canberrabirds

A SNAG blackbird?

To: "chat line" <>
Subject: A SNAG blackbird?
From: "John Layton" <>
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2006 19:11:35 +1100
The current issue of Canberra Bird Notes 30(4) p.160 includes an Od Ob I wrote about a pair of Common Blackbirds that nested in our scarecrow's coat pocket. I described how we watched as the male, Pinto (so called because he was a part albino), disappeared into the pocket carrying cotton threads he'd purloined from Scary Joe Crow's frayed trowsers.
 
Subsequently, I came across the following: "While the male [Common Blackbird] defends the breeding territory, the female selects the nesting site and then constructs the nest. She also performs all the incubation but is assisted by her mate in feeding the young." (Boles, 1988).
 
In deference to Walt Boles' assertion, we have no doubt it was the male we saw carrying the cotton. I checked a few more Common Blackbird references but none described nest-building in any detail.
 
To strike an anthropomorphic note, if Pinto wasn't nest building, why was he toting cotton? Was he auditioning for the lead role in a biopic about Paul Robeson? Or was he into needlepoint? Then again, he may have been responding to pressure to assist with home duties like a good SNAG blackbird of the 21st Century.
 
John K. Layton.
 
<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the Canberra Ornithologists Group mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the list contact David McDonald, list manager, phone (02) 6231 8904 or email . If you can not contact David McDonald e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU