Sunday, December 21, 2008

JACKDAW, RAMSEY HARBOUR- CRITTERS SUNDAY



Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz


Jackdaws, a member of the crow family are a very common birds on the Isle Of Man, especially around Ramsey Harbour. This one settled on the rope lines of a moored boat and seemed to be oblivious to my camera
 and I. Good. It meant I could get an image of the lovely plumage. Note the variety of colours from deep magenta to iridescent blues and greens.  A quick look they look all black but the plumage does have these very subtle change of colours. The throat and back of the head plumage have a lovely shimmering silver grey tone.  This one seemed to be very interested in something, but I have no idea what it was but I can guess it was shiny.





Jackdaws have a reputation like the magpie for theft of precious objects. They are known to have a penchant for shiny objects and swoop down to steal the item that capture their attention and fly off to the safety of their nest or other desired safe place. Fortunately the camera is matt black and I had gloves on so no distracting shiny items for the Jackdaw.  Actually they I have never seen one behave at all badly. Even our garden ones tend to be well behaved and queue for food. In fact I seen tiny siskins and goldfinches chase a Jackdaw away.




or more cute and crazies see MISTY DAWN and her own beauties and others

57 comments:

Jessica said...

Very cool shot. Love the color on the bird. You're so lucky it stayed still!

Anonymous said...

I have never heard or have seen a jackdaw. Their subtle colour changes are indeed pretty to look at. Nice closeup of the bird. I like how you added all of the mythological information. I find signs and omens quite fascinating to study and to pay attention to.

EG CameraGirl said...

So THAT'S what a jackdaw looks like. Hmmm. A relative of crows? Interesting. Our crows like shiny objects too.

threesidesofcrazy said...

WHOA Awesome capture!! Great lesson too - thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I learn from you about many things not just photography. Were you really close or is this a zoom?

Unknown said...

I'm always paranoid a the beach that a seagull or crow will fly away with my keys. I'll add this bird to my list, in event that I am ever over that way.

PJ said...

Babooshka, were you an encyclopedia reader when you were little (I was)? Very interesting about the Jackdaw, a cheeky bird I think.

kayleen said...

your photo almost looks like a painting. very very nice. lots of interesting information too. happy holidays!

Anonymous said...

LB,

We don't have these birds. Kudos and props. The bridge below mind blowing too.

ratmammy said...

that bird is rather scary.. great post!

Jeff Yusa said...

nice shot!

Carletta said...

Excellent shot! Wonderful how you caught the colors of the plumage.

Baruch said...

The Jackdaw is a beautiful bird and I enjoyed Jackdaw info & myths.

Tash said...

I've never seen a crow (family) bird that is such an amazing color. Thanks for the enlightening post & I'm going to remember the pangram for a long time!
Also, thanks for the lovely comments this week - coming from someone whose photography I admire so much, they are a high praise indeed.

Unknown said...

A beautiful clear shot and an interesting lesson on wildlife.

Cloudia said...

Beautiful! Reminds me of the carribean ravens called "ching ching" or "Cling Cling" in Cayman that boldly steal food from peoples' hands. Smart birds. Aloha-

humanobserver said...

dark and striking.....

Carraol said...

Great and very interesting post of this beautiful bird, full of myths. Thanks for sharing.

Lynette said...

This is such a good photo, I like the info, too. And I like very much that the bird landed on that blue rope.

Chuck Pefley said...

Quite lovely ... I've never seen plumage like that in our common crows. The Jackdaw is obviously more refined.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful photo and info on this bird. I've never seen it before. I've learned something new from you, today. Thanks!

Paz

Reader Wil said...

That was a very interesting yet funny post about jackdaws! We have them in abundance here as well. They are nor afraid of people and sit in long rows on top of our roofs. It's a beautiful bird: your photo proofs it.

Lakshmi said...

what an amazing set of myths...very fascinating..

loulee said...

I live above Parliament Street and enjoy watching these cheeky birds hopping about on the roof tops, they remind me of teen age boys looking for mischief and are playful characters.

Unknown said...

Fantastic capture!!! The colours are absolutely gorgeous! The bird is related to the crow but smaller, right?

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Babooshka: What a perfect photo of the Jackdaw. The colors are neat.

Anonymous said...

Well done again B.

Anonymous said...

merci du passage et du commentaire sur la photo, joyeux noël à vous

Anonymous said...

Great get...and thanks for all the info!

Gattina said...

That's a beautiful bird with its black blue feathers !

PeterParis said...

An amazing bird, living in couple the whole life. Can even learn to repeat human words!

Pat said...

Very stylish birds; I would wear the same colors! I learned about jackdaws today with you, and pangrams, too. I'll have to think about making more pangrams....hmmm.

Lapa37 said...

The colors in his feathers are lovely. Thanks for the visit

George said...

Very interesting about the jackdaws. By the way, the picture is excellent.

Marie-Noyale said...

Black is not one color..but a combination of many!!
Beautiful polychrome bird!!!

Forgetfulone said...

What a beautiful shot! I would have known this simply as a crow. Don't think I've heard of a jackdaw. Very informative! Thanks for stopping by my blog.

ChrissyM said...

Wow! What a stunning photo! The colors on that bird are gorgeous. Glad he stood still long enough for you to snap that photo. Very imformative post, thank you for sharing.

Dan said...

Wonderful image. You did a great job of capturing the variety of color and texture in the "black" bird!

Belgrade Daily Photo said...

Pretty, pretty bird!

b13 said...

What a beautiful bird. Love the color shifts from white to black and to blue. What a mesmerizing eye!

Saretta said...

What a beauty! And who knew there were so many beliefs about jackdaws?

Anonymous said...

I love these blue colors on the photo. The rope makes the picture with its color special!

Anonymous said...

Jackdaws are funny birds. Nice of you to include these tales with a pretty photograph.

Melissa said...

Very interesting and pretty bird. You got an awesome shot there :)

angela said...

I haven't seen one of these for years. The colours along the wings are indeed very beautiful..

marley said...

The way you've captured all the colours of the feathers is very impressive. I like it!

Anonymous said...

That was very interesting. I see what you mean about the various colors in the plumage. Very pretty!

Carin Diaz said...

perfect profile. Seems like the bird posed for this picture.

magiceye said...

this is great!!

Ice Pony Girl said...

Beautiful bird!

Grammy said...

That is a picture perfect shot.

Misty DawnS said...

That is absolutely gorgeous!!! I LOVE the colors. This is an amazing photo and definitely one to be proud of, my friend!

Anonymous said...

I have my own version. They are the boot boys of the bird world.

crittoria said...

Thanks for all the information about Jackdaws. I've never heard of them before - they must just live on your side of the 'pond'. My favorite birds (and poultry) are the black ones because of all those irridescent colors. Most people don't notice them. But when the sun hits their feathers, the colors just jump out at you and they're amazingly gorgeous!!

Jerez Sherry said...

Hi! Thanks for stopping by my snow!!! I'll share! You would do wonderful photos of it, I'm sure.. Will you come visit?
This bird is amazing, a great photo!

AppleDebbie said...

I always have a difficult time taking pictures of dark birds... your photo is wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Really nice photo of a Jackdaw, whenever I see them they remind me of my childhood. We had a small colony nesting in the chimneys of the family home.

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