blackbird
| blackbird | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blackbird ♂ ( Turdus merula ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Turdus merula | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The blackbird ( Turdus merula ) or black thrush is a species of bird from the thrush family (Turdidae). In Europe, the blackbird is the most widespread representative of this family and at the same time one of the most famous birds. Their body length is between 24 and 27 centimeters. The males are black and have a yellow beak, the plumage of the females is mostly dark brown. The melodious and loudly performed territory song of the males can be heard in Central Europe mainly between the beginning of March and the end of July and can begin before dawn.
The breeding area in Europe shows no major distribution gaps except in the far north and the extreme south-east. The blackbird is also found in parts of North Africa and Asia. The blackbird was naturalized in Australia and New Zealand . In Central Europe some of the birds leave the breeding area in winter and move to Southern Europe or North Africa.
Originally the blackbird was a bird of the forest, where it can still be found today. In the 19th century it began to penetrate into the city centers via parks and gardens near the settlements and has become a cultural follower . Blackbirds look for their food mainly on the ground. They mainly feed on animal food, mostly earthworms or beetles . The proportion of berries and fruits eaten increases depending on availability. Blackbirds are free breeders and mainly nest in trees and bushes.
Appearance and characteristics
Adult blackbirds show a clear sexual dimorphism : the plumage of the males is monochrome black, the beak is conspicuously light yellow to orange. In addition, males show a clear ring around the eyes, the color of which is similar to that of the beak, but can be a bit brown. This eye ring contrasts strongly with the dark brown iris . This eye ring is less clear in the female, and the beak is less conspicuous and brightly horn-colored instead of yellow. The plumage of the female is much more variable and predominantly dark brown, sometimes turning gray or reddish brown. In both sexes, the barrel and toes are dark brown. Compared to smaller, also dark-feathered and often staying on the floor Star blackbird has a much longer tail.
Plumage of adult blackbirds
The plumage of the adult males is quite uniformly black. Especially on the underside, but also on the back and shoulder region, the feathers often show a gray to bronze-colored end hem, which is quite inconspicuous and only makes a slightly scaly impression in favorable lighting conditions. The flight feathers can appear bleached in spring.
The upper side of the females is dark olive-brown to olive-gray in color, the forehead is often a little less dark. The coloring of the lighter underside is very different from person to person. The chin and throat are light dirty gray to reddish brown with dark stripes. The breast is brown-gray, yellow-brown to red-brown with more or less distinct speckles. The belly is brown, gray-brown or gray, with the light-colored edge of the feathers sometimes creating a clearly scaled impression. The tail feathers are dark to black brown, hand and arm wings are dark brown with olive tinted outer flags.
Fledglings and moults
Fledglings resemble females, but are more spotted on the underside and can be recognized primarily by the striking light shaft marks on the back, shoulder feathers and wing covers. The beak is brown. The fletching of the wings and tail appears clearly separated from the rest of the plumage and is dark brown to brown-black in male juveniles, somewhat lighter in females and tends to be brown.
During the juvenile moult , which takes place between summer and autumn of the first calendar year, the birds change their small plumage and some of the wing feathers. It is predominantly the older young birds that change into a so-called progressive dress, the later hatched into an inhibition dress in which they continue to resemble young birds. The one-year-old males in the inhibition dress are also called blackbirds. In all one-year-old males, including the males in the progressive dress, the wing feathers and the unmoluted elytra are brown in contrast to the brown-black or black coloration of the already moulted parts of the feathers. In the one-year-old females, too, there is a contrast between the already moulted and unmoluted plumage; The latter are significantly brighter.
As a rule, the regular annual moult, which is a full moult, begins two weeks after rearing the young. The moulting of a blackbird population extends over a period of five months, ignoring the extreme cases. In Europe, the moulting period is typically between June and the end of October, with almost all adult blackbirds moulting in August.
Different colors
The drop pattern typical of thrushes can also be detected in the blackbird, in the males it is covered by intensive melanin deposits in the feathers. Thus, melanism can be considered normal for the species. On the other hand, the reduction in pigment or the loss of pigment is not in accordance with the norm, which can occur in different forms and intensities: Pale colors ( chlorochroism , flavism ) are caused by albinism . Completely albinotic white birds with red eyes are unlikely to have a chance of survival in the wild because of their reduced vision. White animals with brown or black eyes are leucistic. Spots can be traced back to a weakened leucism .
In some years, piebald animals occur locally. The resulting symmetrical or asymmetrical patterns are extremely different. On the one hand, this white coloration can obviously be a hereditary or permanent disorder during the formation or development of the follicles . On the other hand, it has been shown experimentally that the white feathers in the plumage can depend on the composition of the food, especially during moulting. Diets low in protein seem to favor albinism.
Aberrant colorations are observed today mainly in the birds in the settlement area, but were known long before blackbirds appeared in the vicinity of humans, for example Aristotle already described white blackbirds.
Body measurements and weight
With a body length between 24 and 27 centimeters, blackbirds of the nominate form are only slightly smaller than the largest central European thrush species, the mistletoe . Males are slightly larger than females. The wing length of the male is on average 133 mm and that of the female 128 mm, which corresponds approximately to a span between 34 and 38.5 centimeters. The tail length is between 104 and 116 millimeters.
The weight fluctuations in the course of the year are considerable for European blackbirds. In studies carried out in Great Britain over several years, the weight was between 71 and 150 grams, adult males weighed 102.8 grams on average, while adult females were slightly lighter at 100.3 grams. Annuals were on average just under 3 grams lighter. In the course of the year the females are only slightly heavier than the males during the laying period. Central European blackbirds have the greatest weight in January, the lowest in July or August, after the breeding season. The weight gain results from the build-up of fat reserves.
Vocalizations
Many people are familiar with the chant of the blackbirds, which can be heard from afar in spring. The blackbird is considered to be particularly creative in the invention, combination and variation of motifs. The melodious stanzas sound catchy and pleasing to human ears, in complete contrast to the humming (“dackderrigigigi duck duck”) or “tixen” - a string of high “tix” sounds that both sexes hear when excited.
Reviergesang
The territory chant is usually performed by the male from two to three different exposed singing stations , which are changed every now and then. A verse of this chant lasts a little over two seconds on average. In the breeding season, blackbirds utter an almost uninterrupted sequence of such stanzas for 20 to 30 minutes during dawn, with the pauses between the stanzas averaging about three seconds. The pauses are a little longer in the evening singing.
