söndag 11 april 2010

289. Svart




Koltrast

Koltrast Turdus merula

Tidigare var koltrasten en utpräglad skogsfågel men den har sedan mitten av 1800-talet bosatt sig i parker nära bebyggelse samt i trädgårdar.

Koltrasten är på grund av sin närhet till människor allmänt bekant. Hanen känns igen på sin kolsvarta kropp, gula näbb och gula ögonring. Den melodiska sången, som koltrasthanarna framför högljutt, anses som särskilt vacker.
Koltrasten är välkänd i svenska miljöer och 1962 blev den i en omröstning i Dagens Nyheter utsedd till Sveriges nationalfågel av läsarna.

Genetiska färgavvikelser
Hos koltrasten förekommer albinism liksom partiell eller total leucism. Detta kan framför allt observeras hos kulturföljare, men även i den fria naturen. Till exempel beskrev redan Aristoteles albinokoltrastar. Mycket sällan förekommer även färgavvikelsen brun.

Tack Wikipidia!
______________________________________________



The Common Blackbird Turdus merula

The male of the nominate subspecies, which is found throughout most of Europe, is all black except for a yellow eye-ring and bill and has a rich melodious song; the adult female and juvenile have mainly dark brown plumage. This species breeds in woods and gardens, building a neat, mud-lined, cup-shaped nest. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, earthworms, berries, and fruits.

The Common Blackbird was introduced to Australia at Melbourne in the 1850s, but has expanded from its initial foothold in Melbourne and Adelaide to occur throughout south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania and the Bass Strait islands.[29] The introduced population in Australia is considered a pest because it damages a variety of soft fruits in orchards, parks and gardens including berries, cherries, stone fruit and grapes. It is thought to spread weeds, such as blackberry, and may compete with native birds for food and nesting sites.


The main predator of the Common Blackbird is the domestic cat, but foxes and predatory birds, such as the Sparrowhawk and other accipiters, also take this species when the opportunity arises.

The Common Blackbird was seen as a sacred though destructive bird in Classical Greek folklore, and was said to die if it consumed pomegranate.[49] Like many other small birds, it has in the past been trapped in rural areas at its night roosts as an easily available addition to the diet,[50] and in medieval times the conceit of placing live birds under a pie crust just before serving may have been the origin of the familiar nursery rhyme:

Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye;
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie!
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?

The Common Blackbird is the national bird of Sweden, which has a breeding population of 1–2 million pairs,[14] and was featured on a 30 öre Christmas postage stamp in 1970







106 av 365