IAlthough it’s still dark outside, the dawn chorus is in full swing. This performance, except for a thin descant by robin, only contains one species of thrush. Elsewhere, Song thrush (Turdus philomelos) or Mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus) would be joining in by now, but around this urban garden, the blackbird (Turdus merula() commands the stage.
Their ancestors were shy forest creatures. However, blackbirds have been moving into cities since the 19th Century. Their numbers are higher in urban areas than in the countryside. Increased competition for territory is a problem More urgent needsThey can’t override the melody.
Blackbird song has inspired writers musiciansAnd ComposersIt is a tradition that Belfast has a long history of enthralling people. Seamus Heaney, Ciaran Carson and Ciaran Carson were the local poets who paid tribute to the ninth-century Irish poem with their translations The Blackbird of Belfast Lough. Further afield, the Welsh poet and priest RS Thomas meditated on a slow-singing singer loading each phrase / With histories overtones, love/ Joy / And griefA Blackbird Singing). Henning Mankell, a Swedish writer and poet, said as he was nearing death: “I have heard the blackbird.” I have lived.
Blackbirds’ songs may have emotional resonance for humans, but they are singing for their own ends. History is not their history. Songs of species that evolved in forests can often sound musical to us. A voice may be blocked by branches and foliage. pure tonesYou can transmit more effectively. To ensure that his fluting announcement is clearly heard, the blackbird’s beautiful motif is an adaptation of that situation. Beyond his territorial boundary.
I tune in to the cadenceThe nearest bird. His mellow notes transition to a more scratchy tweet at the end of each verse. This refrain sounds strangely dissonant, after the mellifluous beginning. Its higher pitch is difficult to hear over distance and its complex modulations can easily be distorted by bounces off surfaces. Both in art and evolution however, form follows function. This twitter is intentionally intended for his more immediate surroundings,To either warn, or wheedle. Any rustle in your understorey could be a male prospector or an appraising male.
Minutes before sunrise, sparrows start to chatter. The blackbirds then disappear into silence. A starling sneers.
