Busy blackbirds
They’re hunting for worms throughout the day!
Blackbirds have busy summers. Mums have three, sometimes four, broods a year, so have their work cut out. The first eggs are usually laid in early March, though this year’s spring will probably have delayed things a little.
Blackbird chicks hatch a couple of weeks after egg-laying and they’re then fed by their parents for about a fortnight while in the nest. And they carry on being fed for a little while after they leave the nest, too.
So the chances are that your garden’s blackbirds are working all hours just now to keep hungry youngsters fed. It means that if you’ve a lawn you’re likely to see either a male or female blackbird busy hunting worms throughout the day.
It’s fascinating to watch. Soil moisture can be the decider as to whether a bird’s efforts are repaid, or come to nothing.
It’s thought a hunting blackbird targets a worm by sight, sound or a bit of both. The bird may catch a glimpse of a worm poking its head, or tail, out of its burrow, or may hear it moving through the soil. What you’ll see is a blackbird running or hopping up and down across the grass. Every so often it’ll stop stock-still and wait, head cocked, listening hard for clues to what’s happening under its feet. Blackbirds are one of the bird species that does best in British gardens and parks. Garden blackbirds lay their eggs a couple of weeks earlier than those of their country cousins, and the outlook is better for garden-born youngsters (in woodland, many nests are raided by squirrels or jays). The biggest threat to a garden-raised blackbird nestling is hunger. They do well in a year when worms are easy to catch, but suffer during a dry year when earthworms are few and far between. It’s not that worms aren’t there, it’s just that they’re out of reach. When the weather is dry, worms move deeper down into the soil. So, you may be hoping for barbecue weather this weekend, but spring showers will suit your bird neighbours much better!