Are jackdaws vermin, or OK for the garden?

longwalks1

We've got bird feeders in the garden and this morning had 8 jackdaws in it, it was like a scene from 'The Birds'...

should i be chasing them off, or let them feed? Will they bully the smaller birds we have (robins, sparrows, blue tits, finches) out of the garden?

I just want them all to get a fair share of the feed

Davesnave

Jackdaws are intelligent and may kill other species, but unless they are causing a specific farming or public safety type of nuisance, the official view is that they should be left alone.

For example, a friend of mine has chickens which are being harrassed by jackdaws, so she is trapping them, or trying to. As I said, they're smart!

Here, magpies are also regularly trapped by those who want to protect rarer wild species, though whether that's justified is debatable.

There are bird feeders that even jackdaws find challenging, so you might have to switch to those.

martinthebandit

Fair? Aw bless

'Nature is raw in tooth and claw'

I suppose you could put up a little sign?

Gers

I spend roughly half an hour of cumulative time each morning chasing the jackdaws off the peanut feeders. They come in very early and get some food before I wake up.

The second I scare off the big birds the small ones come swooping in to get what they can before the others come back. Seems that after a wee while the jackdaws have had enough (not sure if it's of peanuts or of being chased away) and vanish for the day.

I've had a problem with fledged starlings for the last couple of years, hordes all balanced on the feeders squawking away like mad things. They were more persistent, however, none this year!

unrecordings

I think your starlings were over at my place Gers. They've gone now but we had a mad couple of weeks once the starlings discovered our bird feeder.

We hang a coconut feeder 6' off the ground on a 6' rope with the nearest branch to the feeder around 5-6' away. Bluetits love it, and other small birds quickly got the hang of it. Now even ground feeders such as blackbirds & robins have a go and we also get woodpeckers and the odd magpie. Each wait their turn or just land on the feeder to evict the incumbent diner. Crows have tried to reel the feeder in like an anchor from the branch above, squirrels launch themselves at it from the neighbouring branches. We just let them all get on with it...

JP08

As the previous poster implies - they can only eat so much then the next ones move in.

Re the comment about the ground feeders coping with the hanging food - we've now got a regular blackbird that is adept at hanging upside down from the fatball feeder like an oversized bluetit. Oh and an extremely obese pigeon (not some nasty urban flying rat, a really handsome "clean" looking specimen) who doesn't seem to come to feed, but only to stroll around the lawn for up to half an hour at a time.

Our favourites are the apparently quite large colony of goldfinches that visit throughout the day - such amazingly bright colours. Think they are the descendants of the pair that nested in the tree in the front garden a couple of years ago - had to shoo one of the fledgling out of the back door when they flew the nest.

andrewf75

Yes they will bully smaller birds, but that is nature.
I wouldn't describe any native wild animal as vermin, ridiculous term.
My advice would be put a range of different feeders out and you'll get a balance of species.

unrecordings

Funnily enough about an hour after I posted, a squirrel reeled in the coconut feeder from the branch it was hanging from, dragged it (still attached to the rope) to a comfy part of the tree and settled down to an extensive brunch.

Davesnave

andrewf75 wrote: »

Yes they will bully smaller birds, but that is nature.
I wouldn't describe any native wild animal as vermin, ridiculous term.

The OED says: "Wild animals which are believed to be harmful to crops, farm animals, or game, or which carry disease."

I don't see what's ridiculous about that.

If one is attempting to produce food,or undertaking other gainful actvities in the countryside, then a term is needed to describe animals which may inhibit that enterprise.

firebird082

We have masses of jackdaws round here - it's like a scene from The Birds every day! I've never seen them bullying the smaller birds. though they definitely do get into arguments with the Red Kites...

We use the feeders with the outer metal cages (squirrel proof) which stops them. We also put seed into a flat tray for the robins, and the jackdaws/pigeons/collared doves all help themselves to that. However, I rather like them, as they are very intelligent, and quite sociable, so I just think of them as my other neighbours. Rather suprised you would use the word 'vermin'!

Gers

My solution to the jackdaws may be working.

The squirrel-proof feeders didn't deter my lot, in fact it made it easier for them to reach the peanuts as they could hold on more securely and were far enough away to make it less awkward.

I've put together two wire hanging basket shells so that they make a ball. They are joined permanently at the bottom with cable ties and, at the top with reusable garden ties with the feeder inside.

The jackdaws now can't reach in to get at the peanuts. I've also put one of the contraptions over a hanging basket which I use for suet chips. These would attract hordes of starlings (though not many this year) but now they don't get the chips. They can get in but getting out, especially in a hurry, is more difficult so they have stopped trying...so far!

I've left one peanut feeder uncaged as I have an adult and juvenile woodpecker coming to it and they wouldn't be able to use the caged ones. If jackdaws can get anything from that feeder than that's fine.

:beer: