

Primary School Science Conservation 2020 Award
Date posted: 18-Dec-2020
Dylan Lewis Y7 from Mahurangi College, Warkworth, being presented with the ..
Supporters of Tiritiri Inc and Fullers 360 Science Conservation 2020 Award
Date posted: 18-Dec-2020
The NIWA Auckland City Science and Technology Fair winner of the Supporters of Tiritiri ..
2020 Conservation Week
Date posted: 12-Aug-2020
Meet the Takahē on Tiritiri Matangi Island
When: 1:30 pm, ..
AGM 2020
Date posted: 25-Jul-2020
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE TO WEDNESDAY 21ST OCTOBER 2020 due to Covid restrictions at t..
Ferry Resuming July 4th!
Date posted: 01-Jun-2020
Great News!!!
We have confirmation Fuller360 ferry service to Tiritiri Matangi wi..
The 2020 Photo Competition Winners
Date posted: 22-May-2020
Here are the winning and commended photos from this year's competition. Congratulations to the photo..
Celebrate the Takahe Art Competition
Date posted: 08-Apr-2020
Hi Tiri Kids,
It’s TakahÄ“ Awareness Month!
Everyone loves our takah..
COVID-19 Important Information
Date posted: 25-Mar-2020
The government has announced that New Zealand is now at alert level 2 for COVID-19. Th..
2019 Winner Primary School Supporters of Tiritiri and Fullers 360 Science Award is Ethan Raymond
Date posted: 11-Mar-2020
Ethan has helped the Enviro-Warriors in many ways such as planning, gard..
2019 Winner Y8-Y13 NIWA Supporters of Tiritiri and Fullers 360 Science Award is Abby Haezelwood
Date posted: 11-Mar-2020
Abby Haezelwood with her winning Science Exhibit on Plastic Beaches at the NIWA Taihoro Nuk..
Blackbird
Scientific name: |
Turdus merula |
|
|
Conservation status |
Introduced and naturalised |
Mainland status: |
Widespread and abundant |
Size: |
25cm, 90g |
Lifespan: |
15 years possibly |
Breeding: |
August - January |
Diet: |
Mixture of invertebrates and fruits |
Introduced from Europe in the 1860s and 1870s and now considered the most widespread species within New Zealand, especially in gardens, parks, orchards, farmlands, scrub and forest.
The male blackbird is black with a bright orange bill; the female is dark brown with a pale throat and smudgy mottled breast with a dull orange and brown bill. The song is a loud, clear melodious warble. The alarm call is a persistent sharp 'chink – chink'.
Usually they breed from late August to early January and 2–3 broods a year are raised, sometimes in the same nest. A substantial nest is built of twigs, grass, roots and moss, fortified with mud and roughly lined with grass and leaf skeletons. The eggs, 2–6 per clutch, are bluish green to greenish brown, freckled with reddish brown. The female incubates for 13–14 days and both parents feed the chicks which fledge at 13–15 days.
Blackbirds feed mainly on the ground and eat insects, spiders and a wide variety of fruits from both native podocarps and shrubs and introduced shrubs and weeds. They can cause damage to orchards and spread weed seeds into native forests and crops, but they also help to disperse the seeds of fleshy–fruited understorey plants in native forests.
Learn more about blackbirds by visiting New Zealand Birds Online.
Photography by: Dr Kerry Rodgers © (Male - top right; female - bottom left)
References: Heather, B.D.; Robertson, H.A. 2000 The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Auckland, Viking. Moon, G The Reed Field Guide to New Zealand Birds.