ON seeing a black coloured bird it may be tempting to assume it is a crow, but there are at least five different common birds it could possibly be in the Wyre Forest district.

Firstly, it could be a blackbird. These may have similar colouring and feed in a crow-like manner by foraging on the ground, however blackbirds are members of the thrush family and as such are blessed with lovely, harmonic, voices.

The true members of the crow family are far from melodic - instead they have a loud and harsh call.

Not all the crow family found in Britain are just black, as both the magpie and highly-colourful jays testify.

Of the pure black members of the crow family which we commonly see, the jackdaw is the smallest of all, reaching a maximum height of 34cm. In addition to their size, jackdaws can easily be identified by the way they appear to have a glossy grey hood.

Like all crows, jackdaws are not fussy when it comes to food, eating insects, carrion, fruit, nuts and cereals in the wild, and also scavenging scraps from around human habitation.

Jackdaws will use a variety of different nest sites, from trees to buildings, and even down rabbit holes, but they do like to nest in large groups.

Larger than the jackdaw, at 46cm tall, is the rook.

Rooks have glossy jet black feathers which make them look quite smart for crows. These feathers also extend down across the tops of their legs, giving them a distinctive baggy-trouser look.

This rather smart plumage is somewhat ruined by the rook's bare, almost skeletal-looking face.

Rooks nest in colonies based around a couple of tall, prominent trees. These communal nest sites are commonly known as "rookeries".

The carrion crow is only slightly bigger than the rook. This is the bird you are most likely to see picking at the remains of a road kill.

Interestingly, when I tried to look up a good description of this bird from my identification book, the carrion crow was described as "lacking any grace or indeed attractive features".

These birds are also somewhat quarrelsome and can frequently be seen fighting among themselves or harassing other birds.

They also seem to have a particular dislike for magpies, which means they often engage in protracted and occasionally mortal conflicts.

The largest member of the crow family is the raven, at some 64cm tall.

Ravens are quite rare in Wyre Forest but I have seen a couple recently.

They have a distinctive flying cross-like appearance and frequently call in a croaky, almost pig-like, way when in flight.