Field guide to the most commonly encountered mammals and birds

Here, we provide some basic information regarding commonly observed species (plus some others about which we have had queries).  

Feel free to contact us by email if you have any questions regarding species you have encountered on the site.

For more information about mammals, we recommend the Mammal Society's species hub, here, and MammalNet here. For birds, excellent resources are available from the RSPB (here) and the BTO (here).

 

Common UK Mammals All UK Mammals Common UK Birds All Species All Deer

Jackdaw

(C) hedera.baltica (shared under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license)

 
 

Also known as: Western jackdaw, Eurasian jackdaw

Scientific Name: Corvus monedula

Family: Corvidae

Appearance: Jackdaws are the smallest British crow with a more noticeable blue sheen to their feathers and pale eyes.

Body length: 34 cm

Weight: 220 g

Natural history: Like other crows, jackdaws are intelligent. Reputedly, Italian thieves once trained a jackdaw to steal money from cash machines.

Jackdaws mate for life, which often lasts five years. They roost and forage in groups. Jackdaws have been known to steal shiny objects, just like magpies.