Arm the battlements—the walls have been breached

Mister

For more than a decade now we have smugly sat on the side of our hill watching the ferals invade the lowlands. Not the animals such as foxes, rabbits and cats. They seem to be everywhere and unstoppable. But the exotic birds. Down in the nearest township sparrows and the like mix it with the native birds. We have watched with dismay the advancing tide of Indian Mynas along our local roads from the direction of the big cities but somehow felt safe in the thought that the birds would stick to the open pasture lands. There has not been a sign of them in our woodland hilltop stronghold.

Then last week jumping out of the understorey next to the house was a feral of a totally unexpected type, a Blackbird. The walls have been breached; all is lost.

Ms

The Common Blackbird has the scientific name Turdus merula (somehow it seems appropriate!) – turdus being Latin for Thrush and merula Latin for blackbird. The Blackbird is a native of Europe and Asia. It was introduced to Melbourne in the late 1850s by a bird dealer. Since then the population has spread through much of south-eastern Australia.

The Blackbird is considered a pest because it competes with native birds for nesting sites and food sources and is also thought to spread weeds such as blackberry by dispersing the seed. On the upside traditionally they have been caught and used as food. A lot has been said about Indian Myna traps, not a word about Blackbird traps. Time for a Google search.

Who knows? Pies could be a common staple in our house in the near future.