The Jackdaw

Today I spotted what I thought was merely a crow flying above the garden. Little did I recall that normal crows, i.e. carrion crows, do not exist in Ireland at all! On closer inspection the bird had a pale green or blue eye and a shorter, stubbier beak than a carrion crow, so I was able to confirm it was a Jackdaw, which is a member of the crow family.

Jackdaws are typically spotted by their grey necks, but this bird appears to have had a very mild greying in the neck area as from a distance it it barely discernible. Jackdaws are omnipresent in the UK, save for the parts of the Scottish Highlands which experience the worst of the weather.

(RSPB Illustration)