European Blackbird

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

European Blackbird

(Turdus merula), a bird of the family Turdidae of the order Passeriformes. The body length is about 25 cm. The male has shiny black plumage and a yellow bill. The female and the young of both sexes are brown. The European blackbird is distributed in Europe, Northwest Africa, and Asia. In the USSR the bird is found from the western borders eastward to the Southern Urals; its range also includes the Caucasus and the mountains of Middle Asia. The bird lives in deciduous and mixed forests, as well as in orchards and parks. In Western Europe it is common in cities. The song of the male is very beautiful. The nests are on the ground near tree roots, on stumps, or on bushes. A clutch contains four to seven light blue speckled eggs, which are incubated by both parents for 13 or 14 days. The diet consists of insects, worms, mollusks, berries, and small fruits.

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A second statement in the introduction claims that "Although spirochetes have been isolated from naturally infected European blackbirds (T.

American Robins as Reservoir Hosts for Lyme Disease Spirochetes

Loss of Lyme disease spirochetes from Ixodes ricinus ticks feeding on European blackbirds. Exp Parasitol 1992;74:151-8.

American Robins as Reservoir Hosts for Lyme Disease Spirochetes

Although spirochetes have been isolated from naturally infected European blackbirds (Turdus merula) (15), a laboratory study failed to demonstrate reservoir competence of these birds (23); the reason for this discrepancy remains unclear.

European blackbirds appear not to be susceptible to [ILLEGIBLE TEXT] infection (23).

Competence of American robins as reservoir hosts for Lyme disease spirochetes

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