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▲ WithinReason an hour ago

Related, my favourite section of the book King Solomon's Ring from Konrad Lorenz:

I have already mentioned that jackdaws remember for a long time the creature that once triggered their rattling reaction—that is, anyone who has once attacked a jackdaw. This posed a serious obstacle when it came to ringing the chicks hatched in my colony. If I took them out of the nest to fasten the aluminum Rossitten rings onto their legs, the old jackdaws inevitably noticed and raised an unbridled rattling concert. Well then, what was I to do so that the birds would not fear me forever because of the ringing, since this fear would have immeasurably hindered my work? The solution was exceedingly simple: a disguise! Well, what kind? That was simple too. Lying right at hand in a chest in the attic—and suiting my purposes very well, even though under normal circumstances we only use it on the sixth of December—was a splendid, all-fur Krampus costume, complete with a long-tongued, horned mask that covered the entire head, and a huge, fluffy, stiffly protruding devil's tail hanging from it.

What would you imagine, gentle reader, if on a fine June day you heard a wild rattling coming from a high, peaked roof, and upon looking up, saw the Devil himself—with horns, tail, and hooves, his long tongue hanging out obviously from the heat—climbing from chimney to chimney in the midst of a swarm of deafeningly rattling black birds? I think the overall impression would this time distract your attention from the fact that Satan was using a pair of flat-nose pliers to fasten Rossitten identification rings onto the legs of jackdaw chicks, and then carefully placing the little birds back into their nest. Even I only noticed after finishing the ringing that people had gathered in a dense crowd on the main street of the village, staring at me with the exact same stunned terror as the Whitsun excursionists had from behind the fence back then. Except that had I introduced myself, the whole exercise would have lost its point, which is why I merely gave them a friendly wag of my devil's tail and vanished through the attic window.

▲specproc 24 minutes ago | parent [-]

I love the local jackdaw crew near me. My lunchtime ritual is to sit down by the water with a pasty, and chuck bits of pastry for them. They're exceptional catches, will pluck it right out the air. Wonderful to watch, really makes my day.

▲rbanffy 16 minutes ago | parent [-]

My jackdaws are a lot more cautious. It might be they are scared by the more numerous hooded crows and rooks, but I haven't seen inter-species hostilities, unless between crows and seagulls, which are assholes.

▲specproc a few seconds ago | parent [-]

It's a very public spot. The competition is between jackdaws, pigeons, ducks and geese. It's no competition, the jackdaws run rings around the rest.