crow city | crow family | carrion & hooded crow | rook | jackdaw | magpie | jay | chough | raven
Jackdaws are recognised by being slightly smaller than the crow, and by the grey plumage of the back of the head, nape and sides of the neck; the rest of the bird is black, mostly with a bluish tinge. It is found right across the British Isles. There is some little migration, and also evidence of movement from Britain to both the Netherlands and to Ireland. The jackdaw is probably the most active crow traveller.
Jackdaws are always beaten in fights with crows and rooks, and so their arguments tend to be amongst themselves. If the jackdaw wishes to make a friend it will swoop over them, wagging its tail as it does so.
The jackdaw is markedly colonial, often nesting very close together. The male builds the stick structure to the nest and the female is responsible for the lining, which tends to consist of fibres, bark strips, dead leaves, moss, paper, sometimes with a base of clods of earth, and with a final cup of fur, hair and feathers. The nests can be built in dense foliage branches of trees, but jackdaws do prefer to build them in holes, whether in trees, cliffs, chimneys or ruined buildings. When not raising young, the jackdaw roosts will contain both resident and migrant birds and also carrion crows, ravens and, especially, rooks, although the different crow species will generally inhabit different parts of the tree or building.
Jackdaws are surface feeders and do not dig for worms in the way that rooks do. They like grassland insects, grain and wild plant seeds and larvae, although their eating habits are very adaptable to what is available, taking animal feed stuffs, carrion and other birds’ eggs also, and will also take ticks from sheep and cattle. They are happy scavengers, and enjoy hawking for flying ants. They are less inclined to store food than are other crows.