Jackdaw - a small bird with black plumage, having a metallic tint. Only her head and chest are ash gray. In its appearance, it is very similar to a crow, but its size is noticeably smaller: its body is about 30 centimeters long, and its weight is rarely more than 250 grams. In adult birds, the eyes are bright, sometimes blue, young individuals are dark-eyed. Beak and legs are black.
In the autumn, after the rooks leave, they join the gray crows, spend the night together in the trees in the yards and in city parks. In the morning they fly out of town to landfills or fields, where they feed. In winter, waste from garbage can play an important role in their nutrition, and sometimes help to survive.
How to distinguish by track
The jackdaw leaves a trace similar to a raven, but noticeably smaller. In size
their paw prints are more likely to be confused with magpies. But the magpie mainly jumps, and the jackdaw springy steps, while focusing on the fingers. Therefore, the average plantar callus is not always well printed on the tracks.
The fingers on her paws are somewhat thick, with shorter claws. This affects the length of the print, which is shorter than that of the magpie. The step length is about 15 centimeters, and the width of the track is almost 5 centimeters.
Behavior features
Jackdaw - a bird that does not ruin other people's nests, in contrast to its girlfriends a raven. Destroying a large number of insect pests, these representatives of the bird world bring significant benefits to people. In some cases, in search of food, they can cause significant damage to gardens and melons. But this is not out of harm, just want to eat.
The main places of distribution are cities and large towns. Less commonly found on rocky coastal areas, they are also rare in forests. Jackdaw - a bird nesting near the human home: under the eaves of houses, in attics, in chimneys, in the voids of buildings. Sometimes she makes a nest in the hollow of an old tree.
Nesting
They live in separate pairs or small flocks. Often create joint colonies with rooks. They begin to build nests later than their neighbors in the first ten days of April. They build a dwelling in a pair, dragging dry twigs first, and then rags and paper to line the tray with them.
Jackdaw - a bird laying eggs in the first half of May. In the nest there can be from 3 to 7 pieces. Eggs can have a bluish-green or light blue color, with greenish-brown spots. Incubation lasts 18 days. Emerging chicks are in the nest for another month.
Jackdaw - a migratory bird?
They live in Europe, Asia, in the north of Africa. Birds nesting in the northern regions of Eurasia are migratory, in October they fly south, winter in China, and return in February. In Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the jackdaw lives settled. But in winter, sometimes in these places, birds move within the nesting area.
