Jackdaw
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The Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) is one of the smallest species (34-39 cm in length) in the genus of crows and ravens. Most of the plumage is black or greyish black except for the cheeks, nape and neck which are light grey to greyish silver. The iris is greyish white or silvery white, the only member of the genus outside of the Australasian region to have this feature. The bird is sociable, moving around in pairs (male and female) or in larger groups, though the pairs of birds stay together within the flocks.
Social behaviour
The complex social interactions that occur in groups of Jackdaws was studied by Konrad Lorenz and a detailed description of the Jackdaw's social behaviour is described in Konrad Lorenz's book "King Solomon's Ring". Lorenz put coloured rings Jackdaws' legs so that individual birds could be easily identified and he caged them in the winter because of their migration from Austria. Lorenz observed Jackdaws hierical group structure with dominance of the higher ranking birds over others. He noticed jackdaws' strong male-female bonding and that each bird of a pair have about the same position in the heirical system. He reported that a low ranked female jackdaw rocketed up the jackdaw social ladder when she became the mate of a high ranking male. He also described some jackdaw calls.Range
A very large area stretching from North West Africa through virtually all of Europe, Iran, North West India and Siberia. Inhabits wooded steppes, woodland, cultivated land, pasture, coastal cliffs and villages and towns.Food
Food mostly taken from the ground but does take some food in trees. Eats insects and other invertebrates, weed seeds and grain, scraps of human food in towns, stranded fish on the shore, and will more readily take food from bird tables than other corvus species.Nest
Usually nests in colonies in cavities of trees, cliffs or ruined buildings and sometimes even in dense conifers. Eggs, normally 4-5, incubated over 17-18 days and fledged after 30-35 days.Voice
A "tchak-tchak" or "kak-kak" call.Other jackdaws
Another species closely related to European Jackdaw is Daurian Jackdaw (Corvus dauricus). European and Daurian Jackdaw together form the subgenus Coloeus.Trivia
"Kavka," the origin of Franz Kafka's surname, is Czech for Jackdaw.In some cultures, a jackdaw on the roof - a new arrival, A jackdaw settling on the house is an omen of death and seeing one is a bad omen (http://www.oldsuperstitions.com/animal.html)
A popular pangram (and one used by the Windows XP operating system when previewing some fonts) is "Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz."
Gallery
Image links
Video links
- [Jackdaw videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
References
- BirdLife International (2004). [Corvus monedula]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
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