About

Blackbirds are birds from the thrush family. They are cathemeral, which means they are irregularly active at any time of night or day. Although they seem diurnal, which means they mostly come out in the day, they are heard singing at dawn and dusk. Urban birds, probably due to artificial light sources and traffic noise, can cause them to sing even later into the night.

Like most birds, a male blackbird is called a cock, a female blackbird is called a hen, and a baby blackbird is called a chick. A group of blackbirds is called a cloud, cluster or merle.

Habitat

Their resting places are called nests, which are neat, cup-shaped, and bound with mud. In the UK, blackbirds live in towns, cities, woodland, farmland and grassland. They are commonly seen in gardens.

What does it need?

They eat a variety of foods, such as seeds, fruit, insects, and earthworms.

What needs it?

In the UK, their main predator is cats, although goshawks, sparrowhawks and foxes also prey on them.

Although their diet means that they can cause crop loss, they also help through eating weed seeds and certain pests. They also help to pollinate plants as they fly around.

Fun fact!

Blackbirds have unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, which means that they switch one half of the brain off, whilst keeping the other active. They can literally sleep with one eye open!

See a video here, and learn more here!