common blackbird

The common blackbird was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Turdus merula (characterised as T. ater, rostro palpebrisque fulvis).{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carolus | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | language = la | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata | publisher=Holmiae (Laurentii Salvii)| year=1758| page=170 | url=https://archive.org/details/mobot31753000798865}} The binomial name derives from two Latin words, {{Lang|la|turdus}}, "thrush", and {{Lang|la|merula}}, "blackbird", the latter giving rise to its French name, {{Lang|fr|merle}},{{cite book |title= Le Grand Robert de la langue française |last= Le Robert |first= Paul | language = fr | publisher= Dictionnaires Le Robert |year=2001 |isbn=2-85036-673-0}} and its Scots name, merl.{{cite book |title=Dictionary of the Scots Language|publisher=Scottish Language Dictionaries|location=University of Edinburgh|url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/}}

About 65 species of medium to large thrushes are in the genus Turdus, characterised by rounded heads, longish, pointed wings, and usually melodious songs. Although two European thrushes, the song thrush and mistle thrush, are early offshoots from the Eurasian lineage of Turdus thrushes after they spread north from Africa, the blackbird is descended from ancestors that had colonised the Canary Islands from Africa and subsequently reached Europe from there.{{cite book | last1 = Reilly | first1 = John | title = The Ascent of Birds| series = Pelagic Monographs | publisher = Pelagic | year = 2018| location = Exeter | pages = 221–225 | isbn = 978-1-78427-169-5}} It is close in evolutionary terms to the island thrush (T. poliocephalus) of Southeast Asia and islands in the southwest Pacific, which probably diverged from T. merula stock fairly recently.

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 British Isles.Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1933: Bird (sense 2), Blackbird Until about the 17th century, another name for the species was ouzel, ousel or wosel (from Old English {{Lang|ang|osle}}, cf. German {{Lang|de|Amsel}}). Another variant occurs in Act 3 of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, where Bottom refers to "The Woosell cocke, so blacke of hew, With Orenge-tawny bill". The ouzel usage survived later in poetry, and still occurs as the name of the closely related ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus), and in water ouzel, an alternative name for the unrelated but superficially similar white-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus).{{cite book | last = Lockwood| first =W. B. | title = Oxford Book of British Bird Names| year = 1984| publisher = Oxford University Press|location= Oxford| isbn = 0-19-214155-4}}

Five related Asian Turdus thrushes—the white-collared blackbird (T. albocinctus), the grey-winged blackbird (T. boulboul), the Indian blackbird (T. simillimus), the Tibetan blackbird (T. maximus), and the Chinese blackbird (T. mandarinus)—are also named blackbirds; the latter three species were formerly treated as conspecific with the common blackbird. In addition, the Somali thrush (T. (olivaceus) ludoviciae) is alternatively known as the Somali blackbird.Sinclair, I., & P. Ryan (2003). Birds of Africa south of the Sahara. Struik Publishers, Cape Town. {{ISBN|1-86872-857-9}}

The icterid family of the New World is sometimes called the blackbird family because of some species' superficial resemblance to the common blackbird and other Old World thrushes, but they are not evolutionarily close, being related to the New World warblers and tanagers.{{cite book |title=New World Blackbirds: The Icterids|series=Helm Identification Guides |last= Jaramillo |first=Alvaro |author2=Burke, Peter |publisher=Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd.|year=1997 |isbn= 0-7136-4333-1}} The term is often limited to smaller species with mostly or entirely black plumage, at least in the breeding male, notably the cowbirds,{{cite web | title = All About Birds: Bronzed Cowbird | year = 2003 | publisher = Cornell Lab of Ornithology | url = http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Bronzed_Cowbird_dtl.html | access-date = 18 February 2008}} the grackles,{{cite web | title = All About Birds: Great-tailed Grackle | year = 2003 | publisher = Cornell Lab of Ornithology | url = http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Great-tailed_Grackle.html | access-date = 18 February 2008}} and for around 20 species with "blackbird" in the name, such as the red-winged blackbird and the melodious blackbird.

As would be expected for a widespread passerine bird species, several geographical subspecies are recognised. The treatment of subspecies in this article follows Clement et al. (2000).

• T. m. merula, the nominate subspecies, breeds commonly throughout much of Europe from Iceland, the Faroes and the British Isles east to the Ural Mountains and north to about 70 N, where it is fairly scarce. A small population breeds in the Nile Valley. Birds from the north of the range winter throughout Europe and around the Mediterranean, including Cyprus and North Africa. The introduced birds in Australia and New Zealand are of the nominate race.
• T. m. azorensis is a small race which breeds in the Azores. The male is darker and glossier than merula.
• T. m. cabrerae, named for Ángel Cabrera, the Spanish zoologist, resembles azorensis and breeds in Madeira and the western Canary Islands.
• T. m. mauritanicus, another small dark subspecies with a glossy black male plumage, breeds in central and northern Morocco, coastal Algeria and northern Tunisia.File:Turdus merula -autumn leaves -Budapest-8.jpg
• T m. aterrimus breeds in Hungary, south and east to southern Greece, Crete, northern Turkey and northern Iran. It winters in southern Turkey, northern Egypt, Iraq and southern Iran. It is smaller than merula with a duller male and paler female plumage.
• T. m. syriacus breeds on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey south to Jordan, Israel and the northern Sinai. It is mostly resident, but part of the population moves southwest or west to winter in the Jordan Valley and in the Nile Delta of northern Egypt south to about Cairo. Both sexes of this subspecies are darker and greyer than the equivalent merula plumages.
• T. m. intermedius is an Asian race breeding from Central Russia to Tajikistan, western and northeastern Afghanistan, and eastern China. Many birds are resident, but some are altitudinal migrants and occur in southern Afghanistan and southern Iraq in winter. This is a large subspecies, with a sooty-black male and a blackish-brown female.

The Central Asian subspecies, the relatively large intermedius, also differs in structure and voice, and may represent a distinct species.Collar, N. J. (2005). Common Blackbird (Turdus merula). p. 645 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Christie, D. A. eds. (2005) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. {{ISBN|84-87334-72-5}} Alternatively, it has been suggested that it should be considered a subspecies of T. maximus, but it differs in structure, voice and the appearance of the eye-ring.Collar, N. J. (2005). Tibetan Blackbird (Turdus maximus). p. 646 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Christie, D. A., eds. (2005). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. {{ISBN|84-87334-72-5}}

File:Amsel Weibchen aufgeplustert edit2.jpg|Female of subspecies merula

File:Turdus merula (juvenile) -lawn-8.jpg|Juvenile T. m. merula in England

File:Common blackbird (Turdus merula) male, young adult.jpg|Young adult T. m. merula in Oxfordshire

File:Turdus merula -Cradley, England -pied-8.jpg|A leucistic adult male in England with much white in the plumage

File:Turdus merula -Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain-8 (2).jpg|T. m. cabrerae on Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain

In Europe, the common blackbird can be confused with the paler-winged first-winter ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus) or the superficially similar common starling (Sturnus vulgaris).Mullarney, Killian; Svensson, Lars, Zetterstrom, Dan; Grant, Peter (2001). Birds of Europe. Princeton University Press. pp. 304–306. {{ISBN|0-691-05054-6}} A number of similar Turdus thrushes exist far outside the range of the common blackbird, for example the South American Chiguanco thrush (Turdus chiguanco).Fjeldså, J., & N. Krabbe (1990). The Birds of the High Andes. Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen. {{ISBN|87-88757-16-1}} The Indian blackbird (Turdus simillimus), the Tibetan blackbird (Turdus maximus), and the Chinese blackbird (Turdus mandarinus) were formerly treated as subspecies of the common blackbird.{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/thrushes/|title=Thrushes|last1=Gill|first1=F.|last2=Donsker|first2=D.|date=20 July 2015|work=IOC World Bird List, version 5.3 |access-date=29 September 2015}}

Image:Nederlandsche vogelen (KB) - Turdus merula (016f).jpg (1770)]]

The common blackbird of the nominate subspecies T. m. merula is {{cvt|23.5|–|29|cm|in}} in length, has a long tail, and weighs {{cvt|80|–|125|g|oz}}. 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 common blackbird breeds in temperate Eurasia, North Africa, the Canary Islands, and South Asia. It has been introduced to Australia and New Zealand. Populations are sedentary in the south and west of the range, although northern birds migrate south as far as northern Africa and tropical Asia in winter.{{cite book |title=Thrushes (Helm Identification Guides) |last= Clement |first= Peter |author2= Hathway, Ren|author3=Wilczur, Jan |publisher=Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd.|year=2000 |isbn= 0-7136-3940-7}} Urban males are more likely to overwinter in cooler climes than rural males, an adaptation made feasible by the warmer microclimate and relatively abundant food that allow the birds to establish territories and start reproducing earlier in the year.{{cite journal | last1 = Partecke | first1 = J. | last2 = Gwinner | first2 = E.| year = 2007 | title = Increased sedentariness in European blackbirds following urbanization: a consequence of local adaptation? | journal = Ecology | volume = 88 | issue = 4| pages = 882–90|pmid=17536705 | doi = 10.1890/06-1105 | bibcode = 2007Ecol...88..882P }} Recoveries of blackbirds ringed on the Isle of May show that these birds commonly migrate from southern Norway (or from as far north as Trondheim) to Scotland, and some onwards to Ireland. Scottish-ringed birds have also been recovered in England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden.Eggeling W. J. (1960) The Isle of May: a Scottish nature reserve. Oliver and Boyd. p. 108. Female blackbirds in Scotland and the north of England migrate more (to Ireland) in winter than do the males.Snow D. (1958) A Study of Blackbirds. George Allen & Unwin. p. 173.

Common over most of its range in woodland, the common blackbird has a preference for deciduous trees with dense undergrowth. However, gardens provide the best breeding habitat with up to 7.3 pairs per hectare (nearly three pairs per acre), with woodland typically holding about a tenth of that density, and open and very built-up habitats even less.{{cite book |title=A Study of Blackbirds |last= Snow |first= David |publisher= British Museum (Natural History) |year=1988 |isbn= 0-565-01021-2}} They are often replaced by the related ring ouzel in areas of higher altitude.{{cite book |title=The Observer's Book of Birds' Eggs|author=Evans G|page=78|year=1972 |publisher=Warne |location=London |isbn=0-7232-0060-2}} The common blackbird also lives in parks, gardens and hedgerows.{{cite book |last=Holden |first=Peter|date=2012 |title=RSPB Handbook Of British Birds |pages=225 |isbn=978-1-4081-2735-3}}

The common blackbird occurs at elevations of up to {{cvt|1,000|m|ft}} in Europe, {{cvt|2,300|m|ft}} in North Africa, and at {{cvt|900|–|1,820|m|ft}} in peninsular India and Sri Lanka, but the large Himalayan subspecies range much higher, with T. m. maximus breeding at {{cvt|3,200|–|4,800|m|ft}} and remaining above {{cvt|2,100|m|ft}} even in winter.

This widespread species has occurred as a vagrant in many locations in Eurasia outside its normal range, but records from North America are normally considered to involve escapees, including, for example, the 1971 bird in Quebec.{{cite journal|last=McNeil |first=Raymond |author2=Cyr, André |date=October 1971 |title=General Notes: European Blackbird (Turdus merula) in Quebec |journal= The Auk |volume=88 |issue= 4|pages= 919–920 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v088n04/p0919-p0920.pdf|doi=10.2307/4083850|jstor=4083850 }} However, a 1994 record from Bonavista, Newfoundland, has been accepted as a genuine wild bird, and the species is therefore on the North American list.{{cite web|title= The A.O.U. Check-list of North American Birds|edition= Seventh |work= Check-list of North American Birds |url= http://www.aou.org/checklist/index.php3 |publisher= AOU|access-date=14 December 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071211170240/http://www.aou.org/checklist/index.php3| archive-date = December 11, 2007}}

The male common blackbird defends its breeding territory, chasing away other males or utilising a "bow and run" threat display. This consists of a short run, the head first being raised and then bowed with the tail dipped simultaneously. If a fight between male blackbirds does occur, it is usually short and the intruder is soon chased away. The female blackbird is also aggressive in the spring when it competes with other females for a good nesting territory, and although fights are less frequent, they tend to be more violent.

The bill's appearance is important in the interactions of the common blackbird. The territory-holding male responds more aggressively towards models with orange bills than to those with yellow bills, and reacts least to the brown bill colour typical of the first-year male. The female is, however, relatively indifferent to bill colour, but responds instead to shinier bills.{{cite journal |last= Bright |first= Ashleigh |author2= Waas, Joseph R. |date= August 2002 |title= Effects of bill pigmentation and UV reflectance during territory establishment in blackbirds |journal= Animal Behaviour |volume= 64 |issue= 2 |pages= 207–213 |doi= 10.1006/anbe.2002.3042 |s2cid= 51833485 |url= http://cber.bio.waikato.ac.nz/images/bbposter2.pdf |access-date= 2007-12-16 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110929203122/http://cber.bio.waikato.ac.nz/images/bbposter2.pdf |archive-date= 2011-09-29 |url-status= dead }}

As long as winter food is available, both the male and female will remain in the territory throughout the year, although occupying different areas. Migrants are more gregarious, travelling in small flocks and feeding in loose groups in the wintering grounds. The flight of migrating birds comprises bursts of rapid wing beats interspersed with level or diving movement, and differs from both the normal fast agile flight of this species and the more dipping action of larger thrushes.

The male common blackbird attracts the female with a courtship display which consists of oblique runs combined with head-bowing movements, an open beak, and a "strangled" low song. The female remains motionless until she raises her head and tail to permit copulation. This species is monogamous, and the established pair will usually stay together as long as they both survive. Pair separation rates of up to 20% have been noted following poor breeding.{{cite journal |journal=Ibis |volume=143 |issue=4 |pages=554–560 |last=Streif |first=Michael |author2=Rasa O. Anne E.|year=2001|title=Divorce and its consequences in the Common blackbird Turdus merula|doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.2001.tb04882.x}} Although the species is socially monogamous, there have been studies showing as much as 17% extra-pair paternity.{{cite journal|journal=Behavioral Ecology|volume=15|issue=3|pages=508–519|year=2004|title=Extrapair paternity and the evolution of bird song|first=László Zsolt|last=Garamszegia|author2=Anders Pape Møller|doi=10.1093/beheco/arh041|doi-access=free}}

The nominate T. merula may commence breeding in March, but eastern and Indian races are a month or more later, and the introduced New Zealand birds start nesting in August (late winter). 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 the birds 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, bound together with mud. It is built by the female alone. She lays three to five (usually four) bluish-green eggs marked with reddish-brown blotches, heaviest at the larger end; the eggs of nominate T. merula are {{cvt|2.9|×|2.1|cm|in}} in size and weigh {{cvt|7.2|g|oz}}, of which 6% is shell.{{cite web|title= Blackbird Turdus merula [Linnaeus, 1758] |work= BTOWeb BirdFacts|url= http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob11870.htm |publisher=British Trust for Ornithology |access-date=30 December 2007}} Eggs of birds of the southern Indian races are paler than those from the northern subcontinent and Europe.

The female incubates for 12–14 days before the altricial chicks are hatched naked and blind. Fledging takes another 10–19 (average 13.6) days, with both parents feeding the young and removing faecal sacs. The nest is often ill-concealed compared with those of other species, and many breeding attempts fail due to predation.{{cite web|title= 89% of Blackbird nest failures are attributed to predators | url= http://www.gwct.org.uk/about_us/news/1212.asp| publisher= Game and Wildfowl Conservation Trust |access-date=23 January 2012}} The young are fed by the parents for up to three weeks after leaving the nest, and 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, and three broods may be raised in the south of the common blackbird's range.

A common blackbird has an average life expectancy of 2.4 years,{{cite web |url=http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/information/lifespan.htm |title=British garden birds – lifespan |access-date=7 April 2007 |publisher=garden-birds.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070424192443/http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/information/lifespan.htm |archive-date=2007-04-24 |url-status=dead }} and, based on data from bird ringing, the oldest recorded age is 21 years and 10 months.{{cite web |url=http://www.euring.org/data_and_codes/longevity-voous.htm |title= European Longevity Records |access-date=15 December 2007 |publisher=euring.org}}

File:Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula) female with nesting material South Bruny.jpg|Female with nesting material

File:Blackbird nest with 3 eggs.jpg|Eggs in a nest

File:Turdus merula -England -chicks in nest-8 (2).jpg|Two chicks in a nest

File:Blackbird Fledgelings 2020 a 60 fps.webm|Blackbird fledgelings being fed

File:Male Turdus merula feeding chicks.ogv|Male feeding chicks

File:02-Common Blackbird 1-Jan-2023 nX.webm|Common blackbird foraging in Norfolk, England

File:Turdus merula (AU)-full.webm|A common blackbird eating figs near Toulouse, France

File:Blackbird feeding.mpg|Feeding chick and removing faecal sac

In its native Northern Hemisphere range, the first-year male common blackbird of the nominate race 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, given from trees, rooftops or other elevated perches{{Cite web |title=Blackbird - learn its song and calls |url=https://www.birdsong.academy/species-guide/blackbird |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=Birdsong Academy |language=en-US}} mainly in the period from March to June, sometimes into the beginning of July. It has a number of other calls, including an aggressive seee, a pook-pook-pook alarm for terrestrial predators like cats, and various chink and chook, chook vocalisations. The territorial male invariably gives chink-chink calls in the evening in an attempt (usually unsuccessful) to deter other blackbirds from roosting in its territory overnight. During the northern winter, blackbirds can be heard quietly singing to themselves, so much so that September and October are the only months in which the song cannot be heard.{{cite web | title=Blackbird | url=http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/blackbird.htm | publisher=British Garden Birds | access-date=4 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109153322/http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/blackbird.htm | archive-date=2016-01-09 | url-status=dead }} Like other passerine birds, it has a thin high seee alarm call for threats from birds of prey since the sound is rapidly attenuated in vegetation, making the source difficult to locate.{{cite book| last = Burton| first = Robert| title = Bird behaviour| year = 1985| location = London| publisher = Granada| page = [https://archive.org/details/birdbehaviour0000burt/page/125 125]| isbn = 0-246-12440-7| url = https://archive.org/details/birdbehaviour0000burt/page/125}}

The nominate subspecies T. m. merula is known to mimic sounds in the local environment, including the songs of other birds, as well as human sounds and technology such as whistling and car alarms.{{Cite web |title=Blackbird: bird song and calls {{!}} Sussex Wildlife Trust |url=https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/blackbird-bird-song-and-calls |access-date=2025-02-25 |website=sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk}}

File:Male common blackbird with feed in Lausanne.jpg, Switzerland]]

The common 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, lizards and (on rare occasions) small mammals are occasionally hunted.{{Cite web|title=We watched a blackbird kill and then fly away with a shrew. Is this unusual?|url=https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/ask-an-expert/previous/blackbirdandshrew.aspx|access-date=2021-04-16|website=The RSPB|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Elliott|first=Valerie|title=Birds get taste for tadpoles as summer heat keeps worms under ground|newspaper=The Times|language=en|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/birds-get-taste-for-tadpoles-as-summer-heat-keeps-worms-under-ground-jcf99p8q68p|access-date=2021-04-16|issn=0140-0460}} This species will also perch in bushes to take berries and collect caterpillars and other active insects. Animal prey predominates, and is particularly important during the breeding season, with windfall apples and berries taken more in the autumn and winter. The nature of the fruit taken depends on what is locally available, and frequently includes exotics in gardens.

File:Blackbird and Kestrel.jpg close to its nest]]

Near human habitation the main predator of the common blackbird is the domestic cat, with newly fledged young especially vulnerable. Foxes and predatory birds, such as the sparrowhawk and other accipiters, also take this species when the opportunity arises.{{cite web |title= Blackbird Action Plan |url= http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/A862EBE6-4CD7-4317-9B64-D0FB565AAF1C/0/BAPSummaryBlackbird.pdf |publisher= Lambeth Council's Parks and Greenspaces Business Unit |access-date= 11 December 2007 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071005010251/http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/A862EBE6-4CD7-4317-9B64-D0FB565AAF1C/0/BAPSummaryBlackbird.pdf |archive-date= 5 October 2007 }} However, there is little direct evidence to show that either predation of the adult blackbirds or loss of the eggs and chicks to corvids, such as the European magpie or Eurasian jay, decrease population numbers.{{cite web |title = Blackbird – Turdus merula |url = http://www.joyofplants.com/wildlife/search.php?o=30 |publisher = The Royal Horticultural Society/The Wildlife Trusts |access-date = 9 April 2012 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131029203048/http://www.joyofplants.com/wildlife/search.php?o=30 |archive-date = 29 October 2013 }}

This species is occasionally a host of parasitic cuckoos, such as the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), but this is minimal because the common blackbird recognizes the adult of the parasitic species and its non-mimetic eggs.{{cite journal | last1=Davies | first1=N. B. | last2=Brooke | first2= M. de L. | year=1989 | title= An experimental study of co-evolution between the Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, and its hosts. I. Host egg discrimination | journal= Journal of Animal Ecology | volume=58 | issue=1 | pages=207–224 | jstor=4995 | doi=10.2307/4995| bibcode=1989JAnEc..58..207D }} In the UK, only three nests of 59,770 examined (0.005%) contained cuckoo eggs.{{cite journal |last= Glue |first=David |author2=Morgan, Robert |year=1972 |title= Cuckoo hosts in British habitats | journal= Bird Study | volume= 19| pages=187–192 |doi=10.1080/00063657209476342|issue=4|bibcode=1972BirdS..19..187G }} The introduced merula blackbird in New Zealand, where the cuckoo does not occur, has, over the past 130 years, lost the ability to recognize the adult common cuckoo but still rejects non-mimetic eggs.{{cite journal|last=Hale|first=Katrina|author2=Briskie, James V.|date=March 2007|title=Response of introduced European birds in New Zealand to experimental brood parasitism|journal=Journal of Avian Biology|volume=38|issue=2|pages=198–204|issn=0908-8857|doi=10.1111/j.2007.0908-8857.03734.x|url=http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/courses.hp/biol506.hp/pdfs/Hale07_JAvBi_BroodParasitism.pdf|access-date=2012-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113014727/http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/courses.hp/biol506.hp/pdfs/Hale07_JAvBi_BroodParasitism.pdf|archive-date=2012-01-13|url-status=dead}}

