Blackbird is white. Part of the population is albinos. They were competitive after the resettlement of the original mountainbirds to the cities. The role of predators in natural selection is minimal there.
Blackbird Albino
If the nature of albinos first notice hunters, then in the urban environment — individuals of the opposite sex. Distinguished and at the same time dominant coloring allows to multiply successfully. However, to shift the balance of black and white towards the latter is still far away. Most species of thrushes look like small crows.
Description and features of the blackbird
Blackbird in the photo cast metal. The iris of the eye and the bird’s beak are orange. Such images are attached to most articles, justifying the name of the species. However, the females in it are brown. Especially light belly and breast of female individuals. Their tail is almost black.
Blackbird male
Blackbird male On the breast of females of the species there are cross marks. They have young males. Not reaching puberty, they have a color similar to that of females. Spots on the chest and brown color — features of the song thrush. Females and young of the black species are often confused with it. As an adult, it is twice the size of a sparrow, it reaches 26 centimeters in length, and weighs 80-110 grams.
The description of the feathered includes the singing of the blackbird. It is sonorous, composed of sounds similar to that extracted from a flute. The melody is minor, unhurried. The set of sounds in a blackbird song is varied.
Listen to the voice of the blackbird
The «aria» does not have a specific length. This characterizes the performances of the song thrush, but he often repeats musical words. Another voice of the hero of the article resembles the singing of muck, but with not adjusted pauses and lower tonality.
Female blackbird
The hero’s twitter of the article is one of the fragments of the composition The Beatles. The song is included in the «White Album», recorded in 1968. At the time, Paul McCartney was the only vocalist playing acoustics.
The manner of singing coincides with all 14 species of blackbird. They differ in size, the structure of the beak, the nuances of color. Subtype Richmond, for example, reaches a maximum length of 26 centimeters. Even the bird has a thicker beak than representatives of the nominal species and has a rusty glow on the breast.
Some subspecies of blackbird are endemics of certain regions. So, Azorensis lives in the Azores. Representatives of the subspecies more glossy, shiny than ordinary blackbirds. But in the subtype Bourdiloni, lantsevy-brown males and almost beige females. Live representatives of the subspecies in the south of India.
For most species — the secret of the blackbird. So, by the way, is called the Soviet detective story that came out on screens in 1983. The film is based on the novel by Agatha Christie. The book, however, is called otherwise — «Pocket full of rye.» Understanding the intricacies of the plot is as difficult as it is not for the ornithologist, in contrast to the black-thrush subspecies.
Bird lifestyle and habitat
The Blackbird is a bird, the ancient remains and traces of which are found in the mountains between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. This explains the color of the species. At the height of the snow, black accumulated the warmth of the sun. In other words, the thrushes’ plumage played the role of an ultraviolet screen.
Gradually the blackbirds descended from the mountains, reaching the cities. Everywhere birds choose areas with trees and trees. The settlements are parks and gardens. Outside the cities, blackbirds live in mixed and deciduous forests, overgrown with shrubs and ravines. The soil is preferably damp, black earth. On this, in the shade of vegetation, black birds are hardly noticeable.
Where the blackbird lives firsthand Europeans and residents of the western regions of Russia and southern Asia know firsthand. The bird population is divided into migratory and sedentary flocks. Among the latter, a greater percentage of the death of birds. They can not stand the cold. Stressful situation encourages birds to give numerous offspring.
There are a couple of blackbirds, who have seated 17 chicks per season, that is, 4 clutches. Migratory individuals are not capable of this. Avoiding the stress caused by the cold, they calmly approach the issue of reproduction, hatching a maximum of 2 clutches during a season and laying down fewer eggs.
Wintering thrushes sleep in hollows. The mass of birds in the spring drops to about 80 grams. Hibernation helps save energy. Accidentally awakened blackbirds often die, wasting their energy on finding a new refuge, food.
Blackbird Feeding
The hero of the article is carnivorous. The bird catches insects and earthworms. Wintering species do not disdain frozen berries and seeds, looking for them on the snow-covered grasses and trees. Looking for food on the ground, the blackbird raises its tail, and lowers its head to the ground.
Blackbird with prey
The bird moves by jumping, cautious and periodically looking around. Blackbird chicks feed exclusively on earthworms. Such a diet contributes to the rapid mass gain. Worms parents bring several pieces in their beak.
Reproduction and longevity
Blackbird’s nest is double-layered. Outside — a layer of intertwined branches, leaves, mach. Inside the nest there is a similarity to plaster. It is clay and the dust of trees. The shape of the blackbird’s nest is cup-shaped, uneven. You can see such a structure on the ground between the roots of old trees, or on their branches at a height of up to 8 meters.
City thrushes sometimes build nests in flowerpots on the balconies of houses and flowerbeds. The nest is erected by both parents, spending about a week for this. Immediately the female lays 5-6 eggs. They are about 3 centimeters long, and about 2 wide.
Parents guard chicks, taking away predator attacks from them. First, the birds choose defense tactics, literally attacking the offenders, giving them wings with blows, striking them with their beaks.
If the method does not work, the blackbirds pretend to be sick, starting, for example, to limp. Thus, adult birds, as it were, suggest to predators to rush for easy and more fleshy prey, diverting trouble from the nest.
Most thrushes in the season make one laying. The chicks leave the nest in the first mid-June. If the second clutch is being made, the offspring stand on the wing by August. For the next season, the young are ready to breed.
Rapid maturation is associated with the short lifespan of the hero of the article. The thrush age in nature is limited to 4 years. Sometimes birds are kept at home and in zoos. There, blackbirds live to be 5-7 years old.
Below we present you the photo materials provided by a resident of St. Petersburg, Olga. She managed to fix the whole process of breeding of the blackbird, from the construction of the nest, to the departure of the chicks. Thank you so much for this!
Nest building
Blackbird female carries eggs
Blackbird Eggs
Female incubates eggs
Chopped egg shells
Newborn Blackbird Chicks
Mother is watching the nest
The chicks after a few days of life began to fledge
Chicks name is mother
Mother flew in a few minutes
The following video on the reaction of chicks to the appearance of the mother
Plumage of chicks in 8-10 days
Two chicks have already flown away.
The nest is empty 14 days after the appearance of chicks
