Story: Introduced land birds

Male and female blackbirds

Although blackbirds are probably New Zealand’s most widespread bird, not many people know that only the male (top) is actually black. It also has a distinctive orange beak. The female blackbird (bottom) is brown with a variegated underside. She builds the nest and incubates the eggs, but the male joins in feeding the nestlings.

Listen to the calls of blackbirds, interspersed with some chaffinch calls.

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Natural Sciences Image Library of New Zealand
Reference: Bi0109LC1t.tif (top); DSCH0048Smd.JPG (bottom)

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Sound file from the Department of Conservation.

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How to cite this page:

Christina Troup, 'Introduced land birds - Blackbirds and song thrushes', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/natural-sounds/17159/male-and-female-blackbirds (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Christina Troup, published 24 Nov 2008, reviewed & revised 17 Feb 2015