Jackdaw

Jackdaw

NL: Kauw
D: Dohle
F: Choucas des tours
 
Latin name: Corvus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758)

Bird group: Kraaien

The Jackdaw is the smallest crow – smaller than a Carrion Crow or Rook, but about the same size as a Jay. Like all the crows, Jackdaws are inquisitive and intelligent birds.

Adult Jackdaws are all black apart from their grey nape, shoulders and ear-coverts and light grey (almost white) eyes. The bill and legs are black.

Juvenile birds have a less prominent grey nape, etc. Their eyes are a pale blue in the first year, turning to brown in the spring of their second year and eventually to light grey.

Compared with the other crows, its flight is more hurried – similar to a pigeon.

Feeding
The Jackdaws diet is greatly varied:
– preying on animals, such as insects, worms and mice
– feeding on vegetation, such as seeds, berries and fruit
– scavenging on landfill sites or in gardens for scraps

While on holiday (1998), I noticed young Jackdaws picking dead insects off the front bumpers and registration plates of cars parked in a car park (Dolgellau, Wales). One youngster, at the rear of a car, seemed quite puzzled and tormented by the absence of dead flies!

Nesting
Jackdaws will take over old nests of larger birds or use holes in trees and buildings. The nest is made from twigs and lined with hair, rags, bark, soil, and many other materials. Jackdaws nest in colonies and often close to Rooks.

The smooth, glossy pale blue eggs are marked with blackish-brown, and approximately 36 mm by 26 mm. The female incubates the eggs by herself. After the young hatch, they are fed by both parents.

Song/call: