Jackdaw boom

[Astro Pen]

Some of you may have noticed, as I have, that everywhere UK that there used to be starlings, blackbirds, crows and even pigeons, there now seem to be Jackdaws.
It is as if there has been an avian coup and the Jackdaws have become an occupying force over the last couple of years.
Anyone know what is going on in the bird department?

 

[HareBrain]

I haven't noticed much increase in jackdaw numbers round here. There might be local conditions that particularly favour them where you are. (Woodpigeon numbers round here, though, have gone through the roof since I was a kid.)

 

[Mouse]

Loads of jackdaws here and they all roost in the tree behind our garden. And they are noisy.

 

[Dave]

No increase in Jackdaws around here either, but that's possibly because the hundreds of Ring Necked Parakeets would see them off.

 

[HareBrain]

I sometimes see a pair of them buzzing a crow that's perching too close to their nest site. It's impressive to watch: the pair will take it in turns to do U-shaped swoops of the crow's head, so it's getting buzzed every second or so. I was once watching through binoculars and saw one of the jackdaws' beaks actually move the crow's crown feathers. Fair play to the crow, it didn't seem much bothered.

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

Here: a truly humongous woodpigeon population explosion. Seriously, walk down the street: see 200 woodpigeons. A fair number of jackdaws- not sure if that's an increase as I only learned to tell them from crows a few years ago. Carrion crows, rooks and jackdaws seem to have divvied up the town into seperate "manors". Blackbirds are doing OK, but songthrushes are practically gone. Starlings have become very localised, as have sparrows- there are a handful of specific spots where I see them, when they used to be ubiquitous. Bluetits are thriving. We do have a surprising variety of the less common songbird species. Plenty of old trees and disheveled green spaces for them to hang on in.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Long narrow streets of tall Victorian terrace houses with chimneys chocker with jackdaws here.

Back in the other ‘shire, however, where one can see more of the sky, there’s a motley rabble of squabbling starlings, neighbourly blackbirds and humongous pigeons, but jack’-a-nary.

 

[Danny McG]

I've vaguely noticed there seemed to be a lot more Jackdaws around my vicinity, but until I saw this thread I'd never given it much thought.

It looks like they're popping up all over the place! Is it an invasion?

 

[Dave]

No increase in Jackdaws around here either, but that's possibly because the hundreds of Ring Necked Parakeets would see them off.

In case you thought this was a joke, I'm not joking. We don't see Jackdaws in suburban London, but we do get Parakeets and Magpies that are very aggressive, to other birds, and the Parakeets squawk like no other birds do! They come from pets released in the 1970's when people were afraid of 'Parrot Flu', but now have large colonies all around the M25 area, and out to the Surrey Hills and into West Kent. They come from the Himalayan foothills, so our cold Winters are no problem. Very pretty things compared to our native birds (beautiful plumage) but greedy bullies and very noisy.

I've also seen a Sparrowhawk come down and take away a Blue Tit from my bird table before. We get Spotted Woodpeckers in the garden too. Quite a variety of different kinds of Tits come, and four Goldfinches come for the free food (Nyjer Seeds). We have a Hawthorn/Holly hedge which is home to over 21+ Sparrows (don't know exactly anymore as they all had young this year). We also get a lot of Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves, but they are also too greedy with the food. Dunnocks, Starlings, Jays on occasions.

If you want birds in your garden but don't want to spend money on bird food then I would suggest planting a native hedge and building a pond. We got loads of birds just because of those, and this time of year they don't need additional feeding anyway.

I wonder why you are seeing so many Jackdaws elsewhere?

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

In case you thought this was a joke, I'm not joking. We don't see Jackdaws in suburban London, but we do get Parakeets and Magpies that are very aggressive, to other birds, and the Parakeets squawk like no other birds do! They come from pets released in the 1970's when people were afraid of 'Parrot Flu', but now have large colonies all around the M25 area, and out to the Surrey Hills and into West Kent. They come from the Himalayan foothills, so our cold Winters are no problem. Very pretty things compared to our native birds (beautiful plumage) but greedy bullies and very noisy.

I've also seen a Sparrowhawk come down and take away a Blue Tit from my bird table before. We get Spotted Woodpeckers in the garden too. Quite a variety of different kinds of Tits come, and four Goldfinches come for the free food (Nyjer Seeds). We have a Hawthorn/Holly hedge which is home to over 21+ Sparrows (don't know exactly anymore as they all had young this year). We also get a lot of Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves, but they are also too greedy with the food. Dunnocks, Starlings, Jays on occasions.

If you want birds in your garden but don't want to spend money on bird food then I would suggest planting a native hedge and building a pond. We got loads of birds just because of those, and this time of year they don't need additional feeding anyway.

I wonder why you are seeing so many Jackdaws elsewhere?

Laughing because I have indeed witnessed the splendour of a flock of parakeets in the bare treetops of a South London winter. It makes sense that they would end up competing with jackdaws. Oddly enough, that same area is the only place I've had a clear sighting of a jay- I wonder if the removal of the jackdaws takes pressure off them? Elsewhere, jays seem to be pathologically wary birds- at most I catch a blur of peach and some angry chattering.

 

[AE35Unit]

I've always seen a lot of Jackdaws, even when I lived in the midlands.

 

[hitmouse]

Here in rural Monouthsire we have loads of Red Kites and Buzzards. The only other largeish/medium birds of note are some woodpeckers, and various owls. Apart from jays, corvids are uncommon.

 

[HareBrain]

I haven't noticed much increase in jackdaw numbers round here.

Until the other morning, when I saw more than a hundred flying overhead in small groups. I guess they'd all roosted together and were heading for their feeding grounds.