As with other passerine birds, parasites are common. Intestinal parasites were found in 88% of common blackbirds, most frequently Isospora and Capillaria species.{{cite book|last=Misof|first=Katharina|url=http://hss.ulb.uni-bonn.de:90/2005/0661/0661.pdf|title=Eurasian Blackbirds (Turdus merula) and their gastrointestinal parasites: A role for parasites in life-history decisions?|publisher=Doctoral dissertation, Bonn|year=2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719101955/http://hss.ulb.uni-bonn.de:90/2005/0661/0661.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-19}} and more than 80% had haematozoan parasites (Leucocytozoon, Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Trypanosoma species).{{cite journal |author1=Hatchwell, B. J. |author2=Wood |author3=Anwar, M. J. M. |author4=Perrins C. M. |url=http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/z99-228?journalCode=cjz |title=The prevalence and ecology of the haematozoan parasites of European blackbirds, Turdus merula |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=684–687 |year=2000 |doi=10.1139/cjz-78-4-684}}

Common blackbirds spend much of their time looking for food on the ground where they can become infested with ticks, which are external parasites that most commonly attach to the head of a blackbird. In France, 74% of rural blackbirds were found to be infested with Ixodes ticks, whereas, only 2% of blackbirds living in urban habitats were infested. This is partly because it is more difficult for ticks to find another host on lawns and gardens in urban areas than in uncultivated rural areas, and partly because ticks are likely to be commoner in rural areas, where a variety of tick hosts, such as foxes, deer and boar, are more numerous. Although ixodid ticks can transmit pathogenic viruses and bacteria, and are known to transmit Borrelia bacteria to birds,{{cite journal|last= Kipp|first= Susanne |author2=Goedecke, Andreas|author3=Dorn, Wolfram|author4=Wilske, Bettina|author5=Fingerle, Volke |date=May 2006|title=Role of birds in Thuringia, Germany, in the natural cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the Lyme disease spirochaete |journal= International Journal of Medical Microbiology|pmid= 16530003|volume= 296|pages= 125–128 |doi=10.1016/j.ijmm.2006.01.001 }} there is no evidence that this affects the fitness of blackbirds except when they are exhausted and run down after migration.{{cite journal |last=Gregoire |first=Arnaud |author2=Faivre, Bruno |author3=Heeb, Philipp |author4=Cezilly, Frank |year=2002 |title=A comparison of infestation patterns by Ixodes ticks in urban and rural populations of the Common Blackbird Turdus merula |url=http://www.cefe.cnrs.fr/esp/publis/AG/AGGregoire%20et%20al%202002%20Ibis.pdf |journal=Ibis |volume=144 |issue=4 |pages=640–645 |doi=10.1046/j.1474-919X.2002.00102.x |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217155251/http://www.cefe.cnrs.fr/esp/publis/AG/AGGregoire%20et%20al%202002%20Ibis.pdf |archive-date=2008-12-17 }}

The common blackbird is one of a number of species which has unihemispheric slow-wave sleep. One hemisphere of the brain is effectively asleep, while a low-voltage EEG, characteristic of wakefulness, is present in the other. The benefit of this is that the bird can rest in areas of high predation or during long migratory flights, but still retain a degree of alertness.{{cite journal |last1=Rattenbourg |first1=Neils C. |last2=Amlaner |first2=C. J. |last3=Lima |first3=S.L. |title=Behavioral, neurophysiological and evolutionary perspectives on unihemispheric sleep |journal=Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews |volume=24 |pages=817–842 |year=2000 |pmid=11118608 |doi=10.1016/S0149-7634(00)00039-7 |issue=8|s2cid=7592942 }}

The common blackbird has an extensive range, estimated at {{convert|32.4|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=off}}, and a large population, including an estimated 79 to 160 million individuals in Europe alone. The species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations), and is therefore evaluated as least concern.{{cite iucn | author = BirdLife International | author-link = BirdLife International | title = Turdus merula | volume= 2014 | page = e.T22708775A62578644 | year = 2014 | doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-2.RLTS.T22708775A62578644.en}} In the western Palearctic, populations are generally stable or increasing,{{cite book | editor1-last = Snow | editor1-first = David |editor2-last= Perrins|editor2-first=Christopher M.| title = The Birds of the Western Palearctic concise edition (2 volumes) | publisher = Oxford University Press |year = 1998| location =Oxford | isbn = 0-19-854099-X }} p1215–1218 but 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.{{cite web|title= Threats|work=Blackbird |url= http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/blackbird/threats_dangers_and_survival.asp |publisher=Royal Society for the Protection of Birds |access-date=19 December 2007}}

