Notes before, during and after my 2011 visit to Scotland, England, Brittany and Northern Ireland.
It's a Jackdaw; highly intelligent, a good mimic and sociable. I don't know if the sound it's making is its normal sound or copied from some other bird.
Thanks for that. I was thinking what we saw in Derbyshire were hooded crows, but they were jackdaws it seems. It's been about 27 years since I saw a hooded crow and my memory got it all wrong! Jackdaws seem to have hooded crow plummage in reverse almost. Cute!
James Daniel had mentioned hooded crows as a possibility the day I took those pictures, but we weren't attached to the idea at all. :-)
Here's more info on the jackdaw. http://www.rte.ie/radio/mooneygoeswild/factsheets/jackdaw/index.htmlI love birds!
To my recollections jackdaws are mentioned in Enid Blyton quite a lot, especially in the Famous Five books.I looked up hooded crows, and they apparently have grey feathers in a pattern that looks like they are wearing a cloak with a high collar.http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/h/hoodedcrow/index.aspx
Here are enlivened links from comments above, and another comment received by e-mail:http://www.rte.ie/radio/mooneygoeswild/factsheets/jackdaw/index.htmlhttp://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/h/hoodedcrow/index.aspx-----------------------You posted about a mystery bird the other day and I (foolishly) hit the reply button without noticing that it was a do not reply address. This is what I sent; Hi Sandra, The bird in the picture is a jackdaw. They are lovely, intelligent birds (we have a pair that live in our garden) and are part of the crow family along with magpies, jays, rooks and ravens. Hope this helps Morag
Comments are joyously welcome!
It's a Jackdaw; highly intelligent, a good mimic and sociable. I don't know if the sound it's making is its normal sound or copied from some other bird.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that. I was thinking what we saw in Derbyshire were hooded crows, but they were jackdaws it seems. It's been about 27 years since I saw a hooded crow and my memory got it all wrong! Jackdaws seem to have hooded crow plummage in reverse almost. Cute!
ReplyDeleteJames Daniel had mentioned hooded crows as a possibility the day I took those pictures, but we weren't attached to the idea at all. :-)
ReplyDeleteHere's more info on the jackdaw.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rte.ie/radio/mooneygoeswild/factsheets/jackdaw/index.html
I love birds!
To my recollections jackdaws are mentioned in Enid Blyton quite a lot, especially in the Famous Five books.
ReplyDeleteI looked up hooded crows, and they apparently have grey feathers in a pattern that looks like they are wearing a cloak with a high collar.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/h/hoodedcrow/index.aspx
Here are enlivened links from comments above, and another comment received by e-mail:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rte.ie/radio/mooneygoeswild/factsheets/jackdaw/index.html
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/h/hoodedcrow/index.aspx
-----------------------
You posted about a mystery bird the other day and I (foolishly) hit the reply button without noticing that it was a do not reply address.
This is what I sent;
Hi Sandra,
The bird in the picture is a jackdaw. They are lovely, intelligent birds (we have a pair that live in our garden) and are part of the crow family along with magpies, jays, rooks and ravens.
Hope this helps
Morag