Indian blackbird
Turdus simillimus Jerdon, 1839
The Indian blackbird (Turdus simillimus) is a species in the family Turdidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 97.5 g to 102.7 g and live up to 21.1 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the Indian blackbird
- Weight
- 97.5 g – 102.7 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 21.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 21.8 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 13.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 4src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the Indian blackbird
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the Indian blackbird live?
Not recorded
What is the Indian blackbird?
The Indian blackbird (Turdus simillimus) is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the common blackbird. It is found only in India and Sri Lanka. The subspecies from most of the Indian subcontinent, simillimus, nigropileus, bourdilloni and spencei, are small, only 19–20 centimetres (7.5–7.9 inches) long, and have broad eye-rings. They also differ in proportions, wing formula, egg colour and voice from the common blackbird.
From the Wikipedia article “Indian blackbird” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_blackbird&oldid=1360626069), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the Indian blackbird sound like?
Is the Indian blackbird endangered?
The Indian blackbird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the Indian blackbird classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyTurdidae
- genusTurdus
- SpeciesTurdus simillimus Jerdon, 1839
Synonyms Turdus merula simillimus
Other names and names in other languages (39)
- merla de l'ÍndiaCatalan
- Sydindisk SolsortDanish
- IndienamselGerman
- Indische AmselGerman
- hindia turdoEsperanto
- Mirlo indioSpanish
- india musträstasEstonian
- intianmustarastasFinnish
- Merle des NilgiriFrench
- ભારતીય કાળી કિલોલ (Bhāratīya kāḷī kilōl)Gujarati
- काली कस्तूर (Kālī kastūr)Hindi
- Merlo indianoItalian
- インドクロウタドリJapanese
- ಭಾರತೀಯ ಕಪ್ಪು ಗೊರವಂಕ (Bhāratīya kappu goravaṅka)Kannada
- indinis strazdasLithuanian
- കരിങ്കിളിMalayalam
- നീലഗിരി കരിങ്കിളി (Nīlagiri kariṅkiḷi)Malayalam
- काळटोप कस्तूरMarathi
- काळा कस्तूर (Kāḷā kastūr)Marathi
- Indische MerelDutch
- sholatrostNorwegian
- ਭਾਰਤੀ ਕਾਲੀ ਕੋਇਲ (Bhāratī kālī kōil)Punjabi
- kos indyjskiPolish
- Drozd indyjskiPolish
- melro-indianoPortuguese
- Индийский черный дроздRussian
- Индийский чёрный дроздRussian
- भारतीयकृष्णकः (Bhāratīyakṛṣṇakaḥ)Sanskrit
- drozd indickýSlovak
- Indijski kosSerbian
- indisk trastSwedish
- indisk koltrastSwedish
- இந்திய கருங்குருவி (Intiya karuṅkuruvi)Tamil
- భారతీయ నల్ల కిళ్ళ (Bhāratīya nalla kiḷḷa)Telugu
- Hint ArdıcıTurkish
- дрізд індостанськийUkrainian
- Chim hoét Ấn ĐộVietnamese
- 南亚乌鸫Chinese
- 印度烏鶇Chinese
Relatives of the Indian blackbird
Other species in the same genus Turdus.
Common blackbird
Turdus merula
Song thrush
Turdus philomelos
Fieldfare
Turdus pilaris
Mistle thrush
Turdus viscivorus
Ring ouzel
Turdus torquatus
Redwing
Turdus iliacus
CompareIndian blackbird vs Common blackbirdIndian blackbird vs Song thrushIndian blackbird vs FieldfareIndian blackbird vs Mistle thrush
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the Indian blackbird?
An adult Indian blackbird weighs 97.5 g – 102.7 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the Indian blackbird endangered?
The Indian blackbird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the Indian blackbird live?
The Indian blackbird has a recorded lifespan of 21.1 years.
What kind of animal is the Indian blackbird?
The Indian blackbird (Turdus simillimus) belongs to the family Turdidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Indian blackbird (Turdus simillimus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/indian-blackbird
“Indian blackbird (Turdus simillimus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/indian-blackbird.
@misc{indian_blackbird_2026,
title = {Indian blackbird (Turdus simillimus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/indian-blackbird},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}