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The jackdaws, slightly smaller than crows, are clever birds as all corvids; they are never inept on landing on the fat ball – they operate in a quite considered manner, knowing the neighbourhood and the threats there too.

 

Jackdaw flocks sound loudly in the urban landscape, and for winter more of them have migrated here from countries further northwards. The winter number is up to a hundred to two hundred thousand individuals.

 

Jackdaws seem to have a silver grey headscarf that even in the poor winter light is a good identification characteristic. A white band on the neck finishes the scarf but it differs individually, more visible on some, or even lacking on some. The back plumage is black and dully gleaming, merging with the dark grey plumage of the chest. From the black forehead of the jackdaw eyes with a whitish iris alertly observe us; the colour is actually steely grey, in young birds it may have a slightly blue tinge (see Arne’s lower photo). A black beak, small for a corvid, legs likewise black. In size jackdaws are  comparable to domestic pigeons, length a little more than 30 centimetres and weight over 200 grams.

 

In jackdaw colonies a ”pecking order” exists in the internal relations of the birds even in winter when a great number of winter visitors have arrived here. Jackdaw pairs that already have nested keep close to each other  utside the nesting period too.

 

Jackdaw observations: LINK

 

Jackdaw

 

Overnight spot for jackdaws and crows