A stanza can be divided into a motif part and a quieter, more chirping and noisy “appendix”. The part of the motif is a little longer, the appendix can also be missing. The motif part, in turn, can be broken down into elements, usually two to five, sometimes up to nine. The pauses between the approximately 0.2 second elements can be heard. The elements are combined into motifs, and males often have more than 30 motifs in their repertoire, whereby they have two to five favorite motifs, so that an individual can be identified by singing for the human ear. There are even more variations in the appendage than in the motif part. The frequency spectrum of the appendage is much broader, the main intensity is above 10 kHz , while it is between 1.5 and 3 kHz in the motif part. A technical analysis of the appendage revealed diplophony and opposite frequency curves. Typical for blackbirds is the so-called counter - song , i.e. the reciprocal answers of two neighboring blackbirds to the other's stanza. The birds pick up on the opponent's motifs and respond in a comparable length and often with a similar stanza.
The singing is partly innate, because the performance of isolated males corresponds in many details with that of their conspecifics. Blackbirds take over many of the singing elements from their father and other males. But sounds of other bird species are also imitated, for example tit sounds or the laughter of gray and green woodpeckers . Civilization noises, such as siren signals from rescue vehicles, are also included in the song of blackbirds in the settlement area.
The first regular district song can be heard in Central Europe as early as February, the majority of blackbirds begin in mid-March, the peak is between May and June, especially when the weather is warm and humid. This phase of singing activity ends in mid-July, but especially in the settlement area there are reports of blackbirds singing loudly in autumn and also in winter, mainly in mild weather. Blackbirds are one of the first songbirds in spring, and they start singing well before dawn. The second vocal maximum is in the evening. Blackbirds singing at night are also reported in the settlement area, even in winter.
Shouts and other singing
One of the best-known of the numerous excitement and vocal feel sounds of the blackbird is the tixen. This sequence of fast, sharp noises encourages conspecifics to participate and can often be heard in connection with collective hatred of magpies or cats . The Tixen can turn into twitching with even greater excitement. Shouting can also be directed against conspecifics. Screeching blackbirds show no readiness to flee, but try to drive away competitors or enemies. A very high, piercing and loud "ssiih" (falling from 9 to 7 kHz) serves as a warning against enemies, mostly in the event of danger from the air.
Females sometimes let out muffled stanzas but otherwise similar to male singing, for example when approaching the nest or stimulated by the singing of the male. Females request mating with incoherent, very quiet, pressed-sounding and often high-pitched sounds.
After the breeding season, older males with closed bills perform a special autumn song that is significantly quieter than the song in spring, but is similar to it. The autumn song is also reminiscent of the youth song. The latter is innate in both males and females and starts quite suddenly from the 19th day. The throat, body and tail vibrate, the beak is closed or only slightly open. Somewhat older, practicing young blackbirds can be distinguished from adult blackbirds by their choppy presentation.
Spreading and migrations
While the blackbird populates almost all of Europe, the occurrences in North Africa and Asia are predominantly island-like, in Asia the distribution area extends to the East China Sea . The blackbird was naturalized in Australia and New Zealand and then colonized other offshore islands without human intervention. In large parts of the distribution area blackbirds are part migrants , in the far north they are almost exclusively migratory birds ; the southern populations, however, are resident birds . In some areas pass the birds in winter to warmer or deeper areas, but remain in the Alps and the Carpathian some blackbirds in the highest breeding areas.
Natural spread
The blackbird inhabits the boreal , temperate and Mediterranean zones and the mountainous regions of the western and southern Palearctic and adjacent north-eastern areas.
The most westerly occurrences are in the Azores , and the species breeds in the Canaries and Madeira . In North Africa, the blackbird occurs from Morocco to Tunisia between the Mediterranean and the Sahara , and occasionally further south in oases . In Europe, the blackbird breeds almost everywhere, including the British Isles and the Faroe Islands , with the first breeding recorded in Iceland in 1985. The northernmost occurrences are in Scandinavia at 70 ° north latitude, further east in Russia the northern limit of distribution is still at 60 ° latitude. In the east, the Urals form the border of the area. In addition to the extreme north, the blackbird is only absent in Europe in the very southeast, roughly southeast of a line from the Crimea to the southern foothills of the Urals.
The western part of the Asian range includes Asia Minor and the eastern Mediterranean area. The northern border of this area runs from the Crimea over the Kuban Plain, Stavropol and the North Caucasus to the southern shore of the Caspian Sea , the southern border is east of the Mediterranean region at approximately 34 degrees of latitude. The area continues with further island-like occurrences in the Zagros Mountains , Elburs and Kopet Dag , further east the blackbird occurs in the mountain forests of the Alai Mountains , the Tianschan , the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas . Further to the east, from the south of Gansu and west of Sichuan in central China to the East China Sea, a closed distribution area joins, in the south it extends to about 22 degrees latitude on the coast of the South China Sea . The blackbirds of the Indian subcontinent are sometimes also viewed as an independent species (see systematics ). In the west, south and east of India they occur in the forested mountainous country, and also in Sri Lanka .
Naturalizations
The first blackbirds reached the Australian continent in Melbourne in 1857 ; However, it is not known whether any of them were released. Since then, numerous releases have been documented in Australia well into the 20th century, with the assumption that there have been many other private releases. The main occurrences are today in the southeast of Australia south of the 33rd to 34th parallel; the blackbirds advance further and further north. To the south of mainland Australia, they are also found in Tasmania and on the islands of Bass Strait . The blackbird is considered a pest in many places in Australia because it causes damage in orchards, gardens or vineyards; it is sometimes shot down by plantation owners.
The blackbird was also introduced to New Zealand in the 1860s . Numerous birds have been released on the North and South Island . Today it occurs extensively on both main islands, as well as on most of the offshore islands. It is possible that the blackbirds there favor the spread of introduced plant species.
Unsuccessful naturalization attempts are known from North America and South Africa as well as from St. Helena and the Fiji Islands .
hikes
In Europe, the proportion of migrating individuals is highest in the north and east. In Sweden 76 percent move, in Finland even 89 percent. In Central Europe, on the other hand, the number of migrating blackbirds is only 25 percent. The migration takes place mainly in a south-westerly direction, the migrating blackbirds strengthen the populations in western and southern Europe in winter. The breeding birds of Baden-Württemberg, for example, overwinter in northern Italy, northern Spain and especially in south-west and south of France; their preferred winter quarters are the lower Rhône valley.
In the settlement area, the proportion of migrating blackbirds is lower than that of wood blackbirds. In addition, fewer males migrate than females, and older males stay in the breeding area more often. The breeding success of non-migrating males is also greater than that of migrating males. These indications suggest that there is a balance of strategies typical for partial migrants: birds that remain in the breeding area have a higher mortality rate in winter, but they can occupy better breeding grounds. A study carried out between 1998 and 2000 in the Munich area suggests that the males' reluctance to migrate in the settlement area could already be genetic.
The first migratory movements can be seen in Central Europe in July, but this is mainly due to post-breeding dispersion . Increased migration can be seen especially in the second half of September, the main migration takes place in mid-October. At the end of October, the train movements decrease significantly and end in November. In the winter months, birds that have not moved away can escape from the cold during extreme weather. The migrating blackbirds arrive in Central Europe between mid-February and mid-April.
