# Blackbird
The **Blackbird** (*[Turdus merula](https://www.edgepedia.org/common-blackbird)*) is a common Eurasian thrush of the family Turdidae in which the adult male is glossy black with a yellow bill and eyering, the female is brown and streaked, and the fluting song from a high perch is a familiar sound of gardens across Britain, Ireland, and much of Europe.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) In North America the name "blackbird" refers to unrelated icterids, so English-language guides call this species the Eurasian or Common Blackbird; it is the species named in the 1968 Beatles song "Blackbird".[2](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eurasian_Blackbird/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | Order Passeriformes, family Turdidae; *Turdus merula*, authority Linnaeus, 1758[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) |
| Identification | Male all black with yellow bill and eyering; female and juvenile brown with spots and streaks on the breast[3](https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/blackbird) |
| UK population | 5.1 million breeding pairs (2016); a 21% decrease from 1967 to 2024[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) |
| Distribution in Britain & Ireland | Records from 96% of 10-km squares in both breeding season and winter; absent only from the highest ground[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) |
| Breeding biology | Clutch of 3 to 4 eggs (average 3.86 ± 0.75), female-only incubation of 12 to 14 days, fledging at 13.5 to 16 days, typically 2 to 3 broods[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) |
| Size and lifespan | Adult weight 101.8 ± 12.1 g; typical life expectancy 3 years, maximum ringed age 15 years 2 months 5 days[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) |
| Conservation status | UK Green List; IUCN Least Concern globally[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) |
## Identification and voice
The adult male is one of the most easily recognized European birds: black plumage set against a bright orange-yellow bill and a yellow ring around the eye. The female is dark brown, often with spots and streaks on the breast, and her bill varies from brown to yellow; juveniles are similarly brown.[3](https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/blackbird) The brown female is often confused with the [song thrush](https://www.edgepedia.org/song-thrush) by casual observers, though the song thrush carries spotted plumage.[4](https://www.petbook-magazine.com/wildlife/blackbird-or-thrush-how-to-tell-the-difference)
The song is low-pitched, flute-like, and mellow, often closing with a squeaky twiddle, and is delivered from a high perch such as a treetop or roof.[5](https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/bird-song-identification-common-garden-birds.html) Males sing most regularly between March and June, are a leading voice in the UK dawn chorus, and often begin the dusk chorus on warm summer evenings.[3](https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/blackbird) Some males start singing early: the youngest males begin in January, with adult males joining in March.[6](https://books.ed.ac.uk/edinburgh-diamond/catalog/download/ED-9781912669608/27/461?inline=1) When alarmed, the birds give an explosive rattle of urgent "chuks" and high-pitched "chinks".[3](https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/blackbird)
## Habitat and feeding
The species was originally a bird of mature woodland and began moving into urbanized landscapes in the early 19th century, a shift that reflects its adaptability.[7](https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/shared_documents/gbw/associated_files/bird-table-76-blackbird-species-focus.pdf) Today it occupies villages and towns most frequently, and is also common in scrub, arable and pasture farmland, and deciduous woodland.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) Across its wider breeding range, which extends east from the Atlantic seaboard to central and eastern China, it occupies a number of different habitats.[7](https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/shared_documents/gbw/associated_files/bird-table-76-blackbird-species-focus.pdf)
Blackbirds feed almost exclusively on the ground, turning over leaf litter, probing soil, and visiting flat feeders such as bird tables.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) Their diet consists mainly of earthworms, insects, and fruit, with the major food items varying through the year and also including snails and seeds.[8](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eurasian_Blackbird/lifehistory)
## Breeding
Nesting runs from March to August. The female builds the nest almost entirely herself, constructing a sturdy cup of twisted twigs glued together with mud, placed in bushes, hedges, trees, or climbing plants, often close to the ground and occasionally on the ground itself.[3](https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/blackbird) She lays roughly three to four eggs, with observed clutches ranging from 2 to 7, and may raise multiple broods in a season, building a new nest for each clutch; the typical number is 2 to 3 broods with up to 5 recorded.[3](https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/blackbird) • [1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) The average first-clutch laying date is 22 April, with a range from 22 March to 14 June. Incubation, by the female alone, lasts 12 to 14 days, and the altricial chicks fledge after 13.5 to 16 days.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) [Soil moisture](https://www.edgepedia.org/soil-moisture) during the breeding season affects breeding success.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird)
