Blackbird

Turdus merula

Introduced to NZ in the 1860s and 1870 by British settlers the blackbird is now well established and abundant throughout NZ.  They are common in suburban gardens, parks, orchards, paddocks surrounded by hedges, exotic plantations, and scrub and native forest reaching at least 1500m. 

Breeding males establish their territory in April and this is usually the same area every year.  The nest is built by the female and is a substantial cup-like structure of twigs, moss, dry grass firmly bound together with mud and lined with dry grass and leaf skeletons.  They are usually well-hidden in leafy trees, shrubs and hedges generally at a height of one to ten metres, rarely at ground level.  Most eggs are laid from late August to late December but sometimes as early as June and as late as February.  Most pairs nest 2-5 times a year and raise 2-3 broods, sometimes in the same nest.  Up to four eggs are laid, with incubation taking 13-14 days.  Both parents feed the nestlings which fledge at 13-15 days old.  The young remain with the parents and are occasionally fed for several weeks after fledging.

The adult male is black with a bright orange bill, whilst the adult female is dark brown with a pale throat and mottled breast, and has a brown and dull orange bill.  Juveniles are a rust brown with mottled breast and dark brown bill; immature males have brown wings against a brown body with patches of black.

Blackbirds are found extensively throughout NZ, except above the snow line.