Common Blackbird Lina Nona/ClimateWatch user

Common Blackbird

Did You Know?

The Common Blackbird was introduced from Europe to Melbourne in the 1850s – mainly for its pleasant song.
It is considered a pest in orchards, vineyards, market gardens and backyard vegetable patches because it damages a variety of soft fruits, including figs, grapes, olives, berries and stone fruit. It has also been linked to the spread of weed species such as blackberry.

The adult male is black with a deep-orange to yellow beak, a narrow orange to yellow ring around its eye, and dark legs. The female is grey-brown, with some streaks or mottling, and its back is darker than its belly. The female also has a paler chin than the male, a dull yellow-brown beak, dark legs, and the ring around her eye is less bright. Young birds are also brown but with lighter underparts and a dark grey or black beak.

Size

25 to 28 cm (from head to tail)

Behaviour

Call

A repeated, high-pitched “tsee” or “chook”, and a mellow, melodious, warbling song. It has a harsh, almost screeching chatter of alarm when in flight.

Diet

A range of invertebrates including insects, earthworms, snails and spiders, as well as a range of seeds and fruit.

Flight

Fast, with rapid wing beats. It darts swiftly to and from its nest to avoid predators. It usually forages on the ground, probing and scratching in leaf litter, soil and lawns. It hops more than it runs when on the ground.

Breeding

During spring and summer when the male sings from a vantage point in the early morning. It builds a cup-shaped nest of dried grass, bound with mud and lined with fine grasses. The nest is usually hidden from predators in a tree, shrub or low bush, but is sometimes found in a tree hollow. The female lays three to five eggs, which are incubated for 14 days. Young birds leave the nest when they are 14 days old.

Field Guide

Improve your identification skills. Download your Common Blackbird field guide here!

What to Observe

Courting/Mating
Calling
Feeding
Bird with chicks
Bird on eggs
Bird in nest
Bird feeding begging chicks

When and Where

When To Look

From August through to the end of February
Breeding occurs from September to January
Young birds are seen from mid-September to late February

Where To Look

From south-east Queensland in the north, to Tasmania in the south (including the Bass Strait Islands), both on the coast and inland
In urban, forest and woodland habitats, including orchards, vineyards, gardens, parks and along roadsides
Look in dense shrubs, low bushes or trees for nests, also in tree hollows
Often seen in orchards, vineyards, gardens, parks and along roadsides

Similar Species

Common Starling is 4 to 5cm smaller and is a shinier black in summer, with whitish feather tips and a black bill in winter. The male doesn’t have the orange to yellow ring around its eye.

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