Is this one of them I took it by my waterfall yeterday
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16304936@N06/
http://suffolk.activeboard.com/f528553/birds-of-suffolk/
No thats an english first year. the continental ones have a pure black beak alan
always many sides to an argument
Thanks Alan, another one sorted :)
Looks like a female to me. Seems to have a blueish tinge. Is that a trick of the light because the rocks also look blue?
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
I go with female blackbird as well
Pssst! Nudge nudge Wanna see some pictures Here
Sorry I should have said its a female. I was to busy looking at the beak, alan
TJ
I guess that the bird looks a reflective blue from the bluish granite it is standing on, unless photoshop has a mind of its own!:)
Hi-
continental blackbirds DO occur here and apparently some have dark (black-ish) bills in winter BUT there are also first year blackbirds from here and they also have dark bills !!!!!!! First year male blackbirds can keep the dark bills til their first spring and may even breed in that state .
IMHO male Blackbirds bills seem to become more orange with age :)
I checked all my available literature on blackbirds ( thrushes book from Helm, pers comm with an editor of HBW) and can find no reference to a subspecies of Turdus Merula with black bill in male breeding plumage.
So, unless someone convinces me otherwise I am relegating 'Continental Blackbirds have black bills' to urban myth!
:)
S
For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides, binoculars, scopes, tripods, etc - put 'Birding Tips' into the search box
www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk ›
Seymour is right. Scandinavian blackbirds having black beaks is a myth. All 1st year male blackbirds have black beaks.
Wild About britain has some confusing things in there. A fair few escapes are listed for a start...