a jaculation of daws (1 Viewer)

[paranoid numanoid]

Over Eglinton, Kilwinning and Beith in North Ayrshire in the last three or four years I have noticed huge flocks of noisy jackdaws in their thousands going to roost in the evenings hurtling through the air ejaculating (or exclaiming) "jack!" while somersaulting, dropping, diving, and rolling in the air as if they had taken over from the 'murmurations' of starlings which have all but disappeared from these areas (did starlings ever murmur, really?) and I thought iaculations or jaculations would be a perfect noun of multitude for these (new?) avian spectacles. Honestly these gatherings are absolutely breathtaking, as they settle and rise again and again in great numbers in full voice until darkness settles over the woods. Their raven-like somersaults are stunning!! Anybody else noticed these events??

 

[paranoid numanoid]

....... from Latin iacio, (jacio) v. to throw, hurl, emit, project, exclaim; iaculare (jaculare) to throw (a javelin), figuratively also to emit, project, exclaim. Prefixing e- or ex- accentuates the projecting out. Anyway that's my understanding.

 

[paranoid numanoid]

How about:

A datrick of terns (a fly-past of these dart-like sea-swallows)

A screllach of jays (a loose screaming party moving through the woods)

Must be some more inventions to add to the list of 'nouns of multitude? ... they're all apocryphal anyway and some might be improved on!

 

[JWN Andrewes]

Over Eglinton, Kilwinning and Beith in North Ayrshire in the last three or four years I have noticed huge flocks of noisy jackdaws in their thousands going to roost in the evenings hurtling through the air ejaculating (or exclaiming) "jack!" while somersaulting, dropping, diving, and rolling in the air as if they had taken over from the 'murmurations' of starlings which have all but disappeared from these areas (did starlings ever murmur, really?) and I thought iaculations or jaculations would be a perfect noun of multitude for these (new?) avian spectacles. Honestly these gatherings are absolutely breathtaking, as they settle and rise again and again in great numbers in full voice until darkness settles over the woods. Their raven-like somersaults are stunning!! Anybody else noticed these events??

We've always had a decent flock of Jackdaws behind the house. If you watch them closely you quickly realise that the flocks predominantly consist of pairs; in spite of the general melee you can make out these pairs of birds sticking together throughout. There are also occasional singletons, and even the odd trio, but mostly pairs.

 

[Harry Stottle]

@paranoid numanoid Had you considered a career in creative writing? (If you are not already thus engaged).

 

[paranoid numanoid]

@paranoid numanoid Had you considered a career in creative writing? (If you are not already thus engaged).

Thanks Harry, I do turn my hand to creative writing, and at 61 I'm about to go part-time at work so I can write more. I'm completing an MPhil Research thesis on British birds and their vernacular naming motivations, which is quite an academic work uncovering lots of gaps and mysteries remaining in the literature (especially Lockwood and Desfayes), and am expanding that into a big book about my twin interests of birds and words where I can write more creatively and in a narrative style which is more natural to me I think.

 

[paranoid numanoid]

We've always had a decent flock of Jackdaws behind the house. If you watch them closely you quickly realise that the flocks predominantly consist of pairs; in spite of the general melee you can make out these pairs of birds sticking together throughout. There are also occasional singletons, and even the odd trio, but mostly pairs.

I'll take a closer look at the make-up of these flocks if I see them settle, but usually they're hurtling across the sky at some speed!

 

[Phill10]

I totally agree, the jackdaw flocks around Kilwinning and Beith are incredible. Over the past few years, they’ve grown in size,, and their behavior is much more chaotic than starling murmurations, but just as mesmerizing. The acrobatic maneuvers, like somersaults and dives, are really something to watch. I reckon it's topological rules that help them sync up in such large numbers. And, as you mentioned, when they're spooked, their movements get erratic, before calming back into order.

Thatsys a real spectacles! It’s a shame starlings have disappeared from this area, but these jackdaws, make for an amazed sight. For anyone who hasn’t seen them yet, definitely try watching them at sunset – the show they put on is breathtaking!