Blackbird Battles

Angel Mr T's backyard has become a war zone.  It is clearly 'des res' for blackbirds, and being territorial creatures the resident blackbird couple, aren't keen on sharing.  

Every morning after bird food has been thrown out on the lawn and the feeders topped up, two Mr Blackbirds battle it out on the grass under the main bird feeder - the one the starlings mob.   There are chase scenes, lots of puffing and jumping, plenty of noise but no real damage. 

Unfortunately as they both look the same to me I can't tell who is winning - resident Mr Blackbird or the interloper.  

Mr B reports that later in the day the Mrs Blackbirds had also been seen exchanging views on boundaries.

Mr T had very strong opinions about blackbirds and had been terrorized by one all one summer (link here, and here).  It might have been his own fault as there used to be a huge prunus tree on our back boundary where, I suspect, the blackbirds nested.  He regularly scaled the fence and into that tree, so it is probably no surprise that the blackbird male would sit on the fence shouting at him whenever he made an appearance in the back yard.  Neighbours cut the tree down a few years ago which removed an aggravating source of invasive ivy, but was a shame for the skyline (and the blackbirds).

My uncle had a splendid orchard in Ashburton NZ which every year was a human/blackbird battleground. He said he wouldn't begrudge them the odd apple, pear or plum if they would eat the whole thing but the fact that they took a nip out of every single one was just plain wasteful.  

Let's hope the successful pair in the territorial battles this year make their nest well out of the reach of  the various felines that saunter about the neighbourhood in 2024.