Jackdaw - description, habitat, interesting facts

Jackdaw lives in the western part of Eurasia, as well as in the northern regions of the African continent. Usually they live in cities and towns where there is an open area nearby, such as a meadow or field. People have long been interested in this interesting bird. Man is attracted by the tendency of these birds to settle close to people. A special love for everything brilliant is inherent in these individuals. In addition, these birds are sociable and quite tame.

Description

This bird is smaller than a crow. Her composition is pretty tight. In length it reaches 33-38 cm, the bird weighs only 140-270 g, its wingspan is 66-73 cm. If you look at these birds from afar, it seems that they are completely black. For this reason, they are often mistaken for a raven. Their beak is quite short, black. The tail is round, has an average length. When the bird is excited, a small crest rises at the back of its head.

On the head, back, and also on their chest, the plumage has a gray color. On the cheeks and back of the head, light spots of a silver hue are visible. Their tail and wings are black. Plumage casts in purple or blue.

The older males become, the less plumage they have on their heads. Basically, jackdaws of both sexes look the same. Young individuals are more dull in color.

Nutrition

In the summer, they hunt invertebrates. They like to eat various bugs, as well as grasshoppers, mollusks, spiders, and worms. Sometimes their victims can be rodents, and even bats. Jackdaws can hunt live animals or pick up the dead. But carrion is extremely rare. Sometimes it eats chicks or eggs of other birds.

From plant foods eats berries, peas or wheat seeds. Often they eat food waste thrown away by humans. Hunt or search for seeds in open areas, sometimes on a tree. She can dig a beak in the ground or manure. Sometimes it searches for insects in the wool of livestock that grazes in meadows. In cities and villages, these birds feed in squares and gardens, near garbage containers and in vegetable gardens.

Habitat

This bird lives throughout Europe, ranging from the Atlantic Ocean and mountains located in the northwestern part of the African continent. Further, the area extends to the Yenisei and Altai. In Europe, they live everywhere. You can not meet them only in Finland and on the territory of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Favorite habitats in nature are the rocky coasts of the seas and the high banks of rivers, mountains. They do not settle only in swampy areas or too open territories. Other types of landscape are quite suitable for this bird.

Most of all representatives of this species can be found in small cities and towns, near which there is an open area.

It is known that already in the 12th century, these birds settled in cities. Today there are more of these birds in settlements than in the wild. They choose old buildings, towers and other structures to settle in them. In order for the jackdaw to build a nest, any open space is suitable. In the city they easily find food.

The populations living in the north and east of the range are migratory. The rest can roam in search of food.

Kinds

1. Alpine. Body length is 36-38 cm, wingspan - 74-84 cm, they weigh 190-250 g. Their plumage is black, shiny, and their legs are painted red. Bill is yellow, shortish. The wings of the alpine jackdaw are narrow.Males of this species are somewhat larger in comparison with females. Young individuals are also black, but their plumage does not shine. Their beak is yellowish and their legs are brown. Alpine jackdaws live in Morocco, as well as from the Iberian Peninsula to China itself. They prefer to settle in the mountains.
2. Daurian. The body length of these birds is 31-33 cm. In terms of external characteristics, it is very similar to European, but these two species differ in coloring characteristics. Those parts that are painted gray in European representatives are white in Daurian. They live in the eastern part of Asia (this is the east of Russia, as well as Korea and China). Lives in the hills, in the mountains. As well as river valleys. You can also meet the Daurian daw in the open forest.

Breeding

Jackdaws become sexually mature at 2 years. They belong to monogamous birds and can find a partner for themselves even before puberty. Often a pair is formed when the birds are not yet a year old. Sometimes couples break up at first, and then the birds stay together for life.

A pair of these birds can nest separately from other individuals, or 20-30 pairs each. They can equip a nest near other representatives of birds, for example, rooks or pigeons. The beginning of the nesting period depends on the weather. If spring comes earlier, then these birds can start laying in early April. If the spring is cold, they put off until May.

A jack for a jackdaw is often a natural or artificially created niche. This can be, for example, a crack in the rock, a hollow or the attic of an abandoned house. Sometimes jackdaws simply occupy the nest of another bird left from last year, which was abandoned. Both a female and a male build a nest. It consists of twigs, grass and horse manure. They make a laying out of wool or feathers, sometimes they line the nest with rags found in landfills or paper.

Lay 3-8 eggs at a time. Most often there are 4.5 or 6. If for any reason the clutch dies, the female will lay eggs again. The eggs have a light turquoise hue in a small speck. Incubation lasts about 20 days. The female sits on the eggs, and the partner at this time provides her food. Chicks hatch blind. They have gray fluff on their bodies. Each parent brings them food. When they reach a month of age, they leave the nest. 7 days after that they fly independently. Parents bring them food for another month.

These birds live for about 14 years.

Vote

They are very noisy. They make sharp, strong sounds that can be described as kai. They repeat this sound up to 8 times.

Interesting Facts

1. The Russian name of this bird comes from the Old Slavonic word, which can be translated into modern language as “black”. This word is sometimes called not only representatives of the species, but also birds that look like them. These are crows or black hens. This word used to be called people with black hair. It is believed that the name is an imitation of the voice of a bird.
2. The Latin name for the species “monedula” most likely comes from two words: “monedula”, which means coin or money, and also “edo”, which can be translated as “eat”. Ovid mentions the bird in his Metamorphoses. It tells of a Greek princess who betrayed her country for money. Because of this, the princess was turned into a bird who loves shiny things very much.
3. In nature, there are a lot of birds of this species. The number cannot be precisely named, but it is believed that there are from 20 to 90 million. Most of the population lives in Eurasia.

Video: Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)