Blackbird
Turdus merulaJFMAMJJASOND
Unhurried and mellow, like someone whistling to themselves. Every phrase is different, with long pauses in between.
Birds / Thrushes and chats
Blackbird
Turdus merulaAlso known as Common blackbird
Recording: Niels Krabbe / xeno-canto
Sounds like
Slow, rich, fluting phrases that wander about and often trail off into a quiet chuckle. At dusk, a loud 'pink-pink-pink' alarm.
Remember it
Unhurried and mellow, like someone whistling to themselves. Every phrase is different, with long pauses in between.
When and where
Listening for the blackbird
- Heard
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb to Jul
- Time of day
- Dawn, Day and Dusk
- Where
- Gardens, Woodland, Farmland, Towns
- In Britain
- All year
- Family
- Thrushes and chats
Side by side
Often confused with
Play them one after the other and listen for the difference.
Robin
Erithacus rubeculaJFMAMJJASOND
Sweet but melancholy. A bird singing in the depths of winter is almost always a robin.
Could you pick out a blackbird?
Hear a song, choose from four birds, and build your streak.
Same habitat
Also in gardens
Blue Tit
Cyanistes caeruleusJFMAMJJASOND
Two or three thin, high notes followed by a fast, shimmering trill: 'tsee-tsee-tsuhuhuhu'.
Chaffinch
Fringilla coelebsJFMAMJJASOND
A cheerful, accelerating run of notes that tumbles down and ends in a flourish, repeated over and over.
Coal Tit
Periparus aterJFMAMJJASOND
A fast, high, two-note phrase repeated several times: 'pitchoo-pitchoo-pitchoo'.
Dunnock
Prunella modularisJFMAMJJASOND
A hurried, flat, squeaky warble that stays on one level and stops abruptly, like a squeaky wheel turning.