The problem with Common Blackbirds
One of my readers posed this perplexing problem with Common Blackbirds:
Helppppp!!We have a Huggggggge problem with Blackbirds in our garden, flicking our mulch all over the place, it’s driving us crazy, do you know where we could get one of those electronic things to scare them off, or anything else that would work in getting rid of them??
Regards
Mary.
This is a common problem in many gardens.
Unfortunately, as far as I know, there is no simple, easy solution. Most gardeners tolerate this behaviour because they love to hear the beautiful song of the Blackbird during the breeding season.
Electronic device:
Mary asks about an electronic device to scare them away. I do not know of any but I suggest asking at the local hardware stores and garden centres. A long search of the internet turned up one very expensive (about $50US) device in a store in Kansas. The downside of this device is that it does not discriminate; it scares ALL birds, including the native birds that keep the natural balance of nature in the garden. Without the native birds eating the insects like mosquitoes, flies, beetles, centipedes, spiders and so on, our gardens would become an ecological disaster area. It would be a far greater problem than the nuisance caused by the Blackbirds.
Other alternatives:
Here we need to get a little creative. I’m not sure whether any of these ideas will work because I haven’t tried them. Some may even look a little ugly.
- Get rid of the mulch – with water restrictions this may not be desirable or possible.
- Replace the bark mulch with gravel or pebbles too heavy for the birds to move – an expensive solution.
- Build 20cm high walls along the edges of the garden so that the Blackbirds do not flick the mulch on to the path. These could be made of stone, brick, pavers, wooden sleepers, pine posts on their edges and so on. Be creative.
- Cover the mulch with chicken wire, shade-cloth or weed mat. Probably not a good look.
- Turn around your attitude and learn to love the birds; after all, they are just looking for lunch.
I guess these suggestions may not please Mary and may just add to her frustrations. Sorry, Mary.
Reader questions:
Over to my readers:
- Do you have any suggestions for Mary? (Please be nice – offensive comments will not be published).
- How have you solved this dilemma in your garden?
- Reply in the comments section below. Update: comments are now closed for this post because, sadly, some people cannot help being abusive.
Common Blackbird (male)
UPDATE: I also posed this question to subscribers of the Birding-Aus forum. Many of their comments are recorded in the comments section below. I love the one about leaving plastic snakes lying around!
Brave Bird Behaviour
Sometimes birds exhibit some rather bizarre behaviours. At other times they can be rather bold and downright brave. I’ve seen the small Willie Wagtail, for example, attacking an eagle many times its own size.
I’ve come across an article on the Living the Scientific Life blog site where the story is told – with pictures to prove it – of how one pair of swallows built a nest on top of an Eagle Owl’s head. Mind you – the Owl was a plastic one designed to scare the swallows away. Its presence obviously didn’t scare the swallows one little bit. Read the full story here.
Talking about birds
A few minutes ago I arrived home after visiting one of our local Residential Aged Care homes. Our ladies’ fellowship group at church had arranged to hold one of their meetings in a small meeting room in the home. I was the guest speaker for the meeting.
I was asked to speak about birds and show some of my photographs of the birds of this area using a PowerPoint presentation. I was asked to keep the talk to about thirty minutes and this was to keep their attention. The old folk tend to drift into the Land of Noddy after that. With my considerable collection of photos and my tendency to rave on a little about my favourite hobby, restricting me to thirty minutes was a challenge. (Or perhaps the organiser knows me too well!)
Anyway, I managed to cull the presentation down to thirty photographs and I mentally gave myself one minute to talk about each photo. Mission accomplished: I only went over by about five minutes. In fact, it took longer to get all the old folk to the room in their wheel chairs and walking frames than it took to give the presentation.
Many of the folk thought the presentation was great with much praise for the photos. And I only heard heavy breathing coming from one person, despite the very warm room. It was a pleasing experience.
Below is one of the photos I showed this afternoon.
Updated Nov 2013.
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Do birds have sense of smell?
One of my readers contacted me via email today to ask the question: “Do birds have a sense of smell?” It’s a really good question and one I’d never really given much thought to.
Thanks to Bev for this question. (You are the first to use my contact form – see the sidebar.)
Do birds have a sense of smell?
The short answer is yes, they do.
The long answer is more complicated.
The upper mandible (beak) is pierced by the nostrils. Usually the nostrils are near the base of the bill. Relatively few birds are known to use the sense of smell in their search for food; indeed in most species the sense of smell seems to be poorly developed. (Quoted from the book “Birds: their life, their ways, their world” published by the Reader’s Digest in 1979)
So they can smell but most species do not rely on this sense much at all.
Birds that have a good sense of smell
There are always exceptions to the rule!
Some birds do have a highly developed sense of smell. The New Zealand Kiwi, for example, has nostril placed near the tip of the bill and this enables it to smell its food as it probes the earth and leaf litter. The kiwi has a double whammy; not only does it have very poor eyesight, it is also mostly nocturnal in its habits. Having a fine sense of smell is a definite bonus if you are a Kiwi (the bird, not the people of New Zealand!).
I also remember a sequence on “The Life of Birds” videos featuring David Attenborough where he hides a piece of rotten meat under the leaf litter deep in a rainforest. Within minutes the local Turkey Vultures had found the hidden meat, even though they had been several kilometres away.
Likewise some seabirds are able to smell great distances:
For example, fulmars can smell fish oils from up to 25 kilometres (15 miles) downwind, so when these oils form a slick on the sea surface as a result predatory fish and mammals attacking shoals of fish and squid underwater, the fulmar are quickly at the scene to forage for food. Other sea birds can smell a pheromone that fish give off when stressed. (British Garden Birds website)
Conclusion:
Birds do have a sense of smell, but most rarely use this sense. Some species, however, rely heavily on their sense of smell for their survival.
Acknowledgment:
Thanks again to Bev for this very interesting question.
Hear the Blackbird singing in the morning
Common Blackbird (male)
I love lingering in a warm, comfortable bed on a a cold, frosty morning. That was the case this morning. I needed to get up but the cosiness was so alluring. On occasions like this I love trying to identify the birds calling from the garden outside.
We usually have a few Honeyeaters and the resident Willie Wagtails. A few Little Ravens can often be heard off in the distance and the occasional flock of Galahs flies overhead. Sometimes I am aware of a Grey Currawong calling or perhaps even a Grey Butcherbird.
This morning it was different. My waking moments were highlighted by the delightful song of the male Common Blackbird. I will forgive this bird for being an introduced species here in South Australia; it’s call is so beautiful.
During the late autumn and winter the Blackbird is largely silent. Our resident birds can be seen skulking through the undergrowth. If disturbed they will fly off suddenly, giving a harsh warning call as it flies off.
Once the weather starts to warm a little the male Blackbird begins its amazing song, usually late afternoon and early evening. It would have to be one of the most beautiful songbirds in the world.
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