The common blackbird was introduced to Australia by a bird dealer visiting Melbourne in early 1857, and its range has expanded from its initial foothold in Melbourne and Adelaide to include all of southeastern Australia, including Tasmania and the Bass Strait islands.{{cite web|title= Common Blackbird |work= Birds in Backyards |url= http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=123|publisher= Australian Museum |access-date=30 December 2007}} The introduced population in Australia is considered a pest because it damages a variety of soft fruits in orchards, parks and gardens, including berries, cherries, stone fruit and grapes.Clarke, G. M.; Gross, S., Matthews, M.; Catling, P. C.; Baker, B.; Hewitt, C. L.; Crowther, D.; Saddler, S. R. (2000), Environmental Pest Species in Australia, Australia: State of the Environment, Second Technical Paper Series (Biodiversity), Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra. {{HDL|102.100.100/203987}} It is thought to spread weeds, such as blackberry, and may compete with native birds for food and nesting sites.{{cite web |title= Blackbird |date=16 December 2014 |url=https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/birds/blackbird |publisher= Department of Agriculture, Western Australia |access-date=17 August 2017}}

The introduced common blackbird is, together with the native silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), the most widely distributed avian seed disperser in New Zealand. Introduced there along with the song thrush (Turdus philomelos) in 1862, it has spread throughout the country up to an elevation of {{convert|1500|m|ft|0}}, as well as outlying islands such as the Campbell and Kermadecs.Falla, R. A., R. B. Sibson, and E. G. Turbott (1979). The new guide to the birds of New Zealand and outlying islands. Collins, Auckland. {{ISBN|0-00-216928-2}} It eats a wide range of native and exotic fruit, and makes a major contribution to the development of communities of naturalised woody weeds. These communities provide fruit more suited to non-endemic native birds and naturalised birds than to endemic birds.{{cite journal|last= Williams |first= Peter A |year= 2006|title= The role of blackbirds (Turdus merula) in weed invasion in New Zealand|journal= New Zealand Journal of Ecology |volume=30 |issue= 2|pages=285–291 |url=http://www.nzes.org.nz/nzje/free_issues/NZJEcol30_2_285.pdf}}

The numbers of blackbirds in Europe have been significantly reduced by the Usutu virus which is spread by mosquitoes. This was detected in Italy in 1996 and has since spread to other countries including Germany and the UK.{{Cite web |title=Usutu virus decreases the population of common blackbirds in the outbreak region {{!}} German Center for Infection Research |url=https://www.dzif.de/en/usutu-virus-decreases-population-common-blackbirds-outbreak-region |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=www.dzif.de}}{{Cite journal |last=Lawson |first=Becki |last2=Robinson |first2=Robert A. |last3=Briscoe |first3=Andrew G. |last4=Cunningham |first4=Andrew A. |last5=Fooks |first5=Anthony R. |last6=Heaver |first6=Joseph P. |last7=Hernández-Triana |first7=Luis M. |last8=John |first8=Shinto K. |last9=Johnson |first9=Nicholas |last10=Johnston |first10=Colin |last11=Lean |first11=Fabian Z. X. |last12=Macgregor |first12=Shaheed K. |last13=Masters |first13=Nicholas J. |last14=McCracken |first14=Fiona |last15=McElhinney |first15=Lorraine M. |date=2022-06-18 |title=Combining host and vector data informs emergence and potential impact of an Usutu virus outbreak in UK wild birds |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-13258-2 |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=10298 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-13258-2 |issn=2045-2322|pmc=9206397 }}

Turdus merula cabrerae MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.186.14.jpg|Turdus merula cabrerae - MHNT

Turdus merula merula MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.186.11.jpg|Turdus merula merula - MHNT

Turdus merula mauritanicus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.186.23.jpg|Turdus merula mauritanicus - MHNT

Turdus merula azorensis MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.189.8.jpg|Turdus merula azorensis - MHNT

File:SingSong6dcaldecott.jpg" cover illustration]]

File:Chickenpie1.JPG in the shape of a blackbird]]

The common blackbird was seen as a sacred though destructive bird in Classical Greek folklore, and was said to die if it consumed pomegranates.{{cite book |last=Cooper |first=J.C. |title=Symbolic and Mythological Animals |page=38 |year=1992 |publisher= Aquarian Press |location=London |isbn=1-85538-118-4}} Like many other small birds, it has in the past been trapped in rural areas at its night roosts as an easily available addition to the diet, and in medieval times the practice of placing live birds under a pie crust just before serving may have been the origin of the familiar nursery rhyme:{{cite book | last = Cocker | first = Mark |author2=Mabey, Richard |title = Birds Britannica | year = 2005 |location=London | publisher = Chatto & Windus | isbn = 0-7011-6907-9|pages=349–353}}

Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye;

Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie!

