What's a colly bird? ... “Colly bird?” It's essentially a black bird, Armenti said Wednesday. Although both “calling” and “colly” have appeared in versions of the song, “colly,” which is derived from the Old English word for coal, predates “calling” by more than a century, he wrote.

What does Four Colly birds mean?

A “calling bird” is actually a song bird, but the original song way way back, referred to “Four Colly Birds”. The word “colly” means “black as coal or soot” so the gift was actually four blackbirds (Turdus Merula).

What species is a Colly bird?

The original 'colly bird' was the European Blackbird (Turdus merula) as 'colly' meant 'black' as in 'coaly', and is why border collies bear that name.