What Contributions Have Jackdaws Made To Science?

Jackdaws were the birds studied by the famous Austrian zoologist Konrad Lorenz, who did much of his work on the species during the 1930s. Lorenz studied animal behaviour and reared jackdaw nestlings (tiny birds that had just hatched) to see how they responded to human care.

He discovered that the birds would become dependent on whoever cared for them during the first few early weeks of their life. This phenomenon was later called imprinting. Imprinting caused the baby jackdaws to see Lorenz as their parent and they always stayed close to him wherever he went.

In this way he could observe them at close quarters without ever having to keep them in cages. Although the birds all matured and became adults and 'left the nest' this special relationship was never lost and the birds stayed with Lorenz as they went on to raise their own young. The jackdaws seem to have spent all their life thinking they were human because of their early experiences.