A jackdaw pair. Credit Guillam E. McIvor Male jackdaws don’t stick around to console their mate after a traumatic experience, new research shows. Jackdaws usually mate for life and, when breeding, females stay at the nest with eggs while males gather food. Rival males sometimes visit the nest and attack the lone female, attempting to mate by force. In the new study, University of Exeter researchers expected males to console their partner after these incidents by staying close and engaging in social behaviours like preening their partner’s feathers. However, males focussed on their own safety – they still brought food to the nest, but they visited less often and spent less time with the female.