Hi. I hope I'm in the right place here, as I've never posted. I was just looking out of my window and noticed two blackbirds near the bowl of mealworms that I put out for them. I'm not a knowledgeable bird watcher so forgive me for my ignorance, but I found this behaviour unusual and cannot find an answer on the Internet. The male blackbird was feeding from the bowl and the other bird (I'm assuming it was also a blackbird but it was a large brown one - female? young adult?) was standing by its side. Every so often the male would turn to the other bird and feed it. Is this usual, and can anyone explain why this was happening? Thanks.
Hi Anne, there are two possibilities here. As Catlady has suggested it might be a youngster being fed by its Dad. It's quite early to see young Blackbirds around although not impossible. Without seeing the bird it's difficult to say. They usually follow the parent around begging to be fed.
The other possibility is what's known as courtship feeding. This is where the male will offer food to the female as a form of bonding. This can be to impress the female that he's a good potential Dad. Robins will often do this.
As Catlady has said young Blackbirds are very speckled. Not the greatest photo but this shows a male feeding its youngster.
Not sure which of the two scenarios apply in this case. Hope this helps.