The Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula) is a bird in the Turdidae famiy of thrushes. It is also called the Common Blackbird. It is a thrush common in Europe, Asia, and north Africa.

The adult Eurasian Blackbird is black with grey legs, a yellow-orange beak, and yellow eye-rings. The female has dark-brown feathers. 

The female Eurasian Blackbird builds a mud-lined, cup-shaped nest from grass and leaves. She lays 3-5 bluish-green eggs with reddish-brown blotches, which she incubates for 12–14 days before the altricial (blind and naked) chicks are hatched.

The juvenile Eurasian Blackbird does not look like its parents yet. It has speckly brown feathers, often tinted with orange-red feathers, especially on its chest. The darker, duller adult feathers soon appear from underneath its juvenile feathers. The juvenile feathers fall out and the adult feathers appear. This is called moulting. 

The juvenile bird will often leave the nest before it can fly. It hops or runs along the ground. 

It grows to 29 centimetres (12 inches) tall.

It has an average life expectancy of 28 months.

Location of photographs: Paris, France

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM