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Western Jackdaw

Western Jackdaw

Coloeus monedula

Identify the Western Jackdaw by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Western Jackdaw is a small, sociable crow with black plumage, a silvery-grey nape and striking pale eyes. It ranges across Europe, western Asia and North Africa and thrives in farmland, open woods, coastal cliffs and towns. Highly social and vocal, it lives in groups with a complex pecking order and is notably clever. Most birds are resident, but northern and eastern birds migrate south-west in winter.

Did you know?

  • Its scientific name, monedula, is linked to an old belief that jackdaws liked to pick up coins.
  • An old collective noun for jackdaws is a “clattering”.

Voice

Call
Flight call

About the species

Identification

A smallish, dark crow with dark grey plumage, paler grey sides of the neck and nape and conspicuous pale eyes. The bill is short and the neck thick, giving a compact head. Told from Hooded Crow by its smaller size, pale eye and pale nape; much smaller and slimmer than Raven.

Family

Corvidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

black, grey, white

About the habitat

Open countryside with scattered trees, farmland, parks, towns, farmyards and coastal cliffs, with cavities for nesting.

Diet

Omnivorous and opportunistic: insects, earthworms and other invertebrates, seeds, grain, fruit and carrion, as well as human food scraps; it sometimes caches food.

Behaviour

Gregarious and chatty, foraging in groups on the ground with a brisk walk and forming large communal roosts, often with Rooks. Pairs are monogamous and often stay together for years, nesting close to other pairs in cavities in trees, cliffs, chimneys and buildings. The female incubates, and the young fledge after about four to five weeks. The call is a sharp “chack”.

Sources

Photo: Darkone, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dohle (Corvus monedula) d1.jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC1136248, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1136248

Sound: Carlo Fracasso, XC789705, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/789705

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_jackdaw

See also