Tuesday 24 June 2014

Jackdaw.



For this weeks edition of Wild Bird Wednesday I am featuring the [Western] Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) the smallest of the UK's corvids. Often very vocal but definitely a very sociable species.

Within a flock or "clattering" there is a distinct social hierarchy and it is often very noticeable that these birds fly around in pairs. These small crows are extremely faithful and once a pair have been together for over six months they almost rarely divorce even when breeding is unsuccessful otherwise they would forfeit their nest site and slip down the social scale.

Very occasionally amongst a flock you might find one leucistic bird. Leucism is a fairly unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in a bird fail to develop properly and this can result in unusual white patches appearing in varying degrees of density or, more rarely, completely white (albino) birds. I saw this individual happily feeding with lots of his colleagues three years ago.   FAB.


22 comments:

  1. What an unusual and handsome bird! Great shots.

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  2. Handsome birds! We couldn't sleep with the window open where we lived before because the jackdaws would wake us up with their noise.

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  3. i just find these birds so beautiful and fascinating!

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  4. What a beautiful bird ! And these poses are wonderful !
    Greetings

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  5. Lovely, lovely, lovely birds. Wonderful photography to capture the fine texture around the heads and neckt.

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  6. Hi Frank Yes I love watching the antics of Jackdaws and your information and shots are all great.

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  7. Beautiful birds... superb images Frank..

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  8. They are indeed very handsome birds, and beautifully photographed. I particularly like the penultimate picture, as the unusual pose kind of illustrates their loyalty for each other. We have a blackbird in our garden with white patches!

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  9. Gorgeous imagines of these interesting crows, Frank, you photographed the couple wonderfully; it looks almost they "posed" for you; magnificient :)
    Thank you so very much for your kind" welcomeback" words, Frank, I truly appreciated it :)

    ciaociao Frank
    elvira

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  10. Your Jackdaw is an attractive blackbird.. Great shots!

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  11. I'd love to see a jackdaw. Your photos are superb. A great leucistic sighting Frank. I have seen one such bird in my life, but it was a robin.

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  12. very good to see these Jackdaws; quite impressive too Frank; tfs

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  13. Such beautiful birds, really lovely and I imagine them to be somewhere in between the size of our Crows and Ravens~

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  14. These birds command some attention with their beautiful coloring. Haven't seen anything like this stateside.

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  15. Just came back to thank you for your kind comment about my husband, which I forgot to mention earlier.:)

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  16. Jackdaws are my favourite corvid. Such clever birds. Love the one where they are look in opposite directions.

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  17. Although had never heard of them, they are quite handsome!!! And, hey, devotion is right up there on my list, so that makes me smile a little more!!!!...:)JP

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  18. Hi Everyone. Thanks for all your visits and lovely words.
    For once this species was very co-operative .. if only it was the case with many others!

    Cheers ... FAB.

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  19. This is a fun post for my because I have a set of six antique lithos by P.J. Selby. One is of a Jackdaw and Magpie. It's great to see what they look like a photographs.

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  20. Very nice series on the Jackdaw! I love watching our local Corvids (American and Fish Crows) because they always seem to be "planning" something. The ferocity of their attacks on owls and hawks is a sight to behold.

    Great post!

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I hope you enjoyed your visit and I always appreciate your comments and feedback.

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