Ulster Casting Club

did you ever hear back from ni.birds, did you try the rspb?

Hi MC. Yes I heard back from Nibirds.com. It took awhile as I think the guy was on holiday. He said I was correct that it was not a hooded crow - which I already knew. But he said he thought it was a juvenile jackdaw. That I don't agree with as this bird is half the size again of an adult jackdaw and much more heavily built. It also flew in with rooks, stayed with rooks, moved about with the rooks and flew off with the rooks. It's the same size as the other rooks with the same tail and wing feathers. Yes, it's colouring indicate a juvenile bird and yes, the head and neck are of a more slender build but it's a rook or rook cross. He put a few of the photos up on his site but wrongly called it a juvenile jackdaw.

I replied to him and told him my thoughts and I sent him more photos, this time of the second bird. In reply he agreed with me that it is probably a rook with a deformed beak. He didn't really commend on the second bird though. I haven't seen either bird for the last few days.

Sean -

thanks boss, was just wondering about it the other day while watching jackdaws and rooks in a field (on lunch break ) and wondered if it was abirth defect of the next stage in its evolution

My opinion is that both of the birds are juvenile rooks with deformed beaks. Probably not from the same nest as I made mention to but still strange that there are two of them in the same area at the same time.

Sean -