The Common Blackbird (Turdus merula) is a robust thrush with a rounded body, a relatively long tail and an upright stance on the ground, measuring 23–29 cm with a wingspan of 34–39 cm and a weight of 80–125 g. The male is entirely matte black, slightly glossier below, with a bright yellow to orange-yellow bill that is most vivid during the breeding season and a narrow yellow eye-ring. The female is dark brown above with a warmer rust-brown tone on the breast and flanks, a paler, faintly streaked throat, a dark bill, and little or no eye-ring — she is often confused with the female Fieldfare. First-year males have a dark bill that gradually yellows through the winter, so a one-year-old male in April may show a half-yellow bill and duller black plumage that doesn't quite match a fully adult bird. Juveniles are mottled brown with paler spots above and rusty spotting below.
The song is a deep, fluting series of soft, varied phrases delivered from a high perch at dawn and dusk between March and July, peaking in April–May; each male has his own individual "melody" that is never repeated exactly. The alarm call is a sharp, repeated "tix-tix-tix", intensifying to "tri-tri-tri" when danger is acute, while the flight call is a soft, drawn-out "siiih". Originally a woodland species, the Common Blackbird has since the mid-1800s progressively colonised towns, gardens and parks, which are now its most common breeding habitat, and it typically breeds 3–5 eggs per clutch, up to three broods a season from March to July; the nest is an open cup built by the female in a dense bush, hedge or low tree, 1–3 m up, with an outer layer of grass and twigs, an inner layer of mud, and a soft grass lining — it does not use nest boxes. In spring and summer the diet is earthworms, snails, insects and larvae picked from lawns and leaf litter; in autumn and winter it shifts to berries such as rowan, hawthorn and apple. Many birds, especially males, remain resident through the Nordic winter in milder, urban areas, while more northerly populations move to southern Scandinavia, the British Isles and Western Europe, returning in March–April; the species is classified as Least Concern (LC).
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