Breeding pairs: 5,100,000
Wintering birds: 10-15 million
Family: Thrushes And Allies
The adult male blackbird has glossy black plumage overall. It has a yellow bill, dark brown eyes encircled by a yellow eye-ring, and black or very dark brown legs.
The female is reddish-brown with mottled underparts. Her throat is paler, and she has a buff malar stripe. The bill is brown with a yellowish base, while the eyes and legs are dark brown.
Juveniles are dark brown with buff streaks on their upperparts and mottled underparts. Their bill is also brown.
Before reaching one year of age, young male blackbirds begin to resemble adults but may still have some brown in their wings and lack the yellow eye-ring.
Blackbirds can sometimes exhibit leucism, a condition that causes patches of white feathers to appear, contrasting with their black plumage.
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Blackbirds breed in spring and produce two or three broods per season. They are socially monogamous, meaning pairs usually remain together for life, although they may separate following a poor breeding season or nest failure. However, research indicates that up to 20% of offspring are fathered by a different male.
The female builds the nest alone, typically locating it in a shrub or tree. The nest is an open, bulky cup constructed from grasses, roots, and sticks, often bound together with mud and lined with fine grass.
Blackbirds lay 3 to 4 greenish-blue eggs with reddish-brown spots. These are incubated solely by the female for 12 to 14 days, although the male may occasionally take over briefly. Both parents contribute to feeding the chicks a diet of fruit, insects, and worms. The young fledge 10 to 19 days after hatching but continue to be fed by their parents for another two to three weeks. They reach sexual maturity at one year of age.
Blackbirds will forage on the ground for insects and worms, often turning over leaf litter to pick through it. From late summer to early winter they will often switch to a diet richer in fruit such as windfalls and berries. Blackbirds are softbills so struggle to deal with tough seeds and grain but will eat suet, raisins and other kitchen scraps from the ground or a ground feeding table.
Blackbirds can be seen all year round across in the UK. Look out for them in gardens and the countryside.
A waveform of a blackbird song is on the cover of Kate Bush’s album Aerial.
