In our villages and towns in the Glamorgan Heritage Coast parish we live in the company of jackdaws. They are much associated with church towers and after all we have twelve towers to choose from.
The 18th-century poet William Cowper wrote,
'A great frequenter of the church, Where bishop-like, he finds a perch And dormitory too. '
For this habit, the bird was apparently deemed sacred in parts of Wales.
Jackdaws are entertaining to watch. Solemnly and methodically, they parade across the lawn, unhurried in their search patterns, neat and tidy and dignified in their bearing. Unlike the larger and clamorous cousins with which they often flock, their calls are clipped, their conversations brief. They pair for life, share food and, when the male barks his arrival at the nest, the female responds with a softer, longer reply.
They like manmade structures. Formerly a nuisance as they favoured chimneys for their twiggy bundles, they’re less troublesome in the era of central heating and chimneys with cowls on them. Their liking for church steeples has long been indulged.
Jackdaws love people, and probably because they love eye contact
People and jackdaws get on – there’s a certain empathy between them. Many are the stories told by individuals who scooped up stranded fledglings in need and were rewarded with a bemusing trust and friendship.
Jackdaws recognise human faces and studies by Cambridge zoologist Auguste von Bayern concluded that they respond to human expressions.
These corvids communicate via their eyes, just as human eye contact plays a major role, and a bird confident with its mentor can ‘read’ that person’s eye motions and will follow them to find hidden food. This interplay has encouraged and enabled research.
A jackdaw even became a saint – at least in a story. The best-known literary jackdaw is found in the Ingoldsby Legends of R H Barham, the Jackdaw of Rheims which stole the cardinal ’s ring, but returned it and became a local saint.
‘He long liv’d the pride
Of that country side,
And at last in the odour of sanctity died;
When, as words were too faint
His merits to paint,
The Conclave determin’d to make him a Saint;
And on newly-made Saints and Popes, as you know,
It ’s the custom, at Rome, new names to bestow,
So they canonised him by the name of Jem Crow
Thank you Penny. I can echo this, we once had 17 Jackdaws living in our chimney and when the chimney was swept they were removed. The next day the chimney was fitted with a working cowl and the same man had to again remove 17 very angry and vocal Jackdaws from the chimney. They didn't shut up for many days! Here at the Rectory we too had a Jackdaw issue and they too were fuming when their little slits for posting twigs through was again further sealed. They came to tell us of their anger and displeasure, in the garden and around the front door! They certainly are not afraid of humans and are quite prepared to have a relationship with them.
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