My best thanks to those who responded to my query about Blackbird behaviour.
May I make this general reply to all of you?
Summary:
I saw a black and white Blackbird on Lord Howe Island making a piping noise
and another responding in similar fashion while holding a winged insect,
possibly a cicada, in its beak.
>From the advice I've received, it seems likely that the first was a young
bird and that it was begging, and the second was a parent intending to feed
it, but distracted by my presence.
Blackbirds with varying amounts of white are not uncommon.
What follows will do little more than amplify the above. Probably about 20
K, in case you wish to delete now.
Cheers
Syd
_____________________________
In Detail:
I'll append at the end, the exchange of messages.
Paul Walbridge quoted from "THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES AND THEIR EGGS"
(reprint 1964 by T. A. Coward):
"The hunger cry of the young after they have left the nest is a piping note
repeated usually two or three times in succession, not unlike early efforts
at a song."
So it seems likely that my presence interrupted the normal feeding and
caused the piping to be prolonged.
Paul also said that the book goes into some detail on the amount of white
seen in some individuals. This caused me to check my "Dictionary of Birds"
(ed. A. Landsborough Thomson) where I found, under "Plumage, Abnormal and
Aberrant" (p. 643):
"It has recently been suggested (Rollin) that pied and leucistic states
in the Blackbird *Turdus merula* and the Song Thrush *Turdus philomelos* can
be induced experimentally by giving artificially prepared foods, and
corrected by reversion to normal diet; it is suggested that the condition
occurs in wild birds in urban areas, where the availability of substitutes
for natural foods is highest, as well as in experimental subjects."
It is to be noted that my 'pied' Blackbird was immediately outside
Thompson's Store, just a few metres from a table and seats where customers
commonly sit to eat fish 'n chips, and other take-away food.
The exchange of messages follows.
___________________________________________________
Syd 10.03.04:
European Blackbirds were introduced into Australia and New Zealand, then
found their own way to Lord Howe Island. Australia some 500 km west is the
nearest land, but at the time of their arrival at LHI, New Zealand had the
nearest Blackbirds.
On Boxing Day, 1996, I tape-recorded a Blackbird near Thompson's Store on
LHI. It was simply repeating a single, sort of piping note which lasted a
little less than one-tenth of a second, and I have counted 21 notes in 20
seconds, but the spacing is variable.
The bird making those notes was and aberrant Blackbird with an appreciable
amount of white. I have referred to it as "pied". A second Blackbird
joined in, with both of them making the same soft notes. On the recording I
said:
"Those softer calls (are) from a second Blackbird on the ground, not
pied, carrying a moth in its beak. Correction, now that I see the insect,
it has clear wings, possibly a cicada. If so, a small one.
"(The) bird is sitting up on the roof of the building now, just watching
me. Making no attempt to either eat, or take it to a nest."
Q.1 Can anyone familiar with Blackbirds suggest what was going on? (No
Blackbirds around here - Brisbane.)
Q.2 Has anyone, who has visited LHI recently, seen a pied Blackbird near
Thompson's Store?
TIA
Cheers
Syd Curtis
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Paul Walbridge (10th):
Hi Syd, you don't mention the sex(es) of either bird, I presume you know the
difference. Growing up in the Uk, leucistic birds were quite frequent,
usually in males as I recall and in varying degrees. With an isolated
population such as on Lord Howe Island, I am not surprised that a bird with
white in it's plumage has emerged. As I recall the white often appeared in
the wings but sometimes also on the breast leading to erroneous calls of
Ring Ouzel. I can contact my brother Grahame in the UK if you like and ask
him for more info as there would have to have been some study done on the
subject over there.
Cheers - Paul W.
______________________________
Ian Clark (11th) :
The bird with the moth will be planning on returning to its young most
likely, which may have fledged as well (rather than waiting still in the
nest). When gathering worms they might collect many, storing them along the
beak, rather than returning with one at a time, so it could have been on the
look out for more insects, before looking for the young again.
When I grew up there was an almost white male blackbird (defiantly pied
again) around in one of my mates yards, I would often see over a period of
6-7 years other male blackbirds, presumably offspring from this male, with
varying degrees of pied although never nearly as white as this first one I
saw. The original bird was around for a few seasons that I saw.
Cheers Ian
_______________________________
Tony Crocker (11th):
Hi Syd
I've spent most of my life with blackbirds on the front lawn, shelter belts
etc etc, both here and in the UK, and for a time and rather more rarely in
Oz. I have never once seen one take anything winged, which is the first
thing that struck me as most unusual. They are active seekers of things in
leaf litter and loose soil or lawn, such as worms etc. Or frugivores (they
are demolishing a significant portion of my apple crop as I write). So
seeing one with a cicada in its bill is a truly odd observation.
Secondly, a "sort of piping note" is like no blackbird call that I am
familiar with. The regular note that is uttered which I am familiar with is
a form of low alarm but it is not at all what I would call piping; it occurs
often around dusk but can be at other times of day.
If the bird was making the low level alarm call, watching you, with prey in
the bill, it was probably waiting for you to move off in order to feed a
late (December) brood of chicks.
The white on otherwise black is not uncommon - from a few feathers to wholly
white birds. They don't tend to last very long - too conspicuous I guess.
Cheers Tony
* * * * * * *
Tony Crocker
Ph. ++64 (3) 364 2163 Educational Travel
Fax ++64 (3) 364 2057
Centre for Continuing Education, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800,
Christchurch, New Zealand.
'I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba and cry, "'Tis all
barren"' - Laurence Sterne.
___________________________________
Tony Russell (11th):
Used to see part white blackbirds in UK when I was a kid - like 55 years
ago.
T.
__________________________________
Paul Walbridge (11th)
Hi again Syd, I have just consulted my "THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES AND
THEIR EGGS" reprint 1964 by T. A. Coward, one of the legends of British
Birding & a book I have held on to and cherished over the years.
To quote him & in light of what you observed "The hunger cry of the young
after they have left the nest is a piping note repeated usually two or three
times in succession, not unlike early efforts at a song."
The book also goes into some detail on the amount of white seen in some
individuals. Maybe you saw an adult with a young bird re; the procuring of
food?
Cheers - Paul.
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