What wakes up a Jackdaw?
One late, late night in my office at the bottom of my garden, I was relaxing with a magazine when I heard the muffled ‘chack’ of a jackdaw; it took a while for the familiarity of the noise to break through my reverie, but suddenly I looked up in surprise; it was pitch black outside and the wind was blowing drizzle against the window. It was gone midnight. No sensible Jackdaw would be out of bed on a night like this.
I went outside to investigate and found that the noise was coming from one of our chimney pots. Unmistakably a young Jackie – but what had woken him up and who was he talking to? Eventually, in descending purrs and grumbles, he presumably dropped off to sleep and I never recall hearing him having his nightmares again.
On a similar vein, I have often wondered what happens to birds disturbed out of their roosts in the middle of the night. When on lamping trips for example, one occasionally puts up a crow or magpie, who inevitably shout the place down as they disappear into the velvet night. Pigeons too make a racket, but with their wings rather than their voiceboxes; either way, it can scare the living daylights out of you on a quiet, stealthy evening.
But presumably, being daytime creatures like ourselves, their night vision is not all that impressive? How on earth can they safely navigate their way to another warm and secure roost when they presumably can’t see?
One late, late night in my office at the bottom of my garden, I was relaxing with a magazine when I heard the muffled ‘chack’ of a jackdaw; it took a while for the familiarity of the noise to break through my reverie, but suddenly I looked up in surprise; it was pitch black outside and the wind was blowing drizzle against the window. It was gone midnight. No sensible Jackdaw would be out of bed on a night like this.
I went outside to investigate and found that the noise was coming from one of our chimney pots. Unmistakably a young Jackie – but what had woken him up and who was he talking to? Eventually, in descending purrs and grumbles, he presumably dropped off to sleep and I never recall hearing him having his nightmares again.
On a similar vein, I have often wondered what happens to birds disturbed out of their roosts in the middle of the night. When on lamping trips for example, one occasionally puts up a crow or magpie, who inevitably shout the place down as they disappear into the velvet night. Pigeons too make a racket, but with their wings rather than their voiceboxes; either way, it can scare the living daylights out of you on a quiet, stealthy evening.
But presumably, being daytime creatures like ourselves, their night vision is not all that impressive? How on earth can they safely navigate their way to another warm and secure roost when they presumably can’t see?
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