When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,

Oh, wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?{{cite book |last=Opie |first=I. and P. |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes |year=1997 |edition=2nd |pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000opie/page/394 394–5] |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-869111-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000opie/page/394}}

The common blackbird's melodious, distinctive song is mentioned in the poem Adlestrop by Edward Thomas;

And for that minute a blackbird sang

Close by, and round him, mistier,

Farther and farther, all the birds

Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.{{cite web|title= Adlestrop |url= http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20Poems/Thomas%20E/adlestrop.htm

|publisher= Poets' Graves |access-date=7 December 2007}}

In the English Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas", the line commonly sung today as "four calling birds" is believed to have originally been written in the 18th century as "four colly birds", an archaism meaning "black as coal" that was a popular English nickname for the common blackbird.{{cite web|title= Birds of the Twelve Days of Christmas |url= http://10000birds.com/birds-of-the-twelve-days-of-christmas.htm |publisher= 10,000 Birds|access-date=19 December 2013}}

The common blackbird, unlike many black creatures, is not normally seen as a symbol of bad luck, but R. S. Thomas wrote that there is "a suggestion of dark Places about it",{{cite web|title= A Blackbird Singing |date= 13 January 2003 |url= http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-blackbird-singing/ |publisher= Poemhunter |access-date=7 December 2007}} and it symbolised resignation in the 17th century tragic play The Duchess of Malfi;{{cite book |last=de Vries |first=Ad |title=Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery |year=1976 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/51 51] |publisher=North-Holland Publishing Company |location=Amsterdam |isbn=0-7204-8021-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/51 }} an alternate connotation is vigilance, the bird's clear cry warning of danger.

The common blackbird is the national bird of Sweden,{{cn|date=October 2024}} which has a breeding population of 1–2 million pairs, and was featured on a 30 öre Christmas postage stamp in 1970;{{cite web|title= Bird stamps from Sweden |work= Theme Birds on Stamps |url= http://www.birdtheme.org/country/sweden.html |publisher= Kjell Scharning |access-date=13 December 2007}} it has also featured on a number of other stamps issued by European and Asian countries, including a 1966 4d British stamp and a 1998 Irish 30p stamp.{{cite web|title= 218 Thrushes Turdidae |work= Theme Birds on Stamps |url= http://www.birdtheme.org/scripts/family.php?famnum=218 |publisher= Kjell Scharning |access-date=8 June 2015}} This bird—arguably—also gives rise to the Serbian name for Kosovo (and Metohija), which is the possessive adjectival form of Serbian {{Lang|sr|kos}} ("blackbird") as in Kosovo Polje ("Blackbird Field").{{cite book | last = Trbovich | first = Ana S.| title = A Legal Geography of Yugoslavia's Disintegration | year = 2008| location = Oxford | publisher =Oxford University Press | isbn =978-0-19-533343-5 |page = 76 }}

French composer Olivier Messiaen transcribed the songs of male blackbirds; these melodies have commonly appeared throughout his œuvre. The most notable instance of this is the 1952 chamber miniature Le merle noir, a piece for flute and piano.

A common blackbird can be heard singing on the Beatles song "Blackbird" as a symbol of the civil rights movement.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-beatles-songs-20110919/blackbird-19691231|title=Blackbird|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=10 April 2020 }}

{{Reflist|35em}}

• Snow, David W. (1987). The Blackbird. Shire Natural History {{ISBN|0-85263-854-X}}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Snow | first1 = David W. | year = 1958 | title = The breeding of the Blackbird Turdus merula at Oxford | journal = Ibis | volume = 100 | issue = 1| pages = 1–30 | doi = 10.1111/j.1474-919X.1958.tb00362.x }}

{{Commons}}

{{Wikiquote|Blackbirds}}

{{Wikispecies|Turdus merula}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090731170719/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/Common_Blackbird BBC Science & Nature – Blackbird, with song clip] (archive)
• [https://www.madeirabirds.com/common-blackbird-turdus-merula-cabrerae Madeira Birdwatching – Information on subspecies cabrerae]
• [https://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/blackbird RSPB – Blackbird, including video and sound clips]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20141202064514/http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/344_BlackbirdTmerula.pdf iberCaja Classroom Network – Blackbird ageing and sexing] (archived PDF; 5.3 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
• [http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Turdus_merula/Turdus_merula.htm Ornithos – Feathers of common blackbird (Turdus merula)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731025702/http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Turdus_merula/Turdus_merula.htm |date=2020-07-31 }}

• {{Xeno-canto species|Turdus|merula|Blackbird}}
• [https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eurasian_Blackbird/overview Blackbird videos, photos & sounds] on Cornell Lab's All About Birds
• [http://association.sonatura.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=213&Itemid=38 Other blackbird songs on Sonatura] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622072541/http://association.sonatura.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=213&Itemid=38 |date=2017-06-22 }}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071113014844/http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/birds/Turdus_merula/ ARKive – Blackbird still images] (archive)

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common blackbird

Category:Birds of Europe

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common blackbird

common blackbird