Do your Blackbirds chase Thrushes off ? (1 Viewer)

[David Smith]

We rarely get a visit by Thrushes so when we do its appreciated. Last year we noticed that as soon as one came into the garden it was chased away by a male Blackbird.
This morning we were pleased to see a beautiful Thrush* on the fence-it then droped into the garden for some bread (which we left out). No sooner had it landed when a male Blackbird chased it off :-C
Now-I like Balckbirds BUT........
So........is this normal ? do your Blackies chase them ?
*I think it was a Song Thrush.

 

[iveljay]

I would say its perfectly possible - a few weeks ago a hen blackbird tried chasing my fully grown retriever off! It ended with them virtually beak to nose staring each other out. In the end honour was satisfied and they went their seperate ways.

The blackbirds in my patch are no longer fighting as they are clearly nesting (beakfuls of dry grass a bit of a giveaway), but up to then they were by far the biggest fighters near the feeder. Thrushes are extremely rare here so it is unusual for them to be seen together, so I have never seen the two during the blackbird 'rutting season', but I would expect anything that might remotely look like a competitor to be seen off.

 

[Brian2]

The Blackbirds in my garden out number the Song Thrush by about ten to one and yes they do chase it when it is brave enough to come out from under a bush.
I also have a male Blackcap defending my feeder at the moment and he won't allow any birds on it.
He sits deep in the bush and rushes out as soon as another bird takes to the feeder.

 

[grobble]

Same here.

Thrushes are very rarely seen and always chased away within seconds by the blackbirds.

I am also very fond of the blackbirds and spend a lot of time feeding them raisins on the windowsill - there's always one or two peering through the gap in the curtains when I get up - but they do annoy me regarding the thrushes.

Blackbirds and Thrushes belong to the same family, so I suppose that's the reason behind the hostility.

 

[Alinde10]

I have a rather agressive female blackbird that guards the mealworms I give her like a sergeant major, chasing away other birds that dare to go near them. Recently a thrush found her stash of mealworms and began tucking in. The blackbird saw this and raced across the garden to try to see the thrush off. The thrush held its ground, so up in the air they both went in a spat. They then landed, stared at each other beak to beak for a while, and the thrush won. It tucked into the mealworms again and the blackbird had to make do with a bit of old apple.