Jackdaw

Jackdaws are foragers that both walk and hop.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Coloeus monedula
Family: 
Crows
Family Latin name: 
CORVIDAE
Category: 
Birds

Species description

Species description

Jackdaws are foragers that both walk and hop. They feed on insects, fruit, seeds and carrion. The second word in their Latin name, monedula, refers to money, and the bird's supposed fascination with shiny coins. Think of Jackdaws as being small Carrion Crows. They are the smallest member of the corvid family. That's the most obvious difference between the two birds. Another obvious difference is that whereas carrion crows are entirely black, jackdaws are grey round their necks and on the back of the head. (If the grey is a light grey, rather than a dark grey, then you are perhaps looking at a Hooded Crow.) Jackdaws also have pale-coloured eyes. Crows are often found alone or in pairs, but jackdaws are gregarious and live in groups. Score points in this by knowing that the collective noun for the Jackdaw is a clattering of jackdaws, or a train of jackdaws!

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)
Stock species image
Jackdaw - awaiting image

No royalty-free image is available.

Details

Species family information

Who could not admire the crows? They are intelligent and adaptable, some being users of tools, and they will exploit any food source, plant or animal, living or dead. They have stout beaks, are long-lived, and are generally monogamous. They may not be the world's most tuneful songsters, but their scavenging activities make them most useful in both urban and rural areas. The number of crows seen together has various connotations in folklore depending on which part of the country the superstitions come from. Crows have long been scavengers on battlefields, and this may be the reason why their appearance elsewhere was regarded as ominous, usually portentous of death or ill luck.

Category information

The earliest feathered dinosaur fossils date from the early Cretaceous, but the ancestry of birds goes further back to Jurassic theropod dinosaurs, which shared a common ancestor with the crocodilians. Well known theropod groups include the tyrannosaurs, allosaurs, and other carnivores. Of surviving bird groups, the most ancient are the ratites (ostriches, rheas, tinamous, moas, kiwis, cassowaries, and emus), followed in evolutionary order by the waterfowl (ducks, geese and swans) and then the land fowl (chickens, turkeys, pheasants and their kin). Heene cemetery’s most ancient bird visitors are the woodpigeons. Strictly, therefore, we ought to refer to birds as dinosaurs, for they are direct descendants. The RSPB would be more accurately restyled as the RSPD. Where known, the conservation status of each bird is given as red, amber, or green, according to its survival potential based on 2016 populations and recent population trends.

Birds are warm-blooded, and have feathers, toothless, beaked jaws, and a strong, lightweight skeleton. They lay hard-shelled eggs. Their hearts have four chambers, and their metabolic rate is high. Although most are adapted for flight, many can also run, jump, swim and dive. Flightless birds retain vestigial wings. Brown, green, and grey are the commonest bird colours, for camouflage.