Blackbird question

[Blackdogjnr]

Last year we had a resident family of blackbirds and a successful brood.

When the fledgelings had left I noticed the male blackbird looking a little rough, in particular around the eye, from afar it appeared he had white feathers, but through binoculars I noticed it looked as though he'd been in a fight.... or was it part of the moult?

Stranger still I haven't seen him since last year and again this spring we have enjoyed another successful brood.
This weekend I saw a blackbird with the exact same bare/tufty area around the eye appearence.

My questions are:
If it is through fighting, do blackbirds usually target eyes?
Why would they be fighting after the kids have fledged?
If it is a moulting characteristic, it must be strange!

I just thought it significant that the same thing happened last year and again at pretty much the same time this year!
I'm pretty certain it wouln't be the same bird to have gone missing then return to our garden at the exact same time of year!

[Jenny W]

I would imagine they may target eyes, as this would disable an opponant quite effectively - loads of species of all sorts of mammals/birds etc. will target specific areas of the body in order to cause injury.

They will still fight at this time of year as they will still be holding territory - Blackbirds are rather territorial anyway, but they are probably still breeding, they can have up to 3 broods a year.

As for moult, if it is still breeding it will have not started the post-natal moult yet.