Jackdaw Antics

The 'hide' set up in my spare room (described on Friday) paid off today when a jackdaw attempted to raid the fat ball feeder. It had great difficulty hanging on and there was much flapping of wings, as you can see. It has a startlingly pale eye, so it must be an adult bird.

These are the smallest members of the crow family in the UK and are renowned for their love of bright, shiny objects. Perhaps this is where their name comes from, as 'jack' is used traditionally to denote something smaller than normal, and also refers to a rogue. The 'daw' is probably an imitation from its cawing call. Their messy nests are known to block chimneys although that must be less of a problem these days with few people having real fires. Interestingly, jackdaws usually pair up for life. So they are not so roguish on that front! They are also clever birds, as birds go!