Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus Coloeus closely related to, but generally smaller than, crows and ravens (Corvus). They have a blackish crown, wings, and tail, with the rest of their plumage paler. The word Coloeus is Neo-Latin, from the Ancient Greek for jackdaws: koloiós (κολοιός).In The Birds by Aristophanes, Euelpides speaks to his jackdaw as the first line of the play. They come from Europe, Asia and Africa.