Blackbird
Lofty soloist, last-leg scolder
Is there a lovelier sound than this?
The song of the blackbird is mellow, unhurried and rich.
It’s varied, but not exhaustingly so (hello, song thrush).
Ornithologist W H Hudson described it as ‘nearer to human music than any other bird song’, which leads us to notice that the register is lower that many other songbirds, in the range of human speech.
You can whistle along to a blackbird.
The song can be especially noticeable and welcome in urban streets, where a blackbird may easily be the only bird singing on a late afternoon in spring.
The notes are almost always delivered from a high perch, whether chimney stack or treetop. This helps the sound carry, even above the noise of traffic.
Blackbirds sometimes sing at night too, when you can appreciate them all the better.
Sleepover? No thanks.
Blackbirds do sing occasionally during the winter - I heard my first of the year last weekend - but they don’t really get going until early spring.
A more reliable sound to listen out for in the colder months is the distinctive alarm they give as they go to roost.
During the short winter days blackbirds seem happy enough to share space with each other. It’s not unusual to see several adult males hopping around the same lawn or field edge.
But while they sometimes tolerate company in daylight hours, blackbirds don’t flock together at night. Just before dark, as they settle into their separate roost spots (typically an ivy-clad tree or wall), they will proclaim them with this insistent ‘chinking’ call.
At dusk, on a still evening, you may hear it in surround-sound, from all directions across the landscape.
I associate that noise with the last leg of an afternoon walk in January - a reminder to step a little quicker, if you’re to get home before you trip over in the dark.
Goes well with: Song Thrush
Next week: Dunnock
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Media credits:
Blackbird image by Marco Midmore on Unsplash
Song thrush image by ntrief on Pixabay