Morning abody 🙂

Chirp 4

Each week I’m posting a Chirpy Chirp Challenge, listening to different birdsong.

Today we’re listening to the blackbird song.

Last week we listened to the robin and wren. How did you get on recognising their calls? I’d be interested to hear from you!

All you’ll need to join in is a piece of paper and a pencil.

The blackbird

Clothes and behaviour

The male (Mr) is black and sleek with a glowing orange eye-ring and orange beak. The female (Mrs) is a rich brown, sometimes with speckles. See them both in the video below:

Did you see the hop-hop-hop-look around movement? This is typical of the thrush family.

The young of both sexes are brown-speckled when they fledge, and gradually they grow into their adult plumage.

In the picture below you can see this young male (juvenile) has black feathers appearing – it looks quite scruffy 🙂

Blackbirds build beautiful nests, but sadly, where I am, their eggs are often eaten by other birds.

Blackbirds are territorial – both the males and females will see off any other blackbirds in their designated space.

Calls

When protecting their young, or seeing off other blackbirds, these birds have an alarm call like this:

The males sing at every possible opportunity. In this video, you can hear one and another replying:

Over the past months, the blackbird is one of the few birds that sings from early spring through until late May. But where I live, there was one blackbird sang all through winter too!

Write ‘Blackbird’ at the top of your paper and below it write ‘song’.

Challenge – what words would you use to describe the song?

Now see if you can write or draw the pattern of how the call sounds to you. Here’s a few questions to help you:

It might be easier to break down the song in to sections.

Do some notes stay on the same level like this – – – – – – -? 

When do they go up and when down? Do you hear it as a wave – moving up to a point and then back down?  Or is there another way you can describe it?

If you try and clap the rhythm, what do you get?

There’s no right or wrong answer, it’s just to help you remember the sounds.

Chirp Challenge

Now your challenge is to listen to the recording of bird chorus below. There’s a few singing in this one – see if you can spot the blackbird:

How did you get on?

Remember, the more you listen, the easier it will become 🙂

More chirps next week!