Hello and welcome to the next instalment of Voiceforwildlife. Today we are going to explore the life of a bird we have all seen a countless number of in our gardens, one of the most characteristic and one of my personal favourites - the Blackbird.
We all see the energetic blackbird speeding through are gardens poking at the ground with every few yards covered. They will only occasionally feed from bird tables, mostly having a diet of earth worms and a variety of insects as they tend to stay at ground level. Their hunting technique consists of sprinting for a while, holding their heads down and keeping their bodies as straight as possible, then stopping for a moment to search for food before continuing on. In winter, as berries begin to flourish through the bushes, Blackbirds will happily venture up from ground level to survive through the frosty days when the population of insects plummet and the earth begins to solidify (making it difficult to forage for worms). Apples that have fallen from trees are also an easy meal but there will be heavy competition from other birds who are fighting for their next meal. They have been recorded to take tadpoles from ponds as they are a fast and non-aggressive food source. If ground feeders are placed in the garden Blackbirds will happily take advantage of the concentrated food source, this should be made up of raisins, apples, sultanas and any kitchen scraps for the best results.
The Blackbirds nest is usually situated in hedgerows and occasionally shelves in open sheds or barns. Their nests are very similar to the House Sparrows although on a larger scale, an untidy cup made from twigs and vegetation built by the female. This method of nesting is extremely unreliable as it is open to predation from domestic cats, rats and birds of prey. It is estimated 9 out of 10 brooding attempts fail. Breeding starts in March, with males being very aggressive and territorial. Females lay around 3 eggs per clutch, with an average of 3 clutches a year. The female single handedly incubates the eggs for up to 19 days but both adults continuously feeding the young before fledging around 15 days later. A great way to encourage safe nesting for Blackbirds in your garden is to provide an open nest box which have a selling price of around £10.99. These provide a large square or semi-circle gap which allows a comfortable size for your resident blackbirds to raise and feed their young.
Males are the birds with the deep black body and wing feathers that spring to mind when you think of a Blackbird. Their eyes are surrounded by a bright yellow ring, with their long beak the same shade. Females are very different, making it easy to differentiate males from females, with there chocolate brown feathers and a vague silver-yellow beak. These do not possess the bright yellow eye ring. However it is difficult to learn individuals as up to 30 different Blackbirds can have territories in a single garden.
So next time you see the humble blackbird stop and listen to its beautiful song, and provide a nest box as a small reward for being the wardens of our gardens.
(No credit is taken for the photo)