whitehound
Member
I've got a fledgling jackdaw chick in my garden. He (?) still has a bit of fluff underneath, wing and tail feathers are in but not full-length yet. The SSPCA says don't feed him, just give him water, as hunger will encourage him to fly. However, he seems to be managing perfectly well to find food at ground level, mainly by digging up and eating the grass seed which I laid down last week.
It's been three days and although I see the chick every day, I haven't seen any sign of him even trying to use his wings. Meanwhile I need to get on with working in the garden - but don't want to scare him.
How long should it normally take for a fledging, walking-about jackdaw to learn to use his wings? At what point should I start to worry that something is wrong with him?
The garden is relatively predator-proof btw, as the only way in or out at ground level is through/under a gate, round the corner and along an alley which opens onto the pavement of a main road. We have some kind of small rodent who picks small holes in the bottom of bags of seed but it looks like the work of a mouse or vole, not a rat. We do have a resident shrew - but a jackdaw would be a very ambitious kill for a shrew.
Oh, and also, how much of a run-up do they need when first learning to use their wings? The garden is only about 20ft square, walled on all sides - is this going to be big enough?
It's been three days and although I see the chick every day, I haven't seen any sign of him even trying to use his wings. Meanwhile I need to get on with working in the garden - but don't want to scare him.
How long should it normally take for a fledging, walking-about jackdaw to learn to use his wings? At what point should I start to worry that something is wrong with him?
The garden is relatively predator-proof btw, as the only way in or out at ground level is through/under a gate, round the corner and along an alley which opens onto the pavement of a main road. We have some kind of small rodent who picks small holes in the bottom of bags of seed but it looks like the work of a mouse or vole, not a rat. We do have a resident shrew - but a jackdaw would be a very ambitious kill for a shrew.
Oh, and also, how much of a run-up do they need when first learning to use their wings? The garden is only about 20ft square, walled on all sides - is this going to be big enough?