Gotta Be A Jackdaw!

It’s been a bit crazy lately on the hedgehog front but let’s not forget about all the other wonderful wildlife that we are lucky enough to have in our area. So, it felt like a good

time to talk about one of my favourite birds- the witty jackdaw. They are often confused with rooks or crows but although they are part of the crow family, they are very different birds, in both looks and personality. They can be seen as pests often ripping open rubbish bags and pecking stones out of place but look past that and they are

awesome little characters that are highly intelligent. Jackdaws have even been recorded using tools and carrying out complex tasks in order to reach food, they are also extremely loyal birds to their partners and jackdaws rescued by humans will often come back to visit their human rescuers for many years after. They are distinctly different from crows with their grey chalky like feathers and pale grey or even blue eyes and are often seen by the sides of the roads doing what I always think, looks like their own version of the ministry of funny walks.

Their life span is around 5 years and on average they have a clutch of 5 to 6 eggs once a year between nesting pairs. Thankfully these days very few people are superstitious but back in the middle ages, any bird with black feathers was often seen as the bringers of evil or the sign of a curse or even a warning to an expectant mother that their child may be lost before birth. Certain cultures also believed that jackdaws were shape shifters and could transform from bird to human whenever it took their fancy. While others believed a jackdaw on the roof was said to predict a new arrival, alternatively, a jackdaw settling on the roof of a house or flying down a chimney is an omen of death, and coming across one was also considered a bad omen. A jackdaw standing on the vanes of a cathedral tower is said to foretell rain though so keep your eyes peeled the next time we get a dry spell. 

Of course it’s all nonsense and these birds are actually just handsome little creatures that roam are countryside. But it wasn’t all bad- The jackdaw was considered sacred in Welsh folklore as they nested in church steeples – it was shunned by the Devil because of its choice of residence. And in the Nineteenth century in the Fens they thought that seeing a jackdaw on the way to a wedding was a good omen for a bride.

The jackdaw is also a very skilled flyer- in fact they can manoeuvre more tightly then any of the crow family as well as tumble and glide. Jackdaws like magpies as also renowned for being known to have rather a penchant for shiny objects, the reason why is not known but it certainly adds to their charm. Breeding pairs stay together for life and there have been recorders of jackdaws for many years that grieve for dead partners for so long that they even cease to eat and go into a state of depression- for me this only shows even more, just how intelligent and gentle they really are.

They like to travel in flocks and prefer the company of others rather than be in solitude as their larger crow cousins often prefer. Jackdaws prefer to nest within the walls of an old barn or the structure of a house over a nest in a tree and it has been recorded by archaeologists, that they found evidence that jackdaws used to nest in the crevices beneath the lintels of Stonehenge.

You see the mischievous jackdaw is in fact something very special and so the next time you see one strutting their stuff on your lawn or hopping about by the road, just take a moment to enjoy them rather than carrying on without noticing.

We can all learn so much from nature and it’s important we know and love all of our species and don’t forget any of them. And for me it’s gotta be a jackdaw!