Blackbirds migrate mainly at night or in the early morning hours. The train takes place in small stages with frequent but short breaks. The weather influences the migration behavior comparatively little. Migrating blackbirds also fly over the North Sea, the Mediterranean and the Alps.
The blackbirds in Australia and New Zealand are almost exclusively resident birds, there is little evidence that suggests migration, individual ring finds suggest an occasional crossing of the Bass Strait .
habitat
The blackbird, the thrush species with the darkest plumage, originally preferred to inhabit the interior of damp, dense forests. Even today it breeds in the dark areas of undergrowth-rich forests and looks for food in soils with no vegetation or short-grass. In such a habitat , the blackbird's exceptionally good vision in twilight for songbirds is certainly an advantage. At the other end of the extraordinarily wide range of habitats are the lively centers of large cities today, so that due to this contradiction, the names forest and city blackbirds have become commonplace.
Today the blackbird occurs in almost all types of cultural landscape . Their habitats include front gardens, parks and park-like facilities, groups of trees and bushes in industrial areas, orchards , bush-lined heaths and the largely open field corridor, provided that it is loosened up with field trees or bushes. In addition to near-natural, old forests, monocultural forests are also settled, with deciduous forests being preferred to coniferous forests. The blackbird also breeds in reed beds . The birds looking for food on the ground do not move too far away from vegetation offering cover in all habitats. With a few exceptions, the amount of precipitation in the habitats populated by the blackbird is over 300 mm per year.
By far the highest settlement density is achieved within localities, it is not uncommon for four or more breeding pairs per hectare . In a cemetery in Ravensburg between five and seven breeding pairs per hectare were counted for several consecutive years. In forests, on the other hand, the settlement density is considerably lower, rarely more than 0.5 breeding pairs per hectare breed. In rural areas and villages, the settlement density is usually between that of the cities and the forests.
The blackbird has been penetrating human settlement areas for 150 to 200 years. In doing so, it initially seems to be populating the park-like facilities and gardens on the outskirts of the villages, often near the forest. This process took place and continues to take place in large parts of the distribution area and its pace varies from region to region: In Bamberg, city blackbirds were reported as early as 1820, in London the blackbird first made its home in the city's large parks in the 1930s. An inhibiting factor in urbanization is hunting, which still takes place in parts of the range. One of the favorable factors is the milder microclimate. In addition, the artificial lighting in cities enables the breeding season to be extended; there is also a good supply of food all year round.
The mountain forests are also populated by the blackbird. In the Alps it occurs up to the tree line, in the High Atlas it is found up to an altitude of 2300 meters. The habitat of the subspecies T. m is even higher . maximus in the Himalayas , this is common between 3000 and 4500 meters and even occurs up to 5300 meters.
Food and subsistence
_(34177340804).jpg)
Blackbirds are flexible and adaptable omnivores , but depend on at least small amounts of animal food throughout the year. When the latter is scarce or can only be obtained with disproportionate effort, berries and fruits play a bigger role.
The main components of animal nutrition are earthworms and beetles up to the size of cockchafer , snails , leeches , millipedes , spiders and various insect stages are also regularly used. In addition to numerous other invertebrates , the food spectrum also includes smaller vertebrates, including lizards , tail and frog aches , mice and shrews and, in exceptional cases, snakes . Blackbirds fishing have also been observed. If there is a lack of food, smaller insects such as aphids are also used as substitute food .
While blackbirds feed almost exclusively on animals at the beginning of the breeding season, the proportion of berries and fruits in the diet increases in Central Europe from mid-May. The blackbird is the most versatile fruit eater among the thrushes; However, she rigorously avoids the fruits of the white berry mistletoe with their slimy content. The proportion of berries and fruits from ornamental trees is comparatively high. The fruits are mainly chosen according to the sequence of ripening and the sugar content. The proportion of fleshy fruits reaches its peak from October to November, during which time there can be large concentrations of blackbirds in vineyards and orchards. In winter, the fruits of ivy are usually the only remaining vegetable food in Europe . When there is a lack of food, blackbirds use winter feeding in the settlement area , seeds are also consumed in larger quantities, but like the seeds of ingested fruits, these are hardly digested. Blackbirds also look for food in waste.
There have been many observations of unusual feeding habits in blackbirds. This includes looting the nests of other thrush and finch species as well as eating sparrows that have fallen from the nest . Carrion is also obviously used, and there are also reports of coprophagia and cannibalism .
The characteristic of looking for food on the ground is hopping a short distance and then remaining motionless, with the blackbird holding its head crooked and fixing a certain point in order to strike with its beak at lightning speed. Blackbirds can also be seen picking up dry leaves with hasty picking movements, turning them around and throwing them aside. Fallen berries or fruits are picked up from the ground, more rarely picked from trees or bushes, or sometimes even torn off in a short jolting flight.
Blackbirds seldom drink because the food they eat usually contains enough water. When drinking, they often go up to their belly in shallow water and dip their beak.
Reproduction
As a rule, blackbirds become sexually mature in spring, at the end of their first year of life. Within a breeding season, pairs of blackbirds are mostly monogamous . In the case of resident birds, especially in the British Isles, the cohesion of the pairs seems to last more firmly and also to survive several breeding seasons, but in about 18 percent of the young the male blackbirds are not the fathers. Bigyny has been demonstrated but is rare.
Blackbirds are early breeders. In Central Europe there are the first broods in late February or early March. Two to three annual broods are the rule here, the last broods are possible until the end of August. In some parts of the range there are only two annual broods. Nest broods are common. In Australia and New Zealand, the breeding season is mainly between August and December. In the settlement area there are occasional breeding attempts and successful breeding, especially in mild winters.
Pair formation and courtship
In Central Europe, the reforming of territories can begin as early as November by the males remaining in the breeding area. At this time, especially in city blackbirds, there are already the first signs of pairing. Adult males in particular chase certain females in winter and try to keep competitors away. Migrating birds can also arrive in the breeding area already paired. As a rule, pairing does not take place until late winter or spring, when females choose a male with a suitable territory. First breeders settle between already occupied territories in March and April or try to take over other breeding grounds.
Returning blackbirds can arrive in the breeding area already paired, but even with these the actual courtship typically begins in March in Central Europe, with blackbirds that have not yet been paired it is part of the pair formation. In the typical courtship ritual, which often takes place after the morning chant, the male paces up and down in front of the female. It struts upright with an elongated neck, the head plumage tightly applied and the chest and stomach plumage fluffed up. The intertarsal joint of the supporting leg is pushed as far as possible, the swing leg is pulled up. The slightly hanging wings of the male tremble and there are "ziep" sounds, courtship trills or courtship song. A copulation that follows courtship is usually preceded by a request for mating by the female; there is also copulation without a previous courtship ritual.
Nest location and nest building
Blackbirds are free breeders and nest primarily in trees and bushes, but also on the ground. The role of the male in the choice of nesting site is controversial. Some authors assume that the female will make the sole decision, others assume that the male will show the female the nesting sites in question or that it will have more or less influence in other ways.
The nest is usually built on a solid base and is somewhat protected from above. Semi-dark locations in evergreen trees, especially in conifers, are preferred. In natural habitats blackbird nests are compared to those Sing - or Fieldfare better hidden. They are also less high above the ground, in large parts of the distribution area the typical nest height is between 1.5 and 2 meters. Nests built later in the year are on average higher, but this is due to the increased use of now deciduous trees.
In settlements, the nests tend to be higher, house facades and walls overgrown with climbing plants are often used, or the nests, as in natural habitats, are built in evergreen woody plants. But nests that are more than seven meters above the ground are also the exception in settlements. Blackbirds also build nests there on beams or in niches , similar to the black redstart . There have been reports of extremely strange nesting locations, for example in the engine compartment of cars parked, in moving cranes or in neon signs - with a preference for round letters and an obvious dislike for the color red.
The female builds the bowl-shaped nest on her own; the material for this is only collected on the ground. First of all, the female builds the nest base from thin twigs, coarse stalks, moss and lichen , which is then solidified with slightly damp earth. Then it forms the nest hollow with thin stalks, leaves and moss. This is then lined with clay or damp mud. After a weather-dependent drying break of 12 to 24 hours, the female lines the hollow with thin blades of grass and leaves and gives it its final shape by moving back and forth. For the nest base, scraps of paper or plastic, textiles or similar artificial nesting material are often used - also from wood blackbirds.
The shape and size of the nest depend on the location: nests in forks of branches and niches are smaller, whereas those on flat surfaces such as beams or tree stumps are larger. The outside diameter of the nests, which are not always completely round, averages around 16 centimeters, and the diameter of the hollow is 10 centimeters. The female builds the nest for an average of two to five days, with subsequent broods it can also go faster. A new nest is usually built for each brood, but the same nest can also be repaired and reused in protected locations, especially in settlements.
Clutch and brood
.JPG)
After the nest-building has been completed, it usually takes one to three days until the first egg is laid, then the eggs are laid every 24 hours. A clutch usually consists of four to five eggs, but at the beginning and end of the incubation period there are often only three or occasionally only two eggs. Larger clutches with six or seven eggs occur, but sometimes come from more than one female.
The eggs are usually oval to short-oval, sometimes slightly elliptical. The basic color of fresh eggs is green, but the color and pattern of the moderately shiny eggs can be very different. The size of the eggs of European blackbirds does not show any significant geographical variation, it is on average 29.5 × 21.5 millimeters, the weight a little more than seven grams. It usually only breeds the female. There have also been reports of brooding males; however, when the female is absent, the male sometimes sits on or in the nest and only guards the clutch. The female usually spends the night in the nest after the second egg has been deposited, but does not breed until the third egg. The bird then only leaves the nest to eat; feeding the female by the male is extremely unusual. The incubation period is between 10 and 19 days, with an average of 13 days.
Development of the young
The young usually hatch within two days. Both sexes take part in the feeding. Normally hudert only the female, in case of death of the female, the male can take on this task and also bring the breeding season successfully. On average, 16 grams of food are fed to each nestling per day. At the beginning of the breeding season it is almost exclusively animal food, later berries and meaty fruits are added. Newly hatched nestlings weigh 5 to 7 grams, when they leave the nest after about 13 to 15 days, they weigh about 65 grams.
After “flying out”, the young birds are initially almost incapable of flight, they stay very quietly and inconspicuously in cover, especially on the ground during the day. The offspring are usually divided among the parents for care. The young birds can fly at around 18 days old and are independent after 19 to 32 days. The Dismigration begins at age 7 to 8 weeks.
Nestlings and eggs on hatching day
Nestlings at the age of two days
Nestlings at the age of five days
Nestlings at the age of eight days
Nestlings at the age of ten days
Nestlings at the age of twelve days.
Nestling after leaving the nest on the 14th day
Branchling
Breeding success
Although more broods per year can occur in the settlement area, the breeding success is impaired by disturbances by humans and the large number of domestic cats and is often greater in rural areas. In areas where corvids and especially magpies are numerous, there can be an accumulation of clutch losses. Many studies show a connection between the hiddenness of the nest and the escape rate. This is also confirmed by the fact that total losses are less frequent with lower nest levels than with nests more than 2.5 meters above the ground, since low nests are less easy to see for nest robbers. In Great Britain , 56 percent of the 1,428 examined nests hatched; at least one young bird flew out of 41 percent of these nests. In the human settlement area, many young blackbirds fall victim to traffic or cats after they have escaped.
Other behavior
During most of the year, activity begins at dawn and activity ends at dusk. Between February and the end of June, however, Central European blackbirds can be heard long before dawn; in July and June and in the middle of winter, the activity ends at or even before sunset. Weather-dependent differences in brightness and artificial light sources influence the duration of activity.
Calm and comfort behavior
Blackbirds look for special roosts throughout the year, although during the breeding season, in addition to the breeding females, the males often stay in the territory at night. The sleeping places are typically in conifers and leafy deciduous trees or bushes, usually 1 to 2.5 meters above the ground. Overnight stays are sometimes individual, but also sociable: 700 birds or more can gather in forests near the city. In the settlement area, cemeteries or parks are often used for overnight stays. The distance to be covered to the sleeping place is normally less than one kilometer, but can also be up to four kilometers, especially in residential areas the distances to be covered are often greater. The birds often use the same routes, but an individual does not use the same roost every day.
Before going to sleep, blackbirds often take care of their plumage or take a bath. Bathing can be observed all year round, more often when the sky is overcast or it is raining, less often when the sun is shining. Sunbathing is also part of the comfort behavior. As is typical for thrushes, the blackbirds lie flat on the ground, spread their tails and spread their wings. They prefer to do this in midsummer and occasionally expose themselves to the sun in the afternoons until they show signs of heat stress . The reason for this intense sunbathing is unclear. Sunbathing and poulting are particularly common just before moulting; both behaviors are also combined, for example by blackbirds that perch on the nest of yellow meadow ants .
Social behavior
During the breeding season, blackbirds behave in an extremely territorial manner towards other conspecifics , especially before and during the nest-building phase, and a little less while rearing their young. The area is defended by both sexes. Territorial males drive away all conspecifics, while females only drive away other females during the breeding season. The expulsion of intruders can be done with or without prior display behavior. If it comes to a fight, the birds can peck each other or rise chest to chest up to three meters high and fall to the ground while still fighting. The fights between the females seem to be particularly intense: they can end with the death of the inferior.
Outside the breeding season, blackbirds are mostly social and can share cheap food sources. Congregations of 30 or more birds are not uncommon when feeding or bathing. However, when the availability of berries is nearing its end in late autumn, even non-territorial birds can defend the last berry-bearing bushes against conspecifics or other thrush species. Blackbirds are inferior to the more agile and adaptable starlings when harvesting berries.
Movement and flight
Blackbirds spend most of the day on or near the ground. Depending on the nature of the ground, routes are covered continuously or hopping. Swing is slowed down with a few steps both on landing and after a hopping sequence, whereby the tail is raised in a characteristic way.
In contrast to the song thrushes , which are better cross-country pilots with their longer and more pointed wings, blackbirds are more agile due to their pronounced split wings . In level flight, speeds of almost 35 km / h were measured.
Age and causes of mortality
Mortality in the first year of life is significantly higher than in the following. In studies in France, birds found a survival rate of 31 percent in the first year of life, and 55 percent in the following years. In studies in large cities in northwest Germany, the average age of the birds was 3.6 years. The question of whether life expectancy is greater in the original habitat or in the settlement area has not yet been clarified; the investigations carried out on this provide contradicting results. Individual birds can reach a considerable age; birds more than ten years old have been identified several times. The oldest known blackbird is a female ringed on Heligoland in 1974 , which was found again at the age of 22 years and three months and possibly became even older.
Weather
Weather conditions have a major impact on mortality. In summer the birds suffer from prolonged drought, in winter from frost and strong winds. However, the blackbird usually survives long-term winter conditions better than other thrushes due to the wide food spectrum.
Diseases
In addition to a lack of food, the resistance of birds can be weakened by various diseases or parasites . Among the endoparasites include flukes to the ectoparasites , for example, the larvae of the fly Neottiophilum praeustum who live in the nesting material and feed on the blood of nestlings.
- Usutu virus
The Usutu virus , which was previously only known from Africa and is one of the mosquito-borne flaviviruses , has been causing noticeable bird deaths in individual parts of Central Europe since 2001. Since the blackbird is the predominantly affected species, the term "blackbird dying" is also used. The blackbird first appeared in 2001 near Vienna , and then spread to Hungary, Switzerland and Italy. In the summer of 2011, the Usutu virus was also proven to be the cause of numerous dead animals in the northern Upper Rhine Plain in Germany. It is believed that some 100,000 individuals were affected there. In Austria, where the virus first appeared in 2001, deaths have been falling since 2004 and the populations had normalized again in 2006, which was apparently due to the fact that the Austrian birds had now developed herd immunity . After a similar epidemiological development in the Rhine plain and a few years without major outbreaks, more cases occurred there again in 2016, also in France, Belgium and the eastern Netherlands. It is assumed, however, that with such a repeated occurrence in the same place there will no longer be a mass extinction as with the first occurrence, instead it is to be expected that there will be cyclically repeated outbreaks in such areas if a blackbird generation is present acquired resistance is replaced by the next generation. In 2017 and in the hot summer of 2018 , the virus spread further north in Germany, with a particularly large number of reports from Lower Saxony. As expected, a particularly large number of birds fall ill in the regions where the virus first appeared. As of mid-August 2019, the number of suspected cases reported in Germany has decreased compared to the same period of the previous year, according to Nabu's findings.
Predators
Blackbirds are prey animals of various predators . It is noteworthy that it is not the more conspicuous males singing in exposed waiting that are eaten more often, but the females. This is most likely due to the fact that females spend longer and more time looking for food on the ground. Various species of falcon , sparrowhawk , goshawk , buzzard or red kite are particularly successful in hunting blackbirds in their original habitat, and marsh harrier in New Zealand and Australia . Among the owls, tawny owl , long-eared owl and eagle owl are typical predators. Various corvids prey on eggs and juveniles, the larger species such as the carrion crows occasionally also decrepit or sick adult birds. Various species of martens and foxes can also be considered as predators. In addition, house cats , brown rats and squirrels are often successful predators. Brown rats and squirrels usually prey on clutches and not yet fully fledged young birds.
Road traffic and hunting
Road traffic claims numerous victims among the blackbirds in the settlement area. Expressways that run past green spaces are particularly dangerous. There are also blackbirds that survive multiple traffic accidents. The chances of recovery seem to be greater within the urban area due to the greater food supply and less enemy pressure. In some parts of the range, pest control and hunting are a not negligible cause of death. In France, for example, the hunting season lasts from late August to mid-February.
Inventory and inventory development
_-_Turdus_merula_(016f).jpg)
Probably as early as the 18th century, but above all during the 19th century, the blackbird population increased considerably due to area expansion, settlement of new habitats and an increase in settlement density. The European breeding area alone is estimated to be 8 million square kilometers today, the population at 40 to 82 million breeding pairs. About three times as large a number of individuals can be derived from this. Since Europe comprises more than half of the world's breeding area of the species, the global population can roughly be estimated at 162 to 492 million individuals. In Germany, with 6.7 to 8.2 million breeding pairs in 2008, the blackbird is the third most common breeding bird after house sparrows and chaffinches .
Stocks increased in most of Europe over the last decade of the 20th century, especially in Germany, France , the Netherlands and Italy . At the beginning of the 21st century, the population figures are stable, the species is therefore considered to be harmless. That was not always the case: In the 1970s, there were regional falls in the British population of 20 to 30 percent. This is mainly attributed to the intensification of agriculture, as the decreases have been greater in agricultural areas than elsewhere. The use of pesticides could also have significantly reduced the food supply.
Systematics
Related species
The Real chokes ( Turdus ) are one of the richest and most widely songbirds genera . The generally recognized 65 recent species occur, apart from naturalizations such as Australia and New Zealand, in Africa , Eurasia and America . Investigations of the mitochondrial DNA show that there are several regionally roughly demarcated clades that would allow a division of the genus. However, due to the biological similarity of the Turdus species, this does not seem appropriate.
The blackbird belongs to the Eurasian clade of the genus Turdus . It is obviously the basic type of this group, although this position could not be determined unequivocally by the genetic investigations. What is certain is that it is not very closely related to the other Turdus species in this clade. The reason for this could be a very rapid phylogenetic radiation caused by intercontinental migration . In any case, genetic investigations could not confirm a close relationship with the South Sea thrush ( T. poliocephalus ) that had previously been suspected on the basis of biological and morphological properties .
Subspecies
Within the Palearctic distribution area there is a gradual (clinical) transition of various characteristics of the blackbird. The individuals from Western Europe to the east to Iran are gradually becoming paler, grayer and larger, from Afghanistan to the east in the Himalayas, on the other hand, they are darker again, the color is browner and less black. The relatively small blackbirds of the Indian subcontinent - the simillimus group - differ quite clearly from the rest of the blackbirds in terms of plumage, proportions and other properties and are often viewed as a separate species ("Indian blackbird", Turdus simillimus ).
