UKC

Let me introduce you to ‘Cock Of The North’. No one messes with him. Goes by the name of Scruffy. 

I'd say Blackbirds are my favorite bird.

They are holding conversations round here - our chappy is using open well sited chat as well as covert full strength transmission and some secret local area net emissions.  As well as human targeted signals when he wants food or water.

I love the way they chat, look and listen and then respond, sometimes swapping the same phrase over distance.  What is in the mind that chooses what phrase comes next in all that variety of song?

I also like observing, once you get to know the individuals well, how careful and thought out all of their actions and movements are.  How they listen for signals from other birds, even different species and how they watch AWACS like with an upturned eye scanning for distant threats and then sound different levels of alerts.  Our male will do this six inches from my face between sultanas.

He always leaves at least one - is this because I'm there, out of pecking order deference?

The spikiness reminds me of Beetlejuice!

What a fine fellow

His beak as a bit of an agressive droop - our female has that slightly after losing and regrowing part of her beak.

when was the picture taken? - Has he to wait for early Autumn for a new suit?

Picture was few days ago. He’s full of character, which seems to be a theme with blackbirds. We never used to get many birds but since we’ve lived here most neighbouring gardens have more trees and shrubs plus more people are feeding them. Sometimes get Goldfinch, chaffinch and greenfinch, usual tit species and robins and dunnocks. 

He may have been defending his territory.  But if he's an early nester then he'll be spending most of his time fetching food for Mrs Blackbird and the fledgelings and have less time for personal grooming products.

I too think the Blackbird is one of our finest songsters - and one of the commonest birds too.

I find the first few bars of Blackbird hard with Dupreyns contracture  

Kinda like your post coz it’s clever, but my mate has the same issue with his hand, which ain’t good. 

We have a Mr Blackbird who visits our pond every day and has done since we put it in in 2009. (OK so it's probably the great great grandson by now). We have 3 local cats that hang out in the garden and we find his tail feathers on the lawn a few times a year but he keeps coming back. 

I was expecting a thread about the Lockheed SR-71.

Playing the piano keeps me sane so I have great sympathy for Bull's crack and your friend.

I think that I have more female blackbirds than male in my garden. Their problem is the competition from Jackdaws and Rooks, who both have been seen squeezing into my hanging basket(for birdfood) and then heading off with at least a chunk of a fatball.

I can live with it but it does make the guitar and piano harder than they should be! 

Interestingly perhaps; we have a pet bird that once had it's tail trodden on whilst walking on the ground, and she sped off, pulling the entire tail out.

Absolutely freaked me out, calls to the vet etc, but what became apparent was it took only her thrust of flight to remove them as it's a built in survival thing for exactly the reason you describe (whereas wing feathers pulling out they can bleed to death), and that she flew almost normally straight after and for the month they took to grow back.

Remarkable animals, birds.

Does he 'sing in the dead of night'?

There was one thing that really made me think about their intelligence.

I took a grape out as he'd been calling for one and was going to put it on a low railing beside the lawn.  By the time I brought it out he'd hopped off on to the grass.

I put it down on the lawn and put my finger down to it to emphasise that it was there for him.   No reaction apart from a stare.

After a while  I cottoned on that he might be affected by the fact that it was in full view of any other birds in the area so I picked up the grape and put it down on his side of a large piece of wood so that it was hidden from view in many directions but he could see it.

He began a very slow zigzag back and forth with pretences of looking under leaves but with a resultant vector taking him ever closer to the grape though he was determinedly pretending not to be seeing it. It was almost as if he was tacking towards it.

Finally, when he got within a foot or so of it he looked around and then dived for it before flying off loudly chittering with excitement.

I have Mrs B & two Mr Bs on the birdtable by the window where I draw. Outrageous! Very noisy at times but curious and friendly. Only noisier birds are the 2 robins that usually kick off in the middle of the night!