Common Blackbird

How to recognise it

• Adult male: plain black to brownish black, with orange-yellow bill and orange-yellow eye-ring
• Female: sooty brown, brownish-white throat, faintly spotted breast, pale yellow bill with dark brown upper half
• Juveniles look like the female but have pale spots on the upperparts
• First-year males have a dark bill, weaker eye-ring and brown wings against a black body

Call and song

The male sings a varied, melodious, low fluting song from trees, rooftops and other high perches, mainly March to June. It carries far, starts shortly before sunrise and often includes short imitations of other birds. The alarm is a hard, agitated "tack". A very high "ssieh" warns of a flying enemy, and on migration a soft rolling "srrri" is heard.

Where and when

It breeds in Sweden and is a partial migrant. It is common throughout southern and central Sweden up to northern Värmland and along the Norrland coast. The population is estimated at about 1.8 million pairs. It is reported from all 21 counties, most often in December and January. Most Swedish birds migrate to Western Europe from late September to early November and return in March to April.

Food and behaviour

The Common Blackbird is omnivorous and eats insects, earthworms, seeds and berries. In autumn and winter it eats more fallen fruit and berries, such as apples and rowan berries. It forages mostly on the ground, running and hopping with jerky movements. The female builds the nest alone and lays three to five, usually four, blue-green eggs with reddish-brown spots.