In the recent thread I noticed with interest that a few birders referred to
the Common Blackbird (Turdus merula) as the 'European Blackbird'. What a
curiously Eurocentric view point. This bird, seen by many as being so
typically British, actually ranges through Europe, North Africa, Middle
East, Central Asia, India, China and parts of SE Asia. The name Eurasian
Blackbird used in some texts is probably a little too restrictive as Eurasia
is usually defined as that part of the Palaearctic ranging over into the
Central Asian mountains, but not beyond. In any case it's as much an Asian
bird as a European one.
My first encounter with the Common Blackbird as an indigenous bird was last
year in a park in the centre of Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan in the
former USSR states of Central Asia. They were very arboreal there, and I
hardly saw any near the ground, let alone running around on the grass like
they do here.
L.
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L A W R I E C O N O L E
2/37 Myrnong Crescent, Ascot Vale, Victoria 3032 AUSTRALIA.
Phone AH (03) 9370 3928; BH (03) 9510 5750; Mobile (0419) 588 993.
E-mail: <>
Web page: http://www.bluep.com/~oco/
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