blackbird

Dictionary: black·bird (blăk'bûrd') pronunciation

Any of various New World birds of the family Icteridae, such as the grackle or red-winged blackbird, the male of which has black or predominantly black plumage.
An Old World songbird (Turdus merula), the male of which is black with a yellow bill. Also called merle.
Australian. A South Sea Islander kidnapped and sold into slavery in Australia; a Kanaka.

tr.v. Australian, -bird·ed, -bird·ing, -birds.
To kidnap (a South Sea Islander) and sell into slavery.

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: blackbird

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In the New World, any of several species of songbirds in the family Icteridae, collectively called icterids; also, an Old World thrush (Turdus merula, family Turdidae). The best known icterid is the red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), which ranges from Canada to the West Indies and Central America. It is 8 in. (20 cm) long, and the male's black plumage is set off by red shoulder patches. The Old World blackbird, 10 in. (25 cm) long, is common in woods and gardens throughout temperate Eurasia as well as in Australia and New Zealand. See also grackle.

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Animal Encyclopedia: Blackbird

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Turdus merula

TAXONOMY

Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Eurasian blackbird, common blackbird; French: Merle noir; German: Amsel; Spanish: Mirlo Comúun.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

9.4–11.4 in (24–29 cm); male 2.1–5.3 oz (60–149 g); female 3.0–3.7 oz (85–106 g). Males have black plumage and a yellow bill; females have brown plumage and a dark bill.

DISTRIBUTION

Europe from Iceland eastwards.

HABITAT

Mainly damp forest and woodlands, from tundra to golf courses, gardens, parks, and town shrubberies, farmland with hedges, and scattered woods.

BEHAVIOR

Bold and tame, feeding on ground where walks, hops, or runs; large roosts after breeding season. Flocks in winter.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Fruits, berries, grass seeds, many invertebrates including beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, snails, spiders, and earthworms.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Breeds April–August, nest large and untidy, of grass, twigs, stems, and string, lined with mud and fine grass. Three to four eggs, incubation 11–14 days, fledging 15–16 days. Two broods.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.

Columbia Encyclopedia: blackbird

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blackbird, common name in North America of a perching bird allied to the bobolink, the meadow lark, the oriole, and the grackle and belonging to the family Icteridae. The European blackbird, Turdus merula, is a thrush. The blackbird is possibly the most numerous N America land bird. The red-winged blackbird of E North America is a familiar sight, its scarlet shoulder patches conspicuous among the tall grasses of the marshes and wet meadows where it nests. It eats grain, insects, and weed seeds. Another common species is the yellow-headed blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. Except during the breeding season, blackbirds usually travel in flocks. The yellow-headed, the tricolored red-winged, and brewer blackbirds are found in the West. The rusty blackbird, glossy blue-black in summer when the brown edging of its winter feathers has worn off, winters in the United States. Many members of the family are polygamous, although the incidence of polygamous behavior varies from population to population. For example, in the brewer blackbird, the male becomes polygamous only when there are more females than males; when the balance is even, monogamy is the rule. The female blackbird usually builds the nest, which consists of a cup-shaped structure made of grasses. Flocks of blackbirds may be as large as 5 million birds, and they often do serious crop damage when foraging for food. However, the birds are invaluable because of the insects they consume. Blackbirds are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Passeriformes, family Icteridae.

Word Tutor: blackbird

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IN BRIEF: n. - Common European thrush; Any bird of the family Icteridae.

Tutor's tip: It so happens that the "blackbird" (an English thrush) is a "black bird" (a bird that is black).

