R I P Blackbird

Native honeyeaters are attracted to the flowering eucalyptus and other native plants in our front garden (and next door), but around the back it's just the unpopular mynahs, a pair of spotted doves who hunt for crumbs in the courtyard (I think we've been through several generations of these!) and, until a day or so ago, a blackbird.

One of the doves but no photo of the blackbird

I was distressed to find the blackbird dead this week.  It looked as though it had been attacked, possibly by the crows that sometimes come past (perhaps it was weak after the cold weather we've had).   I don't think a cat was involved, because our yard is almost cat-proof and the bird's injuries were more consistent with being pecked than chewed.

I had grown attached to this blackbird even though it's an introduced species.   It tended to fend for itself in the sheltered parts of the garden.  It had a mate, but they tended not to hang about together.   But what won me was that last year it had a nest in some shrubbery which unfortunately we trimmed without being aware of the existence of the nest.   The bird continued to sit on the nest and three hatchlings emerged, but most unfortunately because the nest had become exposed, the hatchlings were taken by the crows.

I'll watch with interest to see if the blackbird territory that has now unfortunately been vacated is occupied by another blackbird.