To Egg or Not To Egg

[Vivisectus]

I know a Jackdaw colony that is well within reach of me and my stepladder. When I grew up in rural Holland it was not unusual for people to keep crows or jackdaws for pets - they sort of roamed the village scrounging off people and roosted in a nice warm attic-box. One of them used to have a daily schedule - visit our house at 0800 for breadcrumbs, then on to a house on the other end of the village for 8:30 for table-scraps, and then at 10:45 he hit the playground to sit on kids shoulders in return for bits of their sandwiches.

I am sorely tempted to go and steal an egg or a chick. I have the next 2 weeks to make up my mind. I can work from home for a few months, so I can afford the time to hand-rear the little bugger. They easily imprint on humans and are really very clever for birds.

I am in two minds about it. Tempting!

[Deadlokd]

Poor Mummy bird. :(

[mickthinks]

Seriously, locky? With one less mouth to feed, the parents and the remaining brood would have a better life.

[erimir]

Disturbing the nest - even if you mean to take only one - might cause the mother to abandon the whole clutch. I guess TLR has said they don't have a good sense of smell, but she might see you...

[ChuckF]

Take all the eggs. Build jackdaw army.

Coming soon: The Jackdaw Revolt and the First Bird War.

[Vivisectus]

The main issue is that Jackdaws are highly colony-oriented, and learn a lot from their fellow jackdaws. I have heard it said that they will even adopt young Jackdaws that have been hand-reared, and will start feeding them through the wires of outdoor aviaries. There are also stories of biologists trying to grab a young bird from under a large colony and being harassed by every last bird there, to the point where he had to give up and take shelter. These are smart and gregarious birds with complex group behaviors - when it is windy you can see them in their hundreds, wheeling around in the wind. What are they doing? Are the playing? Does this behavior have some sort of function, like we suspect it is with starlings?

Help me out here lone ranger - what is the current thinking among biologists?

Anyway, to take one as a pet would mean to have my family take that role, and it would mean taking the responsibility of ensuring that this happens successfully. I am pretty sure I can pull it off, but it is still a bit of a gamble which could result in a hugely maladjusted jackdaw, instead of a jackdaw that is happy enough thinking it is a human being. So as I said - I am in two minds. I have 2 weeks until the eggs hatch.

[Vivisectus]

Chuck, come the revolution, your car will be pooped on first!

[ceptimus]

In the UK, it's against the law (http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/wildbirdslaw/wildbirdcrime/egg_collection.aspx) to take wild birds, or their eggs even if, like the jackdaw, they are relatively common.

It has been illegal to take the eggs of most wild birds since the Protection of Birds Act 1954 and it is illegal to possess or control any wild birds' eggs taken since that time under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

It is illegal to sell any wild bird's egg, irrespective of its age.

Possession of wild birds' eggs is an offence of strict liability. Anyone that chooses to be in possession of eggs is obliged to show, on a balance of probabilities, that their possession is lawful. For persons found guilty of any of these offences, Magistrates have the power to impose maximum sentences of £5,000 fine and/or six month's imprisonment per egg.

Of course, if you're not in the UK, this needn't concern you at all.

However, it is legal to keep a Jackdaw as a pet in the UK, providing it was bred in captivity and fitted with an approved ring that identifies it as such.

There is a list of 'approved wild birds bred in captivity' here (http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/wildbirdslaw/birdsandlaw/wca/schedules.aspx) (see Schedule 3 part 1).

My grandad had a pet Jackdaw when I was small. It was quite friendly and a pretty good mimic.

[Qingdai]

Leave the wild birds alone, fixate on fucking up your own young first. That's my advice. Or you know, get chickens. Birds too stupid to do well on their own.

By the bye I got two buff orpington pullets today.

:caught:

[livius drusus]

Off with her head!
:kingchicken:

[Deadlokd]

Seriously, locky? With one less mouth to feed, the parents and the remaining brood would have a better life.

Is that what your parents told you?

[mickthinks]

Seriously, locky? With one less mouth to feed, the parents and the remaining brood would have a better life.

Is that what your parents told you?Nah, I heard it from yours.

[Deadlokd]

Boy, you sure showed me.

[mickthinks]

Probably not.

[Deadlokd]

Is that an admission of inadequacy?

[Kyuss Apollo]

probably not.

[ITSOZAZ]

scrambled.

[Doctor X]

I guess it depends on the egg:

http://www.popdecay.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/alien-egg.jpg

--J.D.

[The Lone Ranger]

I'm not a big fan of taking animals out of the wild and raising them in captivity. There are, after all, plenty of places where one can acquire captive-bred animals as pets. And most wild animals make less-than-satisfactory pets. (Granted, due to their intelligence and their highly social nature, jackdaws adapt to captivity much better than do most animals that have not been bred for domestication.)

Of course, there's the minor complication that it's illegal in most places to take eggs from nests and raise the young in captivity. Perhaps more to the point, given how social jackdaws are, it's highly unlikely that a bird raised by humans could ever be successfully returned to the wild, should you decide you can no longer keep it as a pet.


Cheers,

Michael

[LadyShea]

I am not familiar with Jackdaws, are they like Magpies?

Also, if you can buy one, do that.

[Watser?]

Jackdaws are more like crows I guess. Magpies live alone as far as I can tell. Crows and jackdaws live in large groups. Jackdaws are smaller though.

[erimir]

Jackdaws are in the same genus with crows, ravens and rooks.

I think the distinction between a jackdaw and a crow is in name only - that is, it would be unremarkable if it were called the ____ crow (insert an appropriate adjective) instead of the jackdaw.

[The Lone Ranger]

Yes, crows, ravens and rooks are all members of the genus Corvus -- Jackdaws are Corvus monedula. They're somewhat smaller than the European Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) or Carrion Crow (Corvus corone), or the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos).

The family Corvidae includes not just the crows and ravens, but also Jays and Magpies. Neither jays nor magpies are in the genus Corvus, but corvids in general are noted for being highly intelligent birds.

http://birdsolutions-southeast.co.uk/images/JackDaw.jpg
A Jackdaw


http://www.kunstdame.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/HoodedCrow.Kapelrud.jpg
A Hooded Crow


http://suziesden.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/carrion-crow.jpg
A Carrion Crow


http://www.birdforum.net/opus/images/thumb/3/3d/American_Crow.jpg/550px-American_Crow.jpg
An American Crow

[LadyShea]

Do all Jackdaws have blue eyes like that? Very striking with the lovely black plumage.

[The Lone Ranger]

Most of the literature I've seen says that an adult jackdaw's eyes are "silver-white," so it would appear to be a more or less universal trait in this species. The eyes of juveniles are darker; they lighten with age. (This provides a handy means of estimating a jackdaw's age.)

Cheers,

Michael

[Vivisectus]

I think I will take the advice and leave them alone.

Anyway, I always wanted a few chickens in the backyard, and after looking up Qingdais Orpingtons I believe I shall opt for humorously obese chickens in stead. They look absolutely fabulous!

[Pan Narrans]

humorously obese chickens

OMGUS
:chicken:


UR MOM
:redchicken:


BOCK
:blackhen:

[Qingdai]

They're not fat, they're fluffy!

At least that's what they told me.

[thedoc]

I think I will take the advice and leave them alone.

Anyway, I always wanted a few chickens in the backyard, and after looking up Qingdais Orpingtons I believe I shall opt for humorously obese chickens in stead. They look absolutely fabulous!


If you do that you shouldn't need to worry about snakes, I believe that chickens will attack and kill a shake that comes into their teritory.

[Sock Puppet]

It's true. I barely got out with my life. WAKE UP SHEEPLE!
:mastershake:

[Vivisectus]

I read the males average 10 pounds! That is close on 4.5 kilo's - I have bought frozen Turkeys that were smaller than that!

But yeah - they have big hair and large bones, and that makes them seem like that :D