The following list initially contains the generally recognized subspecies of the Palearctic; the description of the Indian blackbird follows. Based on the nominate form , the subspecies are described in the order of appearance from west to east.
- T. m. merula Linnaeus , 1758: Almost all European blackbirds belong to the nominate form, to which this article mainly refers, if not otherwise indicated. Within the very large range of this subspecies there are clinical differences, for which various other subspecies have been proposed - for example ticehursti for the slightly darker populations of Scotland and Ireland . However, these deviations are not classified as sufficient for a formal taxonomic separation. The naturalized populations of Australia and New Zealand, most of which are descended from British blackbirds, also belong to the nominate form, as no significant differences have been identified so far - for example, the song of New Zealand blackbirds corresponds in structure and elements to that of European blackbirds.
- T. m. azorensis Hartert , 1905: The representatives of the subspecies endemic to the Azores are somewhat smaller than the nominate form, but above all the tail is shorter. The plumage of the male is darker and shinier than that of the nominate form.
- T. m. cabrerae Hartert , 1901: This subspecies, which breeds on Madeira and the western Canary Islands, is similar to T. m. azorensis , but does not differ so clearly from the nominate form in terms of plumage, size and tail length.
- T. m. mauretanicus Hartert , 1902: The blackbirds of North Africa belong to this subspecies. Here, too, the plumage of the male is deep black and shiny, the beak is somewhat stronger than that of the Spanish blackbirds belonging to the nominate form, with which there is a mixed zone in southern Spain.
- T. m. aterrimus ( Madarász , 1903): The males of this subspecies are a little more dull in color than those of the nominate form, the females have a paler underside. The beak is a little longer and slimmer. That of T. m. Aterrimus populated area extends in the Balkans to Slovenia and southern Romania , across the Crimea , Greece and Turkey , in the east it extends from the Caucasus to northern Iran.
- T. m. syriacus Hemprich & Ehrenberg , 1833: The distribution area of this subspecies in the eastern Mediterranean region joins that of T. m. aterrimus , it breeds from southern Turkey to Jordan and Israel and the north of Sinai . The blackbirds in this area are mainly resident birds. Furthermore, this subspecies occurs in the north of Iraq and in the south of Iran, the blackbirds there overwinter in the Nile Delta . Another subspecies ( T. m. Insularum ) has been proposed for the blackbird of the southern Greek islands, but these birds are from T. m. syriacus can hardly be distinguished and are therefore usually also assigned to this subspecies.
- T. m. intermedius ( Richmond , 1896): This subspecies breeds in a strip from northeast Afghanistan to the Tian Shan . In winter, the birds migrate to the lower elevations in southern Afghanistan and eastern Iraq. The representatives of this subspecies are larger than those of T. m. syriacus and T. m. aterrimus , the tail longer in relation to its size, the beak stronger.
_1_cropped.jpg)
- T. m. maximus Seebohm , 1881: With a body length of up to 29 centimeters, the largest subspecies is distributed in the Himalayas from northern Pakistan to Bhutan at altitudes between 3500 and 5300 meters; it also occurs in southeastern Tibet . In winter the birds move to lower altitudes. The head, chest, wings and tail of the male are pure black, the yellow eye ring is missing. The females are blackish-brown on top, brown on the bottom and overall almost as dark as the males. Due to some significant differences - in particular the less melodious singing interspersed with metallic and squeaky elements - the subspecies is also classified as an independent species and called "Tibetan blackbird" ( Turdus maximus ).
- The subspecies T. m. sowerbyi Deignan , 1951: This subspecies, named after the British naturalist James Sowerby , breeds in central China in the south of Gansu and west of Sichuan . The representatives are darker than the subspecies T. m, which breeds further east . mandarinus .
- T. m. mandarinus Bonaparte , 1850: The blackbirds that occur from east Sichuan and Guizhou to the east and south China seas belong to this subspecies. Some of the birds migrate to southern China , Hainan , Laos and Vietnam in winter . The plumage of the birds is dull dark soot brown, the males have a dirty white chin patch and whitish edges on the feathers of the throat and the front neck. The females differ from the males almost exclusively by their throat, which is broadly black and brown on a whitish background.
The subspecies of the Indian subcontinent only reach a body length of 19 to 22 centimeters. They also differ markedly from the other blackbirds in the proportions, the color of the eggs and the voice. The plumage is paler, in addition to the eye ring and beak of these blackbirds, the toes and barrel are yellow to orange in color.
- T. m. simillimus Jerdon , 1840: This subspecies occurs in southwest India, particularly common in the hills of Kerala and the western part of Tamil Nadu . In the Palani Mountains to the south, the area of T. m. bourdilloni , there is a transition zone.
- T. m. nigropileus ( Lafresnaye , 1840): The subspecies breeds up to the high altitudes of the Western Ghats from Gujarat to Malabar , Mysore , the north of the Nilgiri plateau and east in Andhra Pradesh to the Nallamala Mountains . The representatives are even paler than those of T. m. simillimus , the male is brownish slate gray with a black head cap.
- T. m. bourdilloni ( Seebohm , 1881): This subspecies occurs in southern India in Kerala in the Palani and Nelliampathi mountains . The male is uniformly brownish slate gray with paler feather ends on the wings of the hand.
- T. m. kinnisii ( Kelaart , 1851): This subspecies occurs in the mountains of Sri Lanka . The males are dark slate gray in color with a bluish tone. The females look similar, but the plumage is a little more dull.
Blackbird and human
etymology
The common names of some languages refer to the black plumage of the males, for example Blackbird in English or Merle noir in French. The German name Amsel and its Old High German equivalent amsla goes back to a West Germanic * amslōn , like older English ouzel and its Old English equivalent ōsle . Whose phone similarity with the Latin name rustica (where French merle, but also German dialect Merle and Dutch Merel originate), and perhaps also with welsh mwyalch leaves on two mutually Ablaut ratio standing Indo-European roots be measured * and * at (e) s thinking .
At the beginning of the 20th century, the term “blackbird” was extended to include some bird species that were similar in shape and size to the “normal” blackbird, for example “blackbird” for the ring owl or “ golden blackbird ” for the oriole . The latter is not closely related to the blackbird, which also applies to the dipper , which is still called that today.
The country name Kosovo suggests a connection to the blackbird. Kosovo goes back to the Serbian area name Kosovo polje , where kos means 'blackbird', -ovo is a derivative suffix and polje means 'field'. Usually the name is traced back to a legend according to which the Serbian heroes who fell on the blackbird field turned into blackbirds. However, this legend contradicts the fact that at the time in question there could hardly have been blackbirds in the relevant place, as these were still forest birds and were also rarely found in southeastern Europe. According to another interpretation, the name comes from kosit or kositi, the verb for 'mow' , which is almost identical in Serbian and Albanian . The current form of the area name would thus go back to a mythological or folk etymological reinterpretation.
