Jackdaw

Status Three records. An individual found on Brier Island on 6 May 1984 by Nancy Blair and John Kearney was also seen by Roger Foxall and photographed by lan A. McLaren as a first Canadian record. On 20 May of the same year Roger Foxall found a Jackdaw about 90 km away, on Bon Portage Island, which he felt was a different individual. It remained and was seen by several birders until 24 May. On 15 December 1984 another Jackdaw was discovered in Halifax, subsequently seen by many other observers. It should also be noted that Sylvia Fullerton observed very briefly what she took to be a Jackdaw at Cherry Hill Beach in spring 1983. Because the sighting seemed so improbable, she did not report it for publication, although she mentioned it to a number of friends.

Remarks The Jackdaw is a small, black, gray-naped Eurasian crow. The 1984 records were among the first of a number of occurrences in eastern North America, evidently representing a natural, transoceanic vagrancy (Smith 1985).