Field at the back of house appears to have been colonized by a huge clattering of jackdaws in the last week or so. Now we love birds, but they appear to be having jackdaw Glasto and are chattering away day and night. It’s getting a tad annoying to say the least.

Anyone got any ideas what would cause them to gather in such huge numbers – I’d previously understood that they flocked in numbers up to 50 or so (and that tended to be mainly in the winter), but there are literally hundreds of the buggers – and how long we can expect them to stick around?

If they don’t sort themselves out soon then my fallback is likely to be the tactical deployment of Mogwai via my bass amp with the volume turned up to 11.

They are everywhere mate, I have them at home here. I like to sleep with the window open at night but the thing is they start as soon as it gets light.

Last week I was on a course and my accommodation was right next to some massive trees, probably about 8-10 of them and they are full of jackdaws. Thursday evening there was an almighty noise, literally hundreds of jackdaws flying around but the worst thing was they were all attacking one poor bird that was injured on the ground. I think in the end they ate it. It was like a scene from ‘The Birds’ There was no way I was going out there!

Vermin=Gun!

Jackdaws? could be/ more likely rooks or crows

Definitely jackdaws.

They gather in flocks of well over 50 you see hundreds even thousands of them.

We get similar with the ravens from the local wood
They tend to hunt in large groups when the weathers hot ant theres not as many insects they gang up and go for bigger species cats,rabbits,lambs

Also might be mating season

Jackdaws are by far the most gregarious members of the crow family, which explains why they also make the best pets. Crows might superficially appear to be gregarious when, for example, you see large numbers of them on a field, but they keep their distance from each other.

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…..the worst thing was they were all attacking one poor bird that was injured on the ground. I think in the end they ate it.

Makes perfect sense to me – Mother Nature at her most resourcefulness.

Other crows will mob ravens like they do buzzards or other raptors. It’s usual to only see ravens in pairs, except if there’s a large-ish colony. There’s a pair nesting on a large radio antenna near Calne, and I’ve seen them with their three youngsters, but I’ve never seen more that four or five adults together at a time.
Rooks and jackdaws, however…
Noisy buggers!