Possible Scandinavian female blackbirds? Old Moor nature reserve, South Yorkshire, UK (1 Viewer)

[buggs]

Can anyone please ID these blackbirds please? I was informed by fellow bird watchers that these are female Scandinavian blackbirds. However when checking on the internet to confirm this I've read that their beaks shoud be totally black and that these could just be UK Juvenile blackbirds.

Thank you in advance

Brent

 

[Nutcracker]

Just female Blackbirds, can't say anything about their origin.

There's a popular myth that male Blackbirds with black bills are Continental, but it's exactly that - a myth. A black bill on a male Blackbird just means it is a first-year bird.

The only way to tell Continental Blackbirds from UK-born is by catching them and measuring their wing length (to the nearest millimetre!); Continental birds have slightly longer wings - but even here, there's a lot of overlap, and it is only the longest-winged individuals where you can be sure they're Continental, and only the shortest-winged where you can be sure they're UK-born. About 80% of Blackbirds are in the overlap zone where you just can't tell either way.

 

[LowellMills]

Agree with all above.

 

[Rotherbirder]

Agree with all above.

Me too. Don't believe all the 'urban myths' and old wives tales circulating about the identification of so-called 'continental' Blackbirds! In fact, stick to identification to species & build your experience before fretting about the often very tricky world of subspecies, morphs & races!

 

[Boro Birder]

I'm guilty of it myself, a few years back we had a lot of large blackbilled blackbirds around, however a lot had been caught in ringing nets at the local headland and ringers confirmed they were continental/Scandinavian and I assumed all blackbirds with a black bill was a foreign bird, you live, you learn.

Damian