Blackbirds

I'm not sure how prevalant blackbirds are throughout the world, but here in New Zealand, we have plenty. We even have a native version called the Tui (This is a native Maori name).
He looks just like a large blackbird, with a small tuft of white feathers on his neck front.

Why am I talking about blackbirds? Well, to the 2 people who read this blog, I hope to get them thinking about these great birds. Great? Maybe it is just a personal preference: The other birds just don't seem to have that special something blackbirds have.

These are quite well worth noticing: the more you look, the more you appreciate them.
For instance, the song-20 seconds or so of tweet-tweet then it stops for a while, then starts up again. But notice that the songs are never the same! It is almost as if he is thinking of the next bit, before he sings it. I understand the deep black ones are male the slightly greyer ones are female.

It's spring time here, and I've noticed these little guys indulging in risky behaviour- flying out in front of cars (mine) seems to be a favourite.

On my run the other day, I noticed one take off and fly under a tree and through a gap in a fence. Which makes me wonder: when was the last time I ever noticed a blackbird get a flight wrong? Answer: none.

It seems some are more tame than others-I'm not sure why. In our area they will let you get within about 5 metres then they are off. In Mt Eden, another suburb of Auckland, I was within 2 metres.

When the heat of summer does get here, I notice they make themselves scarce. I presume they go to the bush area that we have close by-it makes sense because there is shelter from the hot sun and there is a creek nearby to drink from.