- Turdus merula
Description
Male all black body with bright orange yellow bill. Female has a dark brown body, underside dark spotted.
Breeding:
Grass & mud cup in tree, bush or hedge
Food:
Feeds on fruit & berries in shrubs & bushes. Will probe lawns for worms and other insects.
Song:
Song mellow fluty musical warbling. Many variations & phrases.
Gives a variety of alarm calls.
When:
All year
Range:
Generally abundant and widespread over much of the Region. Breeds on the Faroes, British Isles, France and Spain east to the southern Urals, reaching much of Scandinavia except the far north and the higher mountains. In the south occurs along the north Mediterranean coast from Spain to the Middle East and on most major islands, Turkey except much of the interior, and the Caucasus. Also breeds on the Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands and from Morocco to Tunisia. Now breeds annually in very small numbers in Iceland.
Populations breeding in the far north and from Poland eastwards are largely migratory with most birds moving to the south-west from late September and returning in March-April. Elsewhere, in parts of range such as Britain, a partial migrant with many birds moving to Ireland. Occurs in winter in coastal Iceland, the birds probably originating in Scandinavia.
Vagrants recorded in Svalbard, Bear Island, Jan Mayen and a rare winter visitor to Kuwait.
Subspecies:
The nominate race occurs over much of the Region, replaced by the duller and fractionally smaller aterrimus in South-East Europe and Turkey with the female being much greyer than female of merula. Middle Eastern race syriacus has longer and more slender bill than nominate and both sexes greyer in plumage. North African mauretanicus is longer-tailed and greyer, especially the female which also has yellow bill. Central Asian intermedius reaches the Region in winter, larger than merula with heavier bill and duller plumage. Island races cabrerae from Madeira and the western Canary Is, and azorensis from the Azores are shorter-winged with glossier, blacker plumage, including females.
Habitat:
Woodland and forest, conferous, mixed or deciduous, hedgerows and roadsides, parks and gardens and a range of scrub habitats. Occurs from sea-level up to more than 1500m.
Identification
Photographed: Sandringham, Norfolk, UK.
Bird Song
<flashmp3>Turdus merula (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
