In his "The Natural History of Selborne", Gilbert White notes that western jackdaws used to nest in crevices beneath the lintels of Stonehenge, and describes an example of the bird using a rabbit burrow for nesting. The species has been recorded outcompeting the tawny owl ("Strix aluco") for nest sites in the Netherlands. They can take over old nest sites of the black woodpecker ("Dryocopus martius") and stock dove ("Columba oenas"). Breeding colonies may also edge out those of the red-billed chough, but in turn be ousted by larger corvids such as the carrion crow, rook or magpie.