Callum Macgregor

Medium-sized thrush, feeds mainly on insects and earthworms; also fruit from late summer to early winter. Nominate merula: W Europe; cabrerae: Madeira and W Canary Islands; aterrimus: SE Europe to Crete, Rhodes, Caucasus, Transcaucasia and N Iran; syriacus: S Turkey to Syria, N Iraq and S Iran; azorensis: Azores; mauritanicus: N Africa. Inhabits dense woodland, varied types of farmland, heaths, moors, some wetlands, and settled sites including inner cities. Population is increasing and the status is Least Concern. Resident and migratory, with northern populations moving south or west.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendIncreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		116000000-176000000,140000000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Common Blackbird

Fennoscandian and Danish birds move mainly NE - SW: most found in the UK and the Low Countries (especially at the North Sea coasts); also Ireland and France; few in Spain and N Italy; also NW - SE movement, few found in Iceland. UK birds move E - W, most found in Ireland and the Low Countries; also NNW - SSE movement, found in France and N Spain, few in Iceland. Birds from the Low Countries move mainly NE - SW: found in France, Spain and Portugal, few in Italy and NW Africa; also E - W movement, most found in the UK, also in Ireland. Birds from C Europe move mainly NE - SW, most found in S France , Switzerland and Italy, also W Europe, the UK, Spain and W Mediterranean Isles, few in N Africa and Greece. From E Europe NE - SW movement, found in UK, W and S Europe, few in Greece and Syria.

Recoveries by Condition for Common Blackbird

Until 1960 80% of the recoveries were dead birds, including 12% shot birds. From 1961 to 1990 59% concerned dead birds, including 4,3% shot birds. From 1991 5,5% concerned dead birds, no birds shot.
The hunting hotspots were in S France, N and C Italy, N Spain and the W Mediterranean Isles. Also a lot of shot birds in C France, Portugal, S and E Spain, Belgium and S Norway. Less hunting on the British Isles, S Sweden, S Finland and Greece.

Annual Movements for Common Blackbird

Year-round there are hotspots in the UK, the S coast of Norway and Finland, Denmark, the Low Countries and N Italy. From Nov - Jan there densities of wintering birds are high in Ireland, W and S France. Wintering birds are also found in C Europe, C France, Spain, the W Mediterranean Isles, C and S Italy and few in N Africa and SE Europe. Already in Feb numbers in Spain and France decrease again. In Mar - Apr a hotspot grows in C Europe and numbers in S Fennoscandia and E Europe increase, numbers in Ireland, France and S Italy decrease. In Sep numbers in Spain and France increase while numbers in C Fennoscandia decrease. In Oct – Nov, hotspots in Ireland and W and S France are built up, few birds remain in C Fennoscandia and E Europe. Blackbirds have increasingly become resident (van Vliet et al. 2009), especially in urban areas (Møller et al. 2014).

Connectivity by Month by Region for Common Blackbird

Fennoscandian and Danish breeders are mostly found in the UK and the Low Countries in Oct - Apr; also in France and Ireland and few in Spain, Italy, C Europe, Greece, N Africa and Iceland. UK breeders are most found in Ireland (Oct - Feb), also W Europe (Oct - Mar), S Scandinavia (Oct - Apr). Breeders of the Low Countries are most found in France and the UK in Oct - Mar, also Spain and Portugal in Oct - Apr and few in S Scandinavia in Oct - Dec and Ireland (Nov). Breeders of C and E Europe are found mostly in SW and S France, Italy and W Mediterranean Isles from Oct through Mar; also in S and C UK, the Low Countries and few in Greece and N Africa. From E Europe more recoveries in Greece (Feb - Mar) and one in Turkey (Nov) and Syria (Dec).

Henk van der Jeugd

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Møller, A.P.1, Jokimäki, J., Skorka, P., Tryjanowski, P.2014 . Loss of migration and urbanization in birds: a case study of the blackbird (Turdus merula). Oecologia 175 article no.: 24794076 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-2953-3)
van Vliet, J., Musters, C.J.M., ter Keurs, W.J.2009 . Changes in migration behaviour of Blackbirds Turdus merula from the Netherlands. Bird Study 56 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00063650902792148) : 276–281

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