Blackbirds certainly have the ability to move over large distances. They
occur on Sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, where they are self-introduced.
Interestingly, there are multiple colonization events, with no records for
numbers of years then clusters of records, with territorial singing and
suspected breeding followed by a trickle of records for a year or two,
before they again disappear. The occasional tough winter probably knocks
them out. While Macquarie is ~1500 km south of Tasmania, Sub-Antarctic
Campbell Island and Auckland Islands are the nearest stepping stones at 650
to 700 km distant. Blackbirds are clearly capable of flying quite large
distances.
I've even seen one from a ship. I'd have to dig out my notes for the exact
details but from memory we were at least one days travel south of Tasmania.
It was an adult male that flew in from the east, circled the ship twice and
then continued west. I doubt that it reached Africa!
Cheers,
Rohan
Rohan Clarke
www.wildlifeimages.com.au
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