Blackbird

The Blackbird is known as being sexually dimorphic, meaning the plumage of the male is completely different to that of the female. The male is black with a bright orange-yellow beak and eye-ring. The females are brown often with a spotted or streaked breasts, with a pale yellow beak and eye-ring.

The male sits in trees, rooftops or other elevated perches’s to sing his song, which is a varied and melodious, low-pitched, fluted warble and is one of the most beautiful and best-loved of any British bird. Blackbirds like to sing after it has rained.

British birds are joined in winter by large numbers of migrants from Scandinavia, Germany, the Baltic States and Russia. These can be distinguished from the British birds, as they do not have bright yellow beaks.

The blackbird is the most numerous breeding bird in the British Isles, with a population of around 6 million pairs. It is only the female that incubates the eggs, but the male helps feed his offspring.

The Blackbird can be seen in gardens and countryside and from coasts to hills, all year round. They feed on insects, worms, berries and fruit.

Common and widespread throughout Britain.