Blackbird – Spirit Animal, Totem, Symbolism and Meaning

Blackbird is a type of a bird that is originally from Europe, South Africa and Asia, but you can find it also in a New Zealand and Australia. Blackbird can be resident, partially migratory, or fully migratory. It all depends on the latitude.

This bird is a singer bird, with a beautiful singing voice. He is about 25 centimeters in size, weighing about 100 grams, and its wingspan is 34 to 38 centimeters. Male blackbirds are all black, they have yellow eye – ring and bill. Female and juvenile are having mostly dark brown plumage.

In this text, we will pay a lot of attention to them and try to explain you their symbolic meaning, in order to understand their importance.

Blackbird traits and characteristics

Breeding and Nesting – Тhree to five pale blue eggs, spotted and scrawled with dark brown and purple, are laid in a well – made cup of marsh grass or reeds, attached to growing marsh vegetation or built in a bush in a marsh. Incubation takes 11 to 12 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding – This bird feeds on insects, small fruits, seeds, waste grain and small aquatic life. While these birds are often regarded as pests because they consume grain in cultivated fields, the farmer benefits because of the blackbirds consumption of harmful insects.

Readily eats – Bread Products, Cracked Corn, Millet, Nut Meats, Suet

Vocalization – This bird’s song is a rich, musical o – ka – leee!

Blackbird as a totem

Blackbird has always caught the attention of a man with his look and beautiful voice. Blackbird is present in mythology, stories, poems, legends of many nations and it is seen as something powerful, mysterious and magical. His appearence and behavior are associated with many beliefs, and is considered to be a bad, but also a good sign.

Many religions have believed that they are a symbol of a curse, and in many cases they are associated with sinners, even with a devil itself. It was believed that a blackbird was a result of witch charms that „poured out“. Some tribes of the Indians saw a blackbird like some positive light which is guiding humanity on its way in a life, and in a death. They think that they are happy enough because they have the power to see the soul leaving a body on its way to its final residence.

In the Christian Bible, the blackbird was considered as a symbolf of evil. According to one story, Devil appeared to Saint Benedict and tried to take a form of a blackbird. He flewed over the face of St. Benedict, who lived in a desert.

After that, St. Benedict strongly wished a girl who he had seen a long ago, and even wanted to leave a  service to find her. In order to resist the temptation, St. Benedict took his close off and jumped naked in a barbed bushes. Since then, blackbird symbolizes temptations of a body, and is considered as a symbol of a sexual desire. It is believed that blackbird seduces lost souls with his song.

There is a belief that the blackbird symbolizes the gate, the passage between the worlds, the sacred space in which is impossible to stand indefinitely, and doesn’t let excessive hesitation and it demands to move as quickly as possible to unknown. Blackbird is a warning that every stagnation is a sin, and an unworthy disclaimer from responsibility.

Also, blackbird is a symbol of higher ideals, and it is believed that carries secrets which are not given so easily. He is a symbol of life mysticism, primary vitality and a need for a recovery. It is possible to find  interpretation which says that blackbird signifies changes and predicts death.

However, if they have a nest close to someone’s house, it represents happiness that he or she will have throughout the whole year. Two blackbirds sitting on a branch is also a positive sign.

Blackbird symbol in a dream

Dreams about blackbird have many meanings, and it all depends on the details of it. If in your dream you saw a blackbird, it means that in your waking life you will have temporary worries. It is possible that you are uncertain about the future of some of your family members, especially the one who is planning to leave. You will worry that he or she will not be able to manage far from home and everyone that knows, especially without your help.

Dreaming about you hunting a blackbird. Dream like this mean that you don’t have a feeling of guilty. You are very practical and you consider that a man don’t  need to dream because needs to be realistic and try to meet his needs. You don’t have a compassion for others and you think that every person is responsible for his own happiness and needs to think about the future on time.

Dreaming about blackbird in a cage. If you dreamed about this, it means that you feel like you are trapped. You have probably done something which is hunting you wherever you go. You tried to change your apartment, city or even a state, but you can’t run away from yourself. You will understand that the only way to move on is to solve any conflict that you had in the past and to give a hand of reconcilation to your enemies.

Blackbird symbolism in different cultures

The ancient Greeks considered that the blackbird is a sacred bird because of its fine singing. They belived that the blackbird is a God of the sun Apollo who turned into this black bird. Also, he is common symbol in Greek folklore, because we can see a lot of images and drawings in it.

In Celtic mythology, he was considered as one of the three oldest animals, along with a trout and the deer and they together represented air, water and earth.

The legends of Druid, the priestly class of  Kelt, says that three blackbirds are singing on a world tree. Their singing is putting to sleep everyone who is listening to them or he is leading them to the stadium of trance, so they can travel to the other world.

In Nordic mythology, blackbird is considered as a bird slanderer. Aborigians believed that these birds transmit stories.

Blackbird is a national bird of Sweden. There is a bigest population of them, with almost 2 milion pairs. We can find it as a image on postage stamp in that country, but also in some other countries of Europe and Asia and in some important government markings.

Kosovo got the name by this bird, because blacbkbird is known there as a “Kos”.

As you can see, blackbird is a bird that was described in many cultures, and in all of them he had an important role. It was an inspiration for many poets, and represents something magical, mysterious and powerful.