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Birdie the Second
How we found and rescued him.
Blackbird Language and Behaviour
This information is only to be used for the purposes of advancing respect for other species in the world and not for the purposes of predatory human behaviour.
Having raised my blackbirds does not make me an expert on bird behaviour or language but does, I think, give me the authority to have a considered opinion.
Birdie's Nestling Language
When blackbirds are tiny babies in the nest, the only language - or the only language we can hear with human ears (which raises a troublesome aspect) - is "cheep" as the baby rouses itself and raises its head to beg for food. The strongest babies cheep the loudest and longest. The parent responds by obligingly filling their little mouths. If the parent delays, the cheeping becomes faster and more urgent. Then, if there is no response from the parent, the cheeping becomes weaker until the little ones perish. Such is the apparent language of the nestling. Nestlings cheep whilst still in their shells.But what is the language of the babies as they nestle under their parent for the night? It is a different tone of "cheep" altogether. One of comfort and satisfaction, soothed and gentle and non-urgent. I've heard my Birdies make that noise when they settle in their artifical nest in the tiny "balcony" in front of the mirror.
Birdie's Childhood Language
This is the language of the fully feathered infant.We've all heard the language of the newly emerged baby blackbird as he/she sits in a bush, waiting for their parent to come and feed them there. If you are close enough to the Birdie, you can at times hear a "cooing" or "whistle" in their throat as well as their distinctive call to their parent, announcing "I'm here. Please come and feed me.". However, when Birdie the Second was in extreme anxiety waiting for me to come and rescue him from the cats below him, the "cooing" and trembling as he flew to me and clung to my shirt was a different tone altogether. His voice actually trembled, whistling and cooing in his throat in extreme anxiety. Later, when I got him back to his safe nest in the front of our victorian mirror, the relief and happiness in his cooing was immense. He nestled in and the expression of his body language and in his eyes, matched his joyful throat-cooing.
Anxiety which is closer to frustration, such as Birdie wishing to be in the tall trees at night and instead being confined to a "tree" in the laundry until he was large enough and smart enough to care for himself, this anxiety can manifest itself relatively silently. Birdie would sometimes fly upwards and it wasn't until I pretended that I was his parent nestling in the "tree" in the laundry (my fingers actually, rustling the leaves and out of his sight, whilst I "cooed" to him) that he would happily settle on a branch there.
Do Blackbirds make a different noise when afraid?
Yes. You only need to read about Birdie in this excerpt from his story (also referred to above) to know that. The tone in their anxiety is much the same as ours is. Trembling and fast, I can only describe it as a coo with a lot of emotional fear attached to it.I do know and if we're honest, all of us who have had raised birds know this - birds have emotions. That's something not readily admitted by those who like to experiment on them or eat them.
Do all Blackbirds speak exactly the same way?
Short answer: No.Long answer: still no! :) However, to explain further.... I decided to get out my tape recorder and test this. We have a resident blackbird (I have no idea if he is my Birdie or not now as Birdie long ago mingled with other birds, visited infrequently and then his distinctive adolescent markings became adult male and indistinct - to my eyes - from others). I taped him singing his "This is my territory and there is a vacancy for a female. Don't you think this is just the best place to nest and I am just the best male in sight" song. !!
The tape revealed a sequence of phrases sung by this Birdie. I grew to know some of these phrases very well. I could tell Birdie from other Birdies, simply by listening for the phrases. There are other blackbirds adjacent to his area. None have his specific phrases. There are similar phrases but not the same.
Can Birdie learn to understand me?
Yes, they can and do. If you learn to whistle and coo with tones that have meaning just as they do in human language, they respond appropriately. Both the blackbirds I raised from infancy to adult communicated well with me and I with them. And I believe that they made almost as much effort as I did to ensure that we adapted and communicated. Bonding is natural but the actual communication is a process of adaptation.What is Birdie saying on my tape?
Sometimes, I can easily get the gyst of it. But as for specifics, that is still to come. But I am determined!
Here's Birdie the Second having a bath in our birdbath. Took him a while to get the hang of it!
GUESTBOOK!
I'D LOVE YOU TO SIGN IT
Sign The Acorn Tree
Are birds intelligent?
Find out about Betty, the smart crow! at Oxford University. Unfortunately, the university is sometimes killing birds to look at their brains. You can send them an email at their website if you would like to object.