Common Blackbird Identification Guide
What I look like
The Common Blackbird has black plumage.
It has an orange-yellow beak and a yellow eye-ring.
The female has dark brown plumage, without a yellow eye-ring.
Juveniles are light brown and speckled.
My songs, my calls
The Common Blackbird can be heard singing from February.
During the day, it sings from early dawn and in the evening.
Its song is melodious and flute-like, often with a sharper finale.
The blackbird's song is used to mark its territory and attract females.
It also emits various calls, such as its alarm call "zwit" "zwit"
How I behave
The Common Blackbird searches for food on the ground, sifting through mown lawns for worms.
It hops on both legs simultaneously.
At feeding sites, it can sometimes be aggressive.
The Common Blackbird does not live in groups; it is a territorial species.
How I reproduce
The breeding season of the Common Blackbird extends from February to August.
It produces 2 to 3 broods per year of 3 to 5 blue-green eggs, speckled with brown.
It nests in trees and shrubs and nest boxes.
Its nest is a mud-lined cup, sometimes barely hidden.
What I eat
The Common Blackbird is omnivorous: it eats insects, earthworms and sometimes seeds...
but also fruits, exploring the branches.
It prefers animal prey during the nesting season.
and fruits and berries in autumn and winter.
Where to find me
It lives in wooded environments (forests, groves, hedges) and in parks and gardens of cities and countryside.
It is sedentary or sometimes a short-distance migrant.
In Europe, northern populations migrate south as autumn approaches.