Wikipedia: Blackbird

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Look up blackbird in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Blackbird, blackbirds or black bird may refer to:

1 Birds
2 Arts
3 Computers
4 People
5 Transport
6 See also

Birds

Old World Blackbirds, 5 species belonging to the genus Turdus:
- White-collared Blackbird (Turdus albocinctus)
- Grey-winged Blackbird (Turdus boulboul)
- Common Blackbird or Blackbird (Turdus merula)
- Tibetan Blackbird (Turdus maximus)
- Indian Blackbird (Turdus simillimus)
New World blackbirds, 26 species of icterid birds:
- Jamaican Blackbird (Nesopsar nigerrimus)
- Oriole Blackbird (Gymnomystax mexicanus)
- Chopi Blackbird (Gnorimopsar chopi)
- Austral Blackbird (Curaeus curaeus)
- Forbes's Blackbird (Curaeus forbesi)
- Scarlet-headed Blackbird (Amblyramphus holosericeus)
- Pale-eyed Blackbird (Agelasticus xanthophthalmus)
- Unicolored Blackbird (Agelasticus cyanopus)
- Yellow-winged Blackbird (Agelasticus thilius)
- Chestnut-capped Blackbird (Chrysomus ruficapillus)
- Yellow-hooded Blackbird (Chrysomus icterocephalus)
- Saffron-cowled Blackbird (Xanthopsar flavus)
- Bolivian Blackbird (Agelaioides oreopsar)
- Cuban Blackbird (Dives atroviolaceus)
- Melodious Blackbird (Dives dives)
- Scrub Blackbird (Dives warszewiczi)
- Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
- Red-shouldered Blackbird (Agelaius assimilis)
- Tricolored Blackbird (Agelaius tricolor)
- Tawny-shouldered Blackbird (Agelaius humeralis)
- Yellow-shouldered Blackbird (Agelaius xanthomus)
- Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus)
- Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)
- Red-breasted Blackbird (Sturnella militaris)
- White-browed Blackbird (Sturnella superciliaris)
- Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)

Arts

Fiction

Blackbird (comics), an aircraft in the X-Men comics
Blackbird (Femizon), a villain in the Marvel Comics universe
Colonial Blackbird, a stealth fighter in the reimagined version of the TV series Battlestar Galactica
Blackbird, an airship in the video game Chrono Trigger
Blackbird, a car (an 911 3.6 Turbo) in the anime Wangan Midnight and its video game adaptation, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune

Film

The Blackbird, a 1926 film directed by Tod Browning
The Black Bird, a 1975 film starring George Segal
Blackbird (film), a 2007 film featuring Gillian Jacobs
Blackbirds (film), a 1920 film starring Justine Johnstone

Literature

Black Bird (manga), a manga by Kanoko Sakurakoji
Blackbird (online journal), covering literature and the arts

Music

Blackbird (band), an American post-punk band
The Blackbirds, a Norwegian rock band
Blackbird (album), an album by Alter Bridge, or the title song
"Blackbird" (song), a song by The Beatles
"Black Bird" (song), a song by The Beautiful Girls
Le merle noir (The blackbird), a chamber work by Olivier Messiaen
Black Bird, the 1998 re-release of Värttinä's album Musta Lindu
"Blackbird", a song by Benny Benassi from ...Phobia
"Blackbird", an instrumental by Mike Oldfield from Light & Shade

Theatre

Blackbird (play), a play by David Harrower
Blackbirds of 1928, a Broadway revue, based on the 1926 London revue Blackbirds
Blackbird, a play by Adam Rapp

Computers

HP Blackbird 002, a personal computer
Blackbird, the internal codename for Apple Computer's PowerBook 500 series of laptops
Blackbird, a cancelled Microsoft MSN development platform

People

Chief Blackbird (d.1800), chief of the Omaha
Andrew Blackbird (ca. 1815-1908), Odawa leader and historian
King Parsons (born 1949), American professional wrestler who used the ring name "The Blackbird"; also, "The Blackbirds", a 1980s wrestling stable of which he was a member

Transport

SR-71 Blackbird, a supersonic reconnaissance aircraft built by Lockheed-Martin
A-12 Blackbird, the unofficial nickname for the forerunner to the SR-71 Blackbird, codenamed A-12 OXCART
Aero A.34 Kos (English: Blackbird), a 1930s Czechoslovakian biplane
Super Blackbird, a nickname for the Honda CBR1100XX sport-touring motorcycle
Blackbird, a GWR 3300 Class steam locomotive on the Great Western Railway in England
"The Blackbird", a dragster driven by professional racer Jack Beckman

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