Abstract
During an intensive study of the urban population of the Blackbird
Turdus merula in Szczecin (1997-2023), four cases of surrogate
copulation were observed in the Blackbird and three in the Fieldfare
Turdus pilaris. In three cases birds (Blackbirds twice and Fieldfare
once) try to copulate with fledglings of their own species, in all other
cases the birds try to copulate with moss and sticks. In three cases
copulation attempts were done by adult birds (two blackbirds and one
fieldfare), in four cases it was a fledgling.