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Jackdaw

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                     iJackdaw

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Passeriformes
   Family:  Corvidae
   Genus:   Corvus
   Species: C. monedula

                                Binomial name

   Corvus monedula
   (Linnaeus, 1758)
   Jackdaw range
   Jackdaw range

   The Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) is one of the smallest species (34–39  cm
   in length) in the genus of crows and ravens.

Description

   Most of the plumage is black or greyish black except for the cheeks,
   nape and neck, which are light grey to greyish silver. The iris of
   adults is greyish white or silvery white, the only member of the genus
   outside of the Australasian region to have this feature. The iris of
   juvenile jackdaws is light blue. The bird is sociable, moving around in
   pairs (male and female) or in larger groups, though the pairs of birds
   stay together within the flocks.

Distribution and habitat

   Jackdaws are found over a large area stretching from North West Africa
   through virtually all of Europe, Iran, north-west India and Siberia,
   where they inhabit wooded steppes, woodland, cultivated land, pasture,
   coastal cliffs and villages and towns.

Behaviour

Diet

   The Jackdaw mostly takes food from the ground but does take some food
   in trees. It eats insects and other invertebrates, weed seeds and
   grain, scraps of human food in towns, stranded fish on the shore, and
   will more readily take food from bird tables than other Corvus species.
   Jackdaw snacking in Polish Winter
   Enlarge
   Jackdaw snacking in Polish Winter

Nesting

   Jackdaws usually nest in colonies in cavities of trees, cliffs or
   ruined buildings and sometimes even in dense conifers. Eggs, normally
   4-5, are incubated for 17-18 days and fledge after 30-35 days.

Voice

   The voice is a "tchak-tchak" or "kak-kak" call.

Social behaviour

   The complex social interactions that occur in groups of Jackdaws was
   studied by Konrad Lorenz and he published detailed descriptions of the
   Jackdaw's social behaviours in his book " King Solomon's Ring". Lorenz
   put coloured rings on Jackdaws' legs so that individual birds could be
   easily identified and he caged them in the winter because of their
   annual migration from Austria. Lorenz observed Jackdaws' hierarchical
   group structure with dominance of the higher-ranking birds over others.
   He noticed Jackdaws' strong male–female bonding and that each bird of a
   pair occupy about the same position in the hierarchy. He reported that
   a low-ranked female Jackdaw rocketed up the Jackdaw social ladder when
   she became the mate of a high-ranking male. He also described some
   Jackdaw calls.

   Jackdaws have been observed sharing food and objects. The active giving
   of food is rare in primates, and in birds is found mainly in the
   context of parental care and courtship. Jackdaws show much higher
   levels of active giving than documented for chimpanzees. The function
   of this behaviour is not fully understood, although it has been found
   to be compatible with hypotheses of mutualism, reciprocity and
   harassment avoidance.

Other jackdaws

   Another species closely related to European Jackdaw is the Daurian
   Jackdaw (Corvus dauricus) of eastern Asia. The European and Daurian
   Jackdaw together form the subgenus Coloeus.

Trivia

     * "Kavka", the Czech word for jackdaw, is the origin of Franz Kafka's
       surname
     * In some cultures, a Jackdaw on the roof is said to predict a new
       arrival; Alternatly, Jackdaw settling on the house is an omen of
       death and coming across one is considered a bad omen

   ( http://www.oldsuperstitions.com/animal.html)
     * A popular pangram (and one used by the Windows XP operating system
       when previewing some fonts) is "Jackdaws love my big sphinx of
       quartz."

Image links

     * Urban bird
     * Jackdaw on coastal cliffside
     * Skull of Jackdaw

Video links

     * Jackdaw videos on the Internet Bird Collection

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackdaw"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
