Definition of blackbird in English:

noun

• 1An Old World thrush with mainly black plumage.

  Genus Turdus, family Turdidae: four species, in particular T. merula, the male of which has all-black plumage and a yellow bill

  More example sentences

  • ‘If no berries remain, having been stripped earlier by blackbirds and mistle thrushes, they perish.’
  • ‘The thicker scrub and thickets of elder, hawthorn and bramble, meanwhile, provide ideal cover for nesting robins, wrens, sparrows, dunnocks, blackbirds and thrushes.’
  • ‘The ubiquitous starling is one of the most widespread problem species but blackbirds, partridges, robins, sparrows, thrushes, and finches are also common.’
  • ‘The redwing, fieldfare and blackbirds are all involved in serious territorial swoops between trees.’
  • ‘Birds such as starlings, blackbirds, thrushes and dunnocks will use a lawn to hunt for worms and insects, so maintain good drainage and limit compaction to help them probe in its surface.’

• 2

  (also American blackbird)

  A New World songbird with a strong pointed bill. The male has black plumage that is iridescent or has patches of red or yellow.

  Family Icteridae (the American blackbird family): several genera and species, including the abundant red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

  More example sentences

  • ‘Unlike dowdy, brown females of the species, male blackbirds possess bright yellow-to-orange beaks and shiny black plumage.’
  • ‘I pulled over at Schaar's Bluff, turned off my car and just sat and listened, beyond the bluebirds and meadowlarks you could hear tree sparrows and red-winged blackbirds.’
  • ‘I went down towards the creek and found a huge flock of robins, grackles and red-winged blackbirds foraging.’
  • ‘We waited hours for several common birds - blue jay, northern flicker, and fish crow - but missed red-winged blackbird and American robin.’
  • ‘Down in the bog, the first red-winged blackbirds were yodeling, and a robin sang in the evening.’

• 3historical A black or Polynesian captive on a slave ship.

  ‘Eli Jennings, Sr. was also instrumental in helping Peruvian "blackbird" slave ships depopulate the other three Tokelau atolls’

  Synonyms

  bondsman, bondswoman, bondservant, bondslave, serf, vassal, thrall