Blackbird
A male blackbird
Latin Name : Turdus merula
Resident or visitor : Both – most blackbirds are resident, but the UK attracts many migrants from mainland Europe in the winter
Size : 24-25cm
Appearance : Plump, round-headed, often with drooping wings when singing or scuttling along the ground, which they do very often ! Male is all black, apart from very yellow beak, and yellow ring around eye; female is dark brown, darker wings and tail.
Call : The most tuneful bird in Snape Wood – lovely song, which tends to tail off; when alarmed makes a noisy cackle; all blackbirds can usually be heard at sunset, chirping away crazily in defence of their territories – usually the last bird to be heard before tawny owls and confused robins take over for the night shift.
Diet : Insects, earthworms, berries. In the garden, they will eat suet pellets and dried mealworms.
Nesting habitat : Woodland – bushes/trees; cup-shaped made of grass, twigs, plastered on inside with mud. February onwards, 2 or 3 broods per year
Offspring :3-5 eggs incubate for 14 days; both parents feed young, who fledge within 2 weeks – male and female each take responsibility for looking after their own favourites !
General information and observations : Blackbirds are very territorial and males will fight each other for the best spaces in the Wood. The males have a cunning way of diverting would-be predators (including humans) away from their nesting females by making a lot of noise in a tree away from the nest, usually the alarm call. Generally very nervous of humans, but you can get close if you stand still and they come to you.
Please add your sightings and observations below !
Themocracy
Daily sightings in and around Reserve