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The UK Bird Atlas

Blackbird (Turdus merula)Where and when to see it in the UK

Resident · reporting peaks November to June · Thrushes and Allies · BOU category AF

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Tony Wills, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Blackbird: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Blackbird has been recorded in 2,857 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (96%) in records to 2026. Resident in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in November to June.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
76% or more of visits
High
59% to 76%
Moderate
38% to 59%
Low
under 38%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 92%62%Very high
February 92%62%Very high
March 95%64%Very high
April 98%66%Very high
May 100%67%Very high
June 94%64%Very high
July 78%52%Low
August 52%35%Low
September 52%35%Low
October 72%49%Low
November 90%60%Very high
December 96%64%Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in January

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
C62Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C72Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C90Mid Ulster, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C92Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C93Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D00Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D13Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D23Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H15Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H24Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.