blackbird

American  

[blak-burd] / ˈblækˌbɜrd /

noun

• blackbirds
  plural

1. a common European thrush, Turdus merula, the male of which is black with a yellow bill.

2. any of several American birds of the family Icteridae, having black plumage.

3. any of several other unrelated birds having black plumage in either or both sexes.

4. History/Historical. a person, especially a Pacific Islander, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery abroad, usually in Australia.

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verb (used with object)

1. to kidnap (a person), as in blackbirding.

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in blackbirding.

blackbird British  

/ ˈblækˌbɜːd /

noun

1. a common European thrush, Turdus merula , in which the male has a black plumage and yellow bill and the female is brown

2. any of various American orioles having a dark plumage, esp any of the genus Agelaius

3. history a person, esp a South Sea Islander, who was kidnapped and sold as a slave, esp in Australia

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verb

1. (tr) (formerly) to kidnap and sell into slavery

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• blackbirds
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of blackbird

First recorded in 1480–90; earlier blacke bride; see black, bird

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

blackbird blackbirds

She has created large canvases, embellished formal gloves and a gown, and—most shockingly—a decorated taxidermied goat covered in a menagerie of stitched animals, including a mischievous red-winged blackbird and a cheery possum.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025

Every morning, at this time of year, a red-winged blackbird greets me as I walk down the street.

From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2025

His “spark bird,” at 9, was the red-winged blackbird, which flocked to his homemade bird feeder in his suburban Long Island yard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2024

The Young Bird Photographer of the Year award went to 17-year-old German photographer Anton Trexler for his atmospheric picture of a blackbird silhouetted against the moon.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2023

The form of the angel seemed to condense and swirl into a little vortex in midair, and then a blackbird swooped down onto the grass at Will’s feet.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman

An international research team discovered that urban birds, including great tits, house sparrows, and blackbirds, tend to fly away sooner when approached by women than by men.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026

Market hunters used shotguns, nets and traps to fill traincars with passenger pigeons—as well as robins, woodpeckers, blackbirds and orioles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026

Spring in 2024 was earlier than the average for 12 of the 13 spring events on record and was the earliest in the series from 1999 for both frogspawn appearing and blackbirds nesting.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2025

Some well-studied species were tree swallows, red-winged blackbirds, American redstarts, and white-throated sparrows.

From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2025

The thin-throated, wrenlike warbler and the ham-necked, pincer-beaked blackbirds were anatomical cousins—variants of the same species.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

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