus merula merula
