Tolka River Valley Park (TRVP)
Finglas / Cabra 09-01-2021
[group] Thrushes | [order] PASSERIFORMES | [family] Turdidae | [latin] Turdus merula | [UK] Blackbird | [FR] Merle noir | [DE] Amsel | [ES] Mirlo Comun | [NL] Merel | [IRL] Lon dubh
Measurements
spanwidth min.: 34 cm
spanwidth max.: 38 cm
size min.: 24 cm
size max.: 26 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 12 days
incubation max.: 14 days
fledging min.: 11 days
fledging max.: 14 days
broods 2
eggs min.: 2
eggs max.: 6
Merle, Ouzel Cock
One of Ireland's top-20 most widespread garden birds.
Status: Resident, and winter visitor from Norway, Sweden, Germany & Denmark
Conservation Concern: Green-listed in Ireland. The European population has been assessed as Secure.
Identification: The commonest and most widespread member of the thrush family In Ireland. The males's all black plumage and bright yellow bill is unmistakable, however females are much browner, with speckles on the upper breast and at first glance resemble a Song Thrush. Often cocks long tail when alarmed or when running along ground.
Similar Species: Starling, Song Thrush, Ring Ouzel
Call: One of the favourite songsters. Song is rather slow, mellow and fluty, the notes ranging widely and the sound quite far-carrying. The quality of sound resembles Song Thrush, but the phrases do not repeat, but ramble on continually changing slightly. Calls include an agitated "chink, chink, chink" or "chack, chack..", a whinnying horse-like cry and a thin "psew" .
Diet: Insects, especially earthworms. Also berries and other fruit including apples. Comes to bird tables.
Breeding: Breeds throughout Ireland in many different habitats - mostly in hedgerows and gardens. Nest in trees or bushes - especially brambles and ivy, but also conifers. Will use large open-fronted nestboxes.
Wintering: Irish breeders are largely sedentary. Migrants from the Continent arrive in autumn.
Where to See: Widespread and common throughout Ireland.
Physical characteristics
Medium-sized, round-headed, rather long-tailed, noisy thrush, differing from all other west Palearctic Turdus in uniformly or mainly dark plumage. Black in male, and rufous-brown in female. Only obvious features are yellow bill in male, pale throat in female. Flight wavering, with fast bursts of wing-beats, rather long, rounded tail obvious. Song rich and fluting. Sexes dissimilar, little seasonal variation.
Habitat
Exceptionally diverse, including dense woodland, varied types of farmland, heaths moors, some wetlands, and settled sites including inner cities. Found in middle and overlapping to lower middle and upper latitudes of west Palearctic, including oceanic islands and coasts as will as milder boreal and temperate continental regions. Given shelter, will tolerate wet, windy, and cool situations better than very warm and dry ones, prefers moisture and shade, with ample access to bare ground, layers of dead leaves or short grass and herbage.
Other details
Turdus merula is a widespread breeder across most of Europe, which constitutes >50% of its global breeding range. Its European breeding population is extremely large (>40,000,000 pairs), and was stable between 1970-1990. The species underwent a small increase during 1990-2000, with increases in the sizeable populations in Germany, France and Italy, and stable or increasing trends across most of the rest of Europe.
This thrush inhabits north-western Africa and a major part of Europe, being absent only from northern Scandinavia and Finland. In Asia its distribution is extending from Turkey to southern China. In southern and western Europe the species is sedentary, but the birds of the north and the east are migratory and winter in the south-west. Originally a bird of dense forest, this species has become adapted to man-made environments and urban areas since the last century. The total population of Europe, Russia not included, is amounting to 43 million breeding pairs