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Methods and preliminary results are given of a study involving the ringing of l89 blackbirds (Turdus merula) at Lower Hutt, New Zealand, between 16 July 1951 and 25 March, 1953. Results generally follow those already reported from blackbirds in Great Britain. Adult birds were resident about’ the trapping station, but defence of territory was not marked; the size of the home range increased when the birds were feeding young. Of 26 ringed adults. 14 were retrapped at the station a year later, but only one of the rest was known to be dead; mortality among birds of the year was much higher. Young birds were recovered from up to a mile from where ringed. There was a marked seasonal variation in trapping success of both adults and juveniles, 84% of the birds were caught between October and February.