Turdus merula
Turdus merula
The common blackbird is a species native to the western Palearctic (BirdLife International, 2024). In Europe, it has a wide distribution and is absent only from the northernmost areas of Fennoscandia and the region north of the Caucasus (Keller et al., 2020). It has been introduced to some islands in Oceania. In Spain, it is found throughout the territory, missing only in parts of the plateaus, the Ebro valley, the arid southeast, and the eastern Canary Islands (Aparicio in SEO/BirdLife, 2022).
In the Community of Madrid, it occupies the entire region and is abundant in forested areas, as well as scrublands and urban gardens. It shows a preference for open woodlands such as ash stands and Pyrenean oak woodlands, followed by pine forests and scrubland areas (Díaz et al., 1994).
In the national park, it is present throughout the territory except in the meadows and grasslands at the highest elevations. It is common wherever altitude allows the development of mixed forest or Pyrenean oak woodland, although it also occurs in areas dominated by piornal (broom scrub).
It adapts flexibly to a wide range of forest and scrub habitats, as well as to tree crops and agricultural mosaic areas. It is also typical of urban environments such as parks and gardens (Tellería et al., 1999; 2008).
Within the national park, it occupies a great variety of habitats, with the highest abundances found in the foothill areas featuring mixed forests, riparian woodlands, and low scrub.
At the global scale, it is considered in the category of Least Concern (LC; 2016). In Europe, it is also classified in the same category (LC; 2020). In Spain, it is listed as Least Concern in the 2021 Red List.
The Catalogue of Threatened Species of the Community of Madrid (1992) does not assign this species to any threat category.
BirdLife International 2024. IUCN Red List for birds. https://datazone.birdlife.org.
Díaz, M., Martí, R., Gómez-Manzaneque, Á. y Sánchez, A. 1994. Atlas de las aves nidificantes en Madrid. Agencia de Medio Ambiente y SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Antón, M., Klvaňová, A., Kalyakin, M. V. Bauer, H. Gr y Foppen, R. P. B. 2020. European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Birds Census Council y Lynx Edicions. Barcelona.
SEO/BirdLife (Molina, B., Nebreda, A., Muñoz, A. R., Seoane, J., Real, R., Bustamante, J. y Del Moral, J. C., eds.). 2022. III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Tellería, J. L., Asensio, B. y Díaz, M. 1999. Aves ibéricas. II. Paseriformes. J. M. Reyero Editor. Madrid.
Tellería, J. L., Ramírez, A., Galarza, A., Carbonell, R., Pérez-Tris, J. y Santos, T. 2008. Geographical, lanscape and hábitat effects on birds in northern spanish farmlands: implications for conservation. Ardeola, 55: 203-219.