## Population trends and conservation
The UK breeding population was estimated at 5.1 million pairs in 2016, but the long-term trend from 1967 to 2024 is a 21% decrease.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) The pattern of change has been uneven. Abundance declined up to about the mid-1990s, recovered strongly but partially, and that recovery has since stalled; the increase between 1994-96 and 2007-09 occurred mainly in high-rainfall parts of the country, particularly Wales, northwestern England, and southern Scotland.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) More recent data show a significant decline in London since 1995, stability in the Southeast, East, and Northeast English regions, and increases in the other five English regions and in [Northern Ireland](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-ireland), Scotland, and Wales.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird)
**Disease is a documented driver of the London decline.** The mosquito-borne Usutu virus, first identified in [Greater London](https://www.edgepedia.org/greater-london) in the summer of 2020, has reduced survival in Blackbirds, and recent declines in southeast England have been attributed to its establishment; climate change has created conditions more favorable for the mosquito species that act as its vector.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) The virus is widespread on the European continent, where it has also caused declines in the species.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) Agricultural intensification may have contributed to farmland declines, though other factors probably operated in woodland and urban habitats.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) Because the moderate-decline criterion for amber listing is no longer met, the species has been on the UK Green List since 2002, and the European population has increased since 1980.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird)
## Movements
Most UK Blackbirds are resident, though some northern birds move south in winter.[3](https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/blackbird) The UK population rises significantly each autumn when large numbers from northern Europe arrive to spend the milder winter months there.[3](https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/blackbird) Because the species is a partial migrant, local winter conservation actions do not necessarily benefit local breeding populations.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) Artificial light at night affects migratory thrushes including the Blackbird: passive acoustic monitoring in [Cambridgeshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/cambridgeshire) gardens found thrush call rates up to five times higher over the brightest urban areas than in the darkest villages during peak migration in autumn 2019.[1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird)
## Similar species and names
The Blackbird's upland counterpart in Britain is the Ring Ouzel, historically called the "mountain blackbird", in which the male has a white crescent on the breast; it is an uncommon summer visitor and the two species are compared in identification training.[3](https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/blackbird) • [1](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird) The old English name for the species was ousel, from Anglo-Saxon *ósle*, equivalent to the German *Amsel*.[9](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Blackbird) The word "thrush" names the family Turdidae, so the blackbird is itself a thrush rather than a separate kind of bird.[4](https://www.petbook-magazine.com/wildlife/blackbird-or-thrush-how-to-tell-the-difference) The species has been introduced to Australia, where the [Australian Museum](https://www.edgepedia.org/australian-museum) lists it as one of two introduced true thrushes, the other being the song thrush.[10](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/common-blackbird/)
## References
1. [Blackbird, BirdFacts, British Trust for Ornithology](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/blackbird)
2. [Eurasian Blackbird Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eurasian_Blackbird/)
3. [Blackbird, RSPB](https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/blackbird)
4. [Blackbird or Thrush? How to Tell the Difference, PETBOOK](https://www.petbook-magazine.com/wildlife/blackbird-or-thrush-how-to-tell-the-difference)
5. [Birdsong identification for beginners, Natural History Museum](https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/bird-song-identification-common-garden-birds.html)
6. [Blackbird (R, F), Edinburgh Diamond](https://books.ed.ac.uk/edinburgh-diamond/catalog/download/ED-9781912669608/27/461?inline=1)
7. [Blackbird species focus, BTO Garden BirdWatch Bird Table 76](https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/shared_documents/gbw/associated_files/bird-table-76-blackbird-species-focus.pdf)
8. [Eurasian Blackbird Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eurasian_Blackbird/lifehistory)
9. [Blackbird, 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Wikisource](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Blackbird)
10. [Common Blackbird, The Australian Museum](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/common-blackbird/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Animals › Vertebrates › Birds › Passerines and songbirds*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license