Crow - Unusual markings?

angeldaisy

Hi, I've seen this crow in my garden over the last week or so and it appears to have pale brown markings on its back, wings and chest. Is this unusual?

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6qx5o3gZgs8cHXlgZ5Lsoq1JL-MHNr_ZA_WIqkEHbbc?feat=directlink

sorry its not a great picture - through glass, bottom of garden etc....

swifts need our help!

Cant see any odd colouring on my computer but I have seen photos of Leucistic Jackdaws with cinnamon primary feathers
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=leucistic+jackdaw&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1024&bih=534&pdl=500&wrapid=tljp1326801656958032&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=A2MVT6vLHIL98QPEqMX3Aw

Mark

jmkennedyie

Just to clarify for OP your pic is of a rook. (partially) brown rooks are not common, but not unheard of. I saw one around the ponds in Naas town about 2 or 3 years ago.

swifts need our help!

when I tell people we dont have 'crows' the answer is usually what are those big black birds. We have some Carrion crows in the North but they are confined to the east coast and usually hang out with Hooded crows.

The resident Corvids / crow family in Ireland are

Rook - adults have large bills, bare white faces and baggy trousers. Current year young dont have white faces

Jackdaw - small, with grey eyes and a paler hood. Usually in pairs or small groups

Hooded crow - large black and grey that can and does hybridise with the Carrion crow

Raven - largest crow, large wedge shaped tail and usually heard before seen

Magpie - needs no introduction

Jay - a beautiful pink tinged pale brown bird. Found in woodland and increasingly coming to gardens that are close to woods

Chough - black crow with red feet and bill. Confined to coast where there are cliffs

Recently there were a couple of House crows, from India, in Cobh. Imagine a large crow that says "jack" like a Jackdaw

Mark

angeldaisy

swifts need our help! wrote: »

when I tell people we dont have 'crows' the answer is usually what are those big black birds. We have some Carrion crows in the North but they are confined to the east coast and usually hang out with Hooded crows.

The resident Corvids / crow family in Ireland are

Rook - adults have large bills, bare white faces and baggy trousers. Current year young dont have white faces

Jackdaw - small, with grey eyes and a paler hood. Usually in pairs or small groups

Hooded crow - large black and grey that can and does hybridise with the Carrion crow

Raven - largest crow, large wedge shaped tail and usually heard before seen

Magpie - needs no introduction

Jay - a beautiful pink tinged pale brown bird. Found in woodland and increasingly coming to gardens that are close to woods

Chough - black crow with red feet and bill. Confined to coast where there are cliffs

Recently there were a couple of House crows, from India, in Cobh. Imagine a large crow that says "jack" like a Jackdaw

Mark

thanks for the classification Mark, thats a great help, we have a lot of corvids here, there are often over 40 assorted in the garden, including hooded crows, and the others I now know are rooks:D Thanks jmkennedyie!!

BuachaillCrann

I think this is the rook referred to by JimKennedy.ie !

I took this really bad photo with a camera phone at the Naas ponds, probably a year or two ago.