Mrs Blackbird defends here fruit store against all rivals. November 2011

She looks nice and chubby...
Has eaten lots of berries ...
ready for winter :o)

Well if she keeps coming back, she must feel safe with you.

Thanks both. I think she has probably been the culprit in stripping most of the yellow pyracantha berries and also helped polish off the yew berries along with several other blackbirds and thrushes. Our garden is always busy with lots of birds which we had hoped for when we planted it as a wildlife friendly area.

Lovely photo ... we have a pair of Blackbirds stripping the red Pyracantha berries daily ... also the Grapevine ... so lovely to watch these very busy birds ... :o)

Ours don't favour the red pyracantha, every other berry in the garden will be eaten before they give it a second look. The rowan berries are barely red before the blackies strip it. Then the elderberry followed by the yew and then the yellow pyracantha , the leycesteria, the orange pyracantha, the holly and the cotoneasters then the red pyracantha but only if there is nothing else to eat. Windfall apples are eaten too. They are every bit as busy as TT 's doggies.

Now that is interesting, Scotsgran ... the Blackbirds in my garden are just not interested in the yellow Pyracantha berries ... perhaps it's a North/South thing . . . . .

Well now Shirley there is a question. I had to go to M for some shopping last night and was lucky enough to pick up a reduced price yellow berried pyracantha for just £4.50. I thought when it jumped in to my trolley I would keep it lol. I have plenty of spaces where it will look good.

Definitely a bargain ... and the birds will thank you for buying it ... :o)

I am astounded at the prices being charged for plants nowadays. I suppose everything has gone up that growers need and fuel costs must be a real burden but I give away lots as long as I know they are not under PBR. I will be taking cuttings of these pyracantha next year to increase my stock.

I think your Mrs may be a baby, Scotsgran. I can't see a yellow bill, so if it still has a black/grey bill, it is a youngster. That could be why it is not fussy about what it eats!

I don't see why you think it is not fussy about what it eats Somhairle.I think everything it eats in our garden is recommended as Blackbird food. I thought only male blackbirds have the distinctive bright yellow bill with the female a much more drab looking bird. This has a lighter bill but it really is covered in squashed fruit. Our neighbour to the north of us has a pink berried rowan and the birds are ignoring it.

I wish the birds would take a few more of our Pyra Berries, some are beginning to turn brown...Been so mild here they're spoilt for choice...lol...

I thought all adults had yellow bills, the female is certainly more brown and dowdy than the male. But then I may be wrong.

And I only meant that if it was a youngster it would probably not have identified its preferences and where to find these.

Thats okay. I read what i had written in case I had put in something that the birds don't eat but our blackies are the first ones to start picking the berries and I listed the trees and shrubs in the order that they ripen. I've had a look on the internet and even the RSPB don't actually say what colour the female beaks are but one did say that the male has a yellow circle round his eye and a bright yellow beak that dims later in the year. I wondered if that was maybe when they start to moult you don't see any of the birds for about a month and his beak might dim so that he is not a target for birds of prey. The mothers can usually be seen with the babies, showing them what to eat I expect, and as food is only suitable when it is ripe they would need to eat what is available.