Call: Clipped, metallic calls of 'kow' or 'kyow', sometimes a softer 'tchack'.

Feeding habits: Quite varied: insects and their larvae, grain, weed seeds, wild and cultivated fruit; sometimes small animals, eggs and young of other birds; potatoes and carrion.

Nest: Both sexes make an untidy pile of sticks, lined with wool and hair, nearly always in a hole or crevice in a tree, cliff or building.

Habitat and range: Fields, heaths, pastures, clifftops; range expanding, now resident throughout the UK.