The term Blackbirding , also Blackbird catching, for the violent recruitment of workers, especially in the South Seas, is derived from the common English name. In the German-language literature this expression was also translated as "Schwarzdroßler". The people involved were also named that way.
The blackbird as a farm animal
Even the Romans fattened the blackbirds in large birdhouses, because blackbird meat was considered very tasty. Traditional Corsican cuisine includes pâté de merle, a blackbird pate. Blackbirds were also very popular as house birds because of their song . It was considered beneficial to catch older blackbirds in order to enjoy the song "in all its purity". Hand-reared blackbirds, on the other hand, were taught melodies. Blackbirds were also popular as decoys on the Vogelherd . In contrast to hand-reared specimens, captured blackbirds are never completely tame and moreover behave very aggressively towards other birds, especially conspecifics.
Popular belief and artistic reception
Because of their coloring, which can be associated with mourning and their lonely forest life, blackbirds were often associated with pious hermits in Christian symbolism . In this context there is also the legend of Saint Kevin , to whom a blackbird laid eggs in his hands while he held them up in prayer; thereafter, the duration of prayer allowed the blackbird to complete its brood.
Superstition has long ascribed magical powers to the blackbird, which has certainly been reinforced by its development as a cultural follower . For example, lightning should not strike a house where a blackbird is staying. If you hang a feather from the right wing of a blackbird on a thread in a house, the residents cannot sleep. If you put the heart of a blackbird under the pillow of a sleeper, he cannot deviate from the truth in a later questioning.
Probably because of its fame and not least because of its melodious song, the blackbird is often mentioned in poetry . In prose it sometimes appears symbolically. For example in Alfred de Musset's The Story of a White Blackbird , in Robert Musil's Die Amsel or in Walter Kappacher 's Die Amsel von Parsch .
The blackbird also plays a major role in popular folk songs such as the bird wedding and All birds are already there . In both songs, the text ("The thrush was the bridegroom, the blackbird was the bride" or "Blackbird, thrush, finch and star") clearly shows that the blackbird is often not perceived as a thrush.
The animals' activity begins at dawn, and is described in the first verse of the popular song Morning Has Broken .
singing
It has often been observed that the blackbird song comes very close to our understanding of music. So it is not surprising that the blackbird song, in contrast to many other sounds made by birds , can be reproduced quite well in the notation system . There are some considerations of singing from a musicological point of view; the composer and conductor Heinz Tiessen (1887–1971) has dealt with these intensively . For him the blackbird was "the musically highest songbird in Central Europe". The range of the blackbird's voice is considerably more than an octave . Often because of their singing acclaimed Nightingale however, do musically less from their larger opportunities that Blackbird is the more talented composer: "The range of tonal expression [...] ranges from Schlich Test to be the differentiator testing of pure triad motifs and diatonic intervals in distinct tonalities to Chromatics and beyond that into the intangible as well as harmonic. ” Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992), a French composer, had a similar fondness for blackbird singing . He dedicated the Amsel Le Merle noir , a chamber music piece for flute and piano .
Blackbird motifs also inspired Richard Strauss , with the Rosenkavalier he captured the blackbird song quite naturally. At the beginning of the first act, while the curtain rises, it is performed by the first clarinet . Real blackbird singing was added to the original recording of Paul McCartney's Blackbird , but there the blackbird only serves as a substitute and embodies a woman.
National animal
In Sweden , the blackbird was voted the national bird in 1962 by readers of the Dagens Nyheter newspaper . This was confirmed in 2015, this time initiated by the Swedish Ornithological Society ( Sveriges Ornitologiska Förening ).
literature
- Urs N. Glutz von Blotzheim (Hrsg.): Handbook of the birds of Central Europe (HBV). Volume 11 / II, Real Thrushes: Turdidae. Aula, Wiesbaden 1988, ISBN 3-89104-486-0 .
- Burkhard Stephan : The blackbird. 2nd edition, Neue Brehm Bücherei, Hohenwarsleben 1999, ISBN 3-89432-455-4 .
- Jochen Hölzinger : The birds of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 3/1: songbirds / passerine birds. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-8001-3493-4 .
- Josep del Hoyo , Andrew Elliott, David A. Christie: Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2005, ISBN 978-84-87334-72-6 .
- Peter Jeffrey Higgins et al .: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB). Volume 7: Boatbill to Starlings. Oxford University Press, Melbourne / Oxford 2006, ISBN 978-0-19-553996-7 .
- David Snow , Christopher M. Perrins (Eds.): The Birds of the Western Palearctic concise edition . (2 vols.). Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-19-854099-X .
- Heinz Tiessen : Music of Nature. 2nd edition, Atlantis, Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-254-00157-5 .
Web links
- Turdus merula onthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species .
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Turdus merula in the Internet Bird Collection
- Blackbird pictures at www.naturfotografie-digital.de
- Singing blackbird at www.vogelstimmen-wehr.de
- Age and gender characteristics (PDF; 5.3 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta and Gerd-Michael Heinze (English) ( Memento from March 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- Blackbird feathers
- Development of the blackbird population in Europe, 1980–2015
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h HBV Volume 11 / II, T. m. merula , field identifier, description; Pages 842–848, see literature
- ↑ a b c Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 18–24, see literature
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Higgins et al .: HANZAB. Vol. 7, pages 1844-1866, see literature
- ↑ a b Stephan: The blackbird. Page 212 ff., See literature
- ↑ HBV Volume 11 / II, T. m. merula , moult; Page 849 f., See literature
- ↑ Hein van Grouw: Not every white bird is an albino: sense and nonsense about color aberrations in birds. Dutch Birding, Vol. 28, No. 2, Pages 79-89, 2006 ( online ; PDF; 458 kB)
- ↑ a b Stephan: The blackbird. Page 28 ff., See literature
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Del Hoyo et al .: HBW Volume 10, Common Blackbird. Page 645 f., See literature
- ↑ Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 31–35, see literature
- ↑ Macleod, Barnett, Clark, Cresswell: Body mass change strategies in blackbirds Turdus merula the starvation-predation risk trade-off. In: Journal of Animal Ecology. 74: pp. 292–302, 2005 ( online ; PDF; 257 kB)
- ↑ a b c d e f g HBV Volume 11 / II, T. m. merula , voice; Pp. 850-861, see literature
- ↑ a b Torben Dabelsteen: An analysis of the full song of the Blackbird Turdus merula with respect to message coding and adaptations for acoustic communication. In: Ornis Scandinavia. 15: pp. 227-239, 1984 ( abstract )
- ↑ The information on the number of elements in a stanza varies greatly in the literature (up to 29 are mentioned), which is probably due to the fact that no uniform definition is used for an element. Dabelsteen actually calls the element “figure” and divides it into “elements”. It essentially differentiates according to the length of the pause; the threshold is 0.05 s
- ↑ a b c Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 51–60, see literature
- ↑ a b c HBV Volume 11 / II, T. m. merula , wanderings; Pages 866–871, see literature
- ↑ a b c d e f g Hölzinger: The birds of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 3/1, pages 446-465, see literature
- ↑ a b c d e f g Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 61–72, see literature
- ^ Peter A. Williams: The role of blackbirds (Turdus merula) in weed invasion in New Zealand. In: New Zealand Journal of Ecology. 30: pp. 285–291 ( online ; PDF; 70 kB).
