Blackbird - description, habitat, interesting facts

To date, blackbirds are considered the most common birds among similar breed groups. They live in the summer in a mixed, deciduous or coniferous strip. The number is quite large, nothing threatens this variety of feathered creatures. In this article we will study everything related to this family.

Description

According to their external data, individuals of male and female gender are partially different, but not very much.

1. The beak of males is pigmented in red with an orange tint, there are no noticeable transitions in tones. On plumage, males are black, there is a noticeable shine. The legs in the lower legs are covered with short feathers, similar to bristles. In color they are brown, dark. The legs are four-fingered, one of the fingers pointing back.
2. In females, a border is visible in the eye area. This outline is pigmented in orange-yellow. The beak is heterogeneous, unlike males. At its bottom, the shade is yellow. In the area of ​​the neck, spots and stripes are visible. On plumage, the females are brown on the back and buffy with orange in the abdominal part.

Food

1. Individuals of this species are not picky in terms of nutrition and diet in particular. They find food in any season and never go hungry. The main part of the menu is made up of worms that appear after rain. In the summer, nutrition is supplemented by various insects, berry and fruit fruits.
2. Birds do not really need water, they try to get all the liquid with food. When drought is observed due to weather conditions, instead of worms, birds lean on caterpillars, aphids, berries and fruits. Blackbirds do not pick soil in search of food, but collect it from the ground.
3. A common pattern that can be observed is the behavior of the individuals in question. They jump on short grass and look for a meal. Then they quickly attack them, giving no chance of slipping away. Birds that are not afraid of humans live near gardens and summer cottages.

Habitat

1. These individuals perfectly adapt to various climatic conditions. Initially, they lived exclusively in dense thickets. But later they migrated to the territory chosen by people. Today thrushes are found in larch, mixed and coniferous bands.
2. The most daring individuals live in public places, whether it be parks or squares. Distributed throughout the European continent, are seen within the city, in its greenest parts. The number is quite high, so birds live almost everywhere.

Breeding

1. Future parents with special care choose a place to build a home for future offspring. They can place the nest in public places, for example, arbors, covered with dense thickets. There are also nests in trees and thick weaves of vegetation. If the birds find a wide gap in the stone structure, then they will definitely use it and build a nest.
2. In the construction of the house, dried grass, various roots and sticks are used. The interior is covered with clay connected with moss. The bottom is lined with blade of grass. The first clutch falls at the beginning or middle of spring, it all depends on the territory of the birds. From 4 to 6 eggs pigmented in bluish color with a gray tint and dots of brown tone participate in the clutch.
3. As for hatching, this is the future mother of the family. The entire process takes about 2 weeks. When the chicks are born, they live with their parents for another half a month, feed on protein foods and grow rapidly. After learning to fly and leave the house.For some time, the chicks still live near their parents in order to learn the basics of survival.

Lifestyle

1. The considered individuals mainly prefer to nest in the forests. Such birds can be attributed to the migratory species. As soon as autumn comes, birds flock to flocks and go to warm regions for wintering.
2. Individuals living in urban environments often lead a sedentary lifestyle. However, most of these birds prefer to spend the winter in milder climates, where the predominantly southern climate prevails.
3. With the onset of the first warm days in the spring, birds begin to return to their usual nesting places. As a result, males begin to announce native neighborhoods with beautiful and sonorous singing. It is on quiet evenings that you can hear the pleasant songs of blackbirds.
4. As for the diet, the feathered birds feed on a variety of foods. In the warm season, birds in most cases begin to hunt for various invertebrate animals. With the onset of autumn, blackbirds gradually switch to food of plant origin.
5. The considered individuals love to feast on currants, strawberries, cherries, mountain ash, cherries, elderberries, privet and blackthorn. Before migration, birds try to eat enough. As a result, on frosty days, birds try to save their energy. Thus, individuals hatch in secluded places on frosty days.

Interesting Facts

1. It is strictly forbidden to disturb the birds in their shelter in winter. The problem is that due to such actions their fragile energy balance is disturbed. As a result, the birds are very frightened and fly away from their home in search of a new secluded place. During such movements, individuals waste a tremendous amount of energy. Often, from such human actions, birds die.
2. It is worth noting that in mid-autumn the body weight of the individuals in question reaches 90 g. In this case, before the onset of cold weather, birds begin to weigh more than 100 grams. At the end of winter, their body weight decreases to 85 g.
3. In addition, blackbirds are skillful imitators of various sounds. While singing, individuals accompany their songs with a beautiful whistle. Such sounds can be compared with how the owner calls up his dog. Blackbirds are capable of even screaming car wheels. The bird can play the phone ring.
4. What is surprising is that among black individuals albinos are often found. Moreover, this most often occurs in those populations that mainly live in urban environments. Moreover, in the cities there are practically no natural predators. For this reason, albinos can reproduce their offspring without any problems.
5. Among other things, in the populations of the considered individuals, there is a certain balance between settled and migratory representatives. The problem is, settled birds often die on frosty days. However, surviving individuals in the mating season give more offspring. As for the migratory birds, they survive the cold without any problems, but much less chicks are hatched.

In today's material, we have studied small birds, which are called nothing more than blackbirds. These individuals, by their nature, are quite warlike, protect future offspring at the cost of their own lives. They live preferably in larch, mixed and coniferous bands. Also found next to a person, for example, in park areas and squares.

Video: blackbird (Turdus merula)