WHAT IS A COLLEY BIRD?

In the song The 12 Days of Christmas we find reference to colley birds (or, in a variant, calling birds).  But what is a colley bird?

The answer is simple.  It is the blackbird (Turdus merula).  This bird should not be confused with the blackbird found in America, which belongs to the Icteridae family.

The blackbird of this article is also called the merle and the ouzel.  It is the national bird of Sweden.

Less well-known names for this bird are the woofell, chacket and drostal.