Ask any child which is our national bird and they will tell you it’s the blue rock-thrush, il-merill. But how many children, or adults for that matter, have seen the beautiful blue thrush?
As with any other query, one must know what they’re looking for, so let’s delve into the world of this solitary bird.
Family profile
As the name implies, the bird is a thrush, a group that immediately conjures up the shape of a stocky, round-bellied bird with a relatively short tail. A bird’s general shape is the birdwatcher’s first port of call before any other details take shape.
Relativity is a second important identification key that allows the watcher to tell one member of a group from another. Robin and blue rock-thrush, for instance, are both in the thrush family, but the national bird is almost twice the size of a robin. So if you see a bird that looks like a large robin, it could well be a blue rock-thrush.
Defying the expression ‘birds of a feather flock together’, the blue rock-thrush is a solitary bird. Do not look for this bird in flocks or family parties, as you would the more common Spanish sparrow.
The bird’s solitary habit gives it its scientific name – Monticola solitarius – solitary mountain dweller. Find it in rocky cliff habitats or around quarries, perched on an outcrop from where it issues its melodious song.
Our largest breeding thrush displays the typical round belly, straight beak and horizontal position of its family. Photo: Joe SultanaBlue’s melody
Few of our birds are as musical as that of our blue national bird. During the breeding season between April and June, the male’s strong, fluting notes echo over its rocky territory. Aim for cliffy outcrops – ‘rdum’ − such as Dingli cliffs or anywhere along the Western coast. Let the thrush’s melody lure you to its silhouette on the rocky skyline or perched atop a boulder.
You can attune your ear to the blue rock-thrush’s song by listening to a recording from the website https://xeno-canto.org/.
If you’re on location and need to confirm what you’re hearing, the app BirdNET will come in very handy – just point it in the direction of the melody and it will tell you the avian singer’s name.
But, as with all AI tools, caution is the name of the game. Before rushing off to tell everyone that you’ve just identified a super-exotic macaw, make sure it isn’t someone’s mobile ring tone, or some accidental ambient sound!
Desirée Falzon is a naturalist and field teacher with BirdLife Malta.
Continue reading about the solitary bird and its pastel-blue eggs on X2, a new website by Times of Malta.