I believe one is a proper name and the latter is descriptive, but what the hey! Close enough to call it! Let's just go with canary in a coal mine......Beebe Arkansas , thousands of blackbirds died , investigation revealed "blunt force trauma" as the cause of death ! Yet it did not affect any other species of bird in the area , guess it sucks to be a blackbird !
If ravens and crows are messengers , does this make a blackbird a black bird ?