A to Z challenge 2023 – J is for . . .

 

A to Z challenge 2023 – J is for . . .

My theme for this challenge is Nature in all much of her wonderful diversity. My posts will reflect the fact that I am resident in the south of England.

All photographs in this post are the property of the writer.

J is for Jackdaw (Corvus Monedula)

The jackdaw is the smallest member of the corvid family, widespread across the British Isles, apart from the far north-west of Scotland. It is an adaptable bird, living in habitats as diverse as coastal reaches, woodland and towns and gardens, and nesting on cliffs or in holes in trees or chimneys.

                                               Best foot forward . . . 

The jackdaw’s diet consists of seeds, fruit, insects and carrion and occasionally eggs, hatchlings or nestlings.

                   Jackdaws will also inhabit church steeples, which habit was remarked by the 18^th century poet, William Cowper:-

‘A great frequenter of the church,

Where bishop-like he finds a perch

And dormitory too.’

In parts of Wales the jackdaw was considered sacred because of this practice.

A legend among early Christians was that all corvids were originally white and took on black plumage after the crucifixion of Christ, with the exception of magpies, which were too busy stealing to mourn properly and only turned black in parts. I don’t know where jays came in the equation, though!

 A jackdaw on the roof may announce a birth or might equally be a portent of death (or possibly, macabrely, both) If a jackdaw stands on a cathedral weather vane it is foretelling rain, and if one is encountered on the way to a wedding it is considered good luck.

Jackdaw high in an oak tree

The common name jackdaw first came into use in the 16^th century and probably derives from ‘Jack’ meaning rogue, or small (as in jack snipe and jack knife) or from the sound it makes (tchack), and daw, once used to describe a simpleton.

Jackdaws have an affinity with humans and can recognise individuals, a skill they share with other corvids.

 This smallest of the crows is credited with intelligence, mischievousness, shrewdness and thievery – all other attributes it has in common with (some) humans!

 

Jay (Garrulus glandarius)

                                      This Jay's crop is quite full!

The jay is the most colourful of the corvids but is shy and therefore not often seen in gardens. In autumn jays forage for acorns and bury them in caches to provide food in leaner periods. Those that are not found are left to grow into oak trees. The rapid spread of oak trees after the last Ice Age is thought to be a consequence of the jay’s habit of caching and leaving.

Listening . . . 

Before oak trees were planted commercially, jays were the main source of distribution and propagation, a single bird having the ability to spread more than a thousand acorns annually. They have been recorded carrying single acorns a distance of 20 km (almost 12½ miles)

In addition to acorns, jays eat other nuts, seeds and insects, and like their fellow corvids, they will sometimes take eggs and nestlings from nests.

Though their natural call is unmusical, a screech rather than a tune, jays are gifted mimics, reproducing the songs of small birds, and the alarm calls of blackbirds. They can also imitate everyday domestic sounds, like dripping taps, humming machines and humans whistling.

An interesting habit that jays share with more than 200 species of birds is that of ‘anting’. Birds may practice ‘active anting’ in which they pick up ants in their beaks and rub them on their bodies, or they may use ‘passive anting’, when they lie with wings outspread in an area rich in ants. In both cases, the ants react defensively, secreting formic acid, which acts as an insecticide to kill off parasitic mites in the feathers.