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Blackbird, thrush and starling - you can distinguish them by a few characteristics

2022-11-24T13:38:47.292Z


Popular garden guest: A blackbird is not a star, but a thrush Created: 11/24/2022, 2:30 p.m By: Ines Alms Blackbird, thrush and starling are easily confused. A blackbird is always a thrush, but a thrush is not always a blackbird. And certainly not a star. Understood? A male blackbird is easily identified by its black plumage and yellow eye rings. But can be mistaken for a star from a distance.


Popular garden guest: A blackbird is not a star, but a thrush

Created: 11/24/2022, 2:30 p.m

By: Ines Alms

Blackbird, thrush and starling are easily confused.

A blackbird is always a thrush, but a thrush is not always a blackbird.

And certainly not a star.

Understood?

A male blackbird is easily identified by its black plumage and yellow eye rings.

But can be mistaken for a star from a distance.

This cannot happen with a female blackbird, but the brown animal sometimes looks like a song thrush to the layman.

Which again is not surprising since both species belong to the thrush family.

Recognizing blackbirds: Differences between thrush and starling

A starling (left) is threatened by a female blackbird (right).

© McPHOTO/Imago

The blackbird (Turdus merula) is also called the black thrush.

Therefore, other thrushes such as the song or fieldfare are not blackbirds, but two of 172 species of the thrush family.

The starling (Sturnus vulgaris), in turn, belongs to the starling family.

Depending on the season and sex, the animals, which after all are all songbirds, sometimes look quite similar.

According to the State Association for Bird and Nature Conservation in Bavaria (LBV)

, anyone who wants to score points with profound bird knowledge the next time they go bird watching in the garden can use the

following characteristics as a guide:

  • Male blackbird: black plumage, yellow-orange beak, yellow eye ring, longer tail

  • Blackbird females: dark grey-brown plumage with spotted breast, pale beak;

    about 23 to 29 centimeters tall

  • Song Thrush (males and females): reddish-brown tinged breast and underside with arrowhead-like spots;

    smaller than the blackbird, about 20 to 22 centimeters tall

  • Starling (males and females): in spring iridescent black-metallic plumage with bright spots, yellow beak;

    from autumn the dots disappear, the beak is darker;

    19 to 22 centimeters tall, shorter tail

You can find even more exciting garden topics in the regular newsletter of our partner 24garten.de.

Some blackbirds, starlings and thrushes are migratory birds

When deciding which of the birds to hop around in the garden, you may also want to consider the time of year.

In autumn, most starlings migrate to the Mediterranean region and north Africa, so they are rarely found at the snow-covered bird feeder.

Migratory Birds: Ten species that migrate south in the fall

View photo gallery

Some blackbirds also migrate south in autumn, while some song thrushes head for the Atlantic coast or southern Europe.

However, according to the German Nature Conservation Union, the increasingly warmer climate and the settlement of cities mean that more and more migratory birds are moving shorter distances or staying in Germany.

Source: merkur

All life articles on 2022-11-24

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