On my walk ... the jackdaw

 

The jackdaw is a familiar sight about the cliffs, and also the various green spaces, around Sidmouth. A party of six are regular visitors to the grounds here where I live to feed on grubs they find in the lawns.

This is a sociable little crow, not only enjoying the company of its own kind but are often found with flocks of rooks on farmland and less frequently with carrion crows. Despite their gregarious nature they can also be encountered in pairs, especially during the breeding season of course.

They have lovely blue eyes and are quite endearing. They seem to be quite pompous as they strut around as if they own everything that they can see. They are also very intelligent and are known to be 'thieves' in a similar way to magpies. 

The origin of their name is a little obscure and may have come about from a couple of sources. Daw is a country name for a crow so that part is obvious but Jack may come from the distinctive harsh 'jack' call they make. On the other hand jack means 'common' and is also used for 'small' in some parts of the country. So this could represent the common crow or, more likely, the small crow as it is smaller than both the rook and the carrion crow.

Apart from their characteristic call and being smaller than its cousins the other distinctive feature is the grey on the back of their neck (this is not a sign of advancing years!).

They are accomplished aviators and can perform quite acrobatic manoeuvres around the cliffs.