Jay
Mark Hamblin

6 places to see corvids in Kent

Where can you see corvids in Kent? Find out about some of the places where you can find these intelligent birds and a little help identifying them.

Corvids play an important role in maintaining the resilience of some of our most precious habitats. For example, they store seeds in small stockpiles throughout our landscape, a behaviour that is known as ‘scatter-hoarding’. Not all of these seeds are eaten, and eventually some germinate into new trees and woodlands. This diverse dispersal of new trees helps our habitats improve their resilience to diseases, pests and the climate crisis.

6 places to see corvids in Kent

  1. We have a large rookery in an old row of beech trees on the Lydden side of Lydden Temple Ewell National Nature reserve.  In contrast to crows, rooks live in large social groups of several hundred individuals.
  2. Capel-Le-Ferne, located between Dover and Folkestone, will hopefully soon be home to choughs for the first time in over 200 years (find out more on pages 16 and 17). It is also a great place to watch jackdaws which nest and breed on the cliffs. Another sociable corvid species, they gather in huge numbers, even creating displays similar to iconic starling murmurations. Jackdaws mate for life, pairing up in their first year and mating the year after.
  3. Jays, the most colourful of our corvids, can be found on many reserves with oak trees as they depend on acorns for food. Jays will hoard acorns for the winter by burying them in the ground. Some of these acorns are never retrieved and germinate into oak saplings, helping the trees spread, reproduce and in the long term produce even more acorns for the jays! Finding a jay’s electric blue and black striped wing feather is still one of those magical “wow” nature moments and is a sign of good fortune in many cultures. Cromer’s Wood near Sittingbourne is a likely place to find them.
  4. Magpies are the corvid species that you are most likely to see - their intelligence and adaptability have enabled them to thrive alongside people. They are principally black and white but with a rainbow sheen of blues, purples, greens and bronze on their wings and long tail feathers. A regular pair lives at Tyland Barn where they can be seen teasing local cats.
  5. Many species of corvids can be seen at our Quarry Wood Nature Reserve. This quiet, hidden woodland on the greensand ridge is home to crows, rooks, magpies and jays. Rookeries high up in the trees are often heard before they are seen, especially in this woodland setting.
  6. Ravens can sometimes be heard at Blue Bell Hill, along part of the scarp slope. Their presence is a very recent and exciting occurrence.

Corvid Identification Guide

Click the image below to see information on how to identify them. 

Chough – Eye-catching red legs and red beak, found along rocky coasts with short grassland. © Janet Packham

Chough – Eye-catching red legs and red beak, found along rocky coasts with short grassland. © Janet Packham

Rook – Very sociable and unlikely to be seen alone. Pale, straighter bill with a bare grey bill base in comparison to the crow or raven.

Rook – Very sociable and unlikely to be seen alone. Pale, straighter bill with a bare grey bill base in comparison to the crow or raven.

Carrion Crow – All black and often very solitary, although sometimes spotted in pairs.

Carrion Crow – All black and often very solitary, although sometimes spotted in pairs.

Raven. The largest of our corvids and, in flight, shows a diamond shaped tail.

Raven. The largest of our corvids and, in flight, shows a diamond shaped tail.

Magpie. Black and white with a long tail.

Magpie. Black and white with a long tail.

Jay. Our most colourful corvid, but quite shy. Often seen in wooded habitats where they rarely move from cover.

Jay. Our most colourful corvid, but quite shy. Often seen in wooded habitats where they rarely move from cover.

Jackdaw. Often usually seen in pairs or flocks and nest in loose colonies. They are relatively small with a grey hood and blue eyes.

Jackdaw. Often usually seen in pairs or flocks and nest in loose colonies. They are relatively small with a grey hood and blue eyes.

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