- ↑ Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 218–232, see literature
- ↑ J. Partecke, E. Gwinner: Increased sedentariness in European blackbirds following urbanization: a consequence of local adaptation? In: Ecology. 88: 882-890, 2007 ( abstract )
- ↑ a b c HBV Volume 11 / II, T. m. merula , biotope, settlement density ; Pages 871–875, see literature
- ↑ Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 73–86, see literature
- ↑ a b c d Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 87-98, see literature
- ^ Raes, Lefebvre, Jordaens: First report of fishing in the European Blackbird. In: Acta Ornithologica. 43: pp. 231–234, 2008 ( summary )
- ↑ a b HBV Volume 11 / II, T. m. merula , food; Pages 920-924, see literature
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l HBV Volume 11 / II, T. m. merula , behavior; Pages 892–919, see literature
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j HBV Volume 11 / II, T. m. merula , reproduction; Pages 875-889, see literature
- ^ Garamszegia, Møller: Extrapair paternity and the evolution of bird song. In: Behavioral Ecology. 15: pp. 508-519, 2004 ( online )
- ↑ Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 172–176, see literature
- ↑ a b Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 160–172, see literature
- ↑ a b c Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 177–190, see literature
- ↑ a b c d HBV Volume 11 / II, T. m. merula , breeding success, mortality, age; Pages 899-892, see literature
- ↑ Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 148–151, see literature
- ↑ K. Hüppop, O. Hüppop: Atlas for bird ringing on Helgoland - Part 5. In: Vogelwarte. Volume 47, pages 201 and 215, 2009 ( online ; PDF; 4.2 MB)
- ↑ a b c Stephan: The blackbird. Pages 118–121, see literature
- ↑ Chvala-Mannsberger et al .: Epizootiology of Usutu virus-associated bird death in Austria. In: Austrian Contributions to Veterinary Epidemiology (ACVE). Vol. 4, 2007, ISBN 978-3-9502042-3-0 ( summary ; PDF; 172 kB)
- ↑ a b Armin Konrad: Usutuviren-associated populations of blackbirds in the northern Upper Rhine Plain in summer 2011. In: Avifauna-Nordbaden. 42, November 2, 2011 ( online ( memento of October 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ); PDF; 1.9 MB)
- ↑ NABU: Re blackbird dying by the Usutu virus. September 2016
- ^ Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI): Usutu virus. Retrieved November 21, 2019 .
- ↑ NABU: Alarm Action for blackbird dying. Retrieved April 23, 2019 .
- ↑ NABU: Amselsterben 2019. Retrieved on August 26, 2019 .
- ↑ Peter Post, Frank Götmark: Foraging behavior and predation risk in male and female Eurasian Blackbirds (Turdus merula) during the breeding season. In: The Auk. 123: pp. 162–170, 2006 ( abstract )
- ↑ Direction départementale des territoires Bas-Rhin: Arrêté Préfectoral ( Memento of February 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (2010/2011; PDF; 299 kB)
- ↑ Turdus merula in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2010. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2009. Accessed June 23 of 2010.
- ↑ Sudfeldt et al .: Birds in Germany - 2008. DDA , BfN, LAG VSW, Münster 2008 ( online ; PDF; 8.4 MB)
- ^ A b G. Voelker, S. Rohwer, RC Bowie, DC Outlaw: Molecular systematics of a speciose, cosmopolitan songbird genus: defining the limits of, and relationships among, the Turdus thrushes. In: Molecular phylogenetics and evolution. Volume 42, Number 2, February 2007, pp. 422-434, doi: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2006.07.016 , PMID 16971142 .
- ↑ a b HBV Volume 11 / II, T. merula , Geographische Variation; Page 840f, see literature
- ↑ a b del Hoyo et al .: HBW Volume 10, Indian Blackbird. Page 646, see literature
- ↑ del Hoyo et al .: HBW Volume 10, Tibetian Blackbird. Page 646, see literature
- ↑ Kluge. Etymological dictionary of the German language . Edited by Elmar Seebold. 25th, revised and expanded edition. De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-022364-4 , p. 41; Wolfgang Pfeifer: Etymological dictionary of German. 2nd, revised and supplemented edition. Akademie, Berlin 1993, ISBN 3-05-000626-9 , p. 36.
- ↑ Victor Hugo Suolahti: The German bird names. A verbal study. Page 54 f., 156 and 173, Strasbourg 1909.
- ↑ Csaba Földes: Place names in the field of tension between public language and linguistic change. Germanistic-linguistic remarks based on the Kosovo crisis. In: Mutterssprache 109, 1999, pp. 303-315 ( online ).
- ↑ Stefan von Kotze: From Papua's culture morning: South Seas memories. Berlin 1905, p. 118; Quoted and adopted by Jürgen Römer: “A picture of fairytale magic.” Germans in Finschhafen (New Guinea) 1885–1888.
- ↑ Jakob Anderhandt: Eduard Hernsheim, the South Seas and a lot of money. Biography in two volumes. MV-Wissenschaft, Münster 2012, here: Vol. 2, p. 76.
- ↑ a b Johann Friedrich Naumann : The birds of Central Europe. Pages 304–309, Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-8218-6223-1
- ↑ www.cuisimonde.com: Corsican cuisine ( Memento from April 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (link triggers virus scanner)
- ↑ Christian Ludwig Brehm , Felix von Gourcy-Droitaumont: Handbook for lovers of the room, house and all birds worth taming. Page 114 f., Ilmenau 1832 ( online )
- ↑ Johannes Baptista Friedreich: The symbolism and mythology of nature. Page 512 f., Stahel, Würzburg 1858
- ^ Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer, Hanns Baechtold-Staeubli: Concise dictionary of German superstition . Volume 1, page 372 f., De Gruyter, 2002, ISBN 3-11-016860-X
- ↑ Heinz Tiessen: Musik der Natur , pp. 34, 67, 50 f., 84
- ↑ www.musiktext.de: Le Merle noir (1951) ( Memento from July 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Heinz Tiessen: Music of Nature , p. 94 f.
- ↑ Koltrasten är fortfarande Sveriges nationalfågel message on natursidan.se of September 4, 2015, accessed on September 18, 2019.
