El mirlo canta muy bien.

El is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.

So:

• el mirlo = the blackbird

In Spanish, nouns usually need an article more often than in English, especially when you are talking about a specific thing, or sometimes even about a whole species in a general way.

You know it is masculine because it goes with el:

• el mirlo = masculine
• la mirla would be feminine

Like all Spanish nouns, mirlo has grammatical gender. That does not necessarily mean the bird is biologically male in every context; it mainly tells you which article and adjective forms go with the noun.

Canta is the third-person singular form of the verb cantar (to sing) in the present tense.

So it means:

• he sings
• she sings
• it sings
• or sometimes is singing, depending on context

In this sentence, because the subject is el mirlo, the natural translation is the blackbird sings.

Because the subject is el mirlo, which is third person singular.

Here is the present tense of cantar:

• yo canto = I sing
• tú cantas = you sing
• él/ella canta = he/she sings
• nosotros cantamos = we sing
• vosotros cantáis = you all sing
• ellos/ellas cantan = they sing

Since el mirlo = it / he, Spanish uses canta.

Bien means well.
Muy means very.

So:

• bien = well
• muy bien = very well

In El mirlo canta muy bien, muy modifies bien, not the verb directly.

A useful pattern is:

• muy + adjective/adverb
• mucho is used differently

So you say:

• muy bien = very well
• not mucho bien

Because bien is an adverb, and in Spanish adverbs often come after the verb.

So:

• canta bien = sings well
• canta muy bien = sings very well

That word order is the most natural one here.

Yes, depending on context, Spanish can use the singular with the definite article to talk about a species in a general sense.

So El mirlo canta muy bien could mean:

• The blackbird sings very well — one specific blackbird
• or The blackbird is a very good singer / Blackbirds sing very well — the species in general

Spanish does this more naturally than English, so learners often notice that the article is used in places where English might prefer no article or a plural.

A simple Spain-Spanish pronunciation guide is:

el MEER-loh KAHN-tah mwee BYEN

A few details:

• mirlo: the r is a single tap, not a strong rolled rr
• canta: the c sounds like k
• muy sounds roughly like mwee
• bien is one syllable for many speakers, something like byen

A more IPA-style version is:

[el ˈmiɾlo ˈkanta muj ˈbjen]

Yes, Spanish often omits the subject when it is understood from context.

So:

• Canta muy bien = He/She/It sings very well

But if you want to make clear that you are talking about the blackbird, then El mirlo canta muy bien is better.

Spanish is a pro-drop language, which means subject pronouns and even noun subjects are often omitted when the meaning is already clear.

Yes, that is possible. Spanish word order is more flexible than English.

• El mirlo canta muy bien = neutral, standard order
• Canta muy bien el mirlo = more marked; it can sound more emphatic or literary, or answer a question like Who sings very well?

So both are grammatical, but the original sentence is the most neutral way to say it.

Yes. In Spain, mirlo normally refers to the blackbird, especially the common European blackbird.

So for a learner of Spanish from Spain, mirlo is the normal word to know here.