When celebrated artist Kurt Jackson talked about his love of crows in Truro City Hall, there wasn't one empty seat in the audience.

Part of the Royal Institution of Cornwall's annual series of lectures, Mr Jackson talked from the heart about his enduring fascination with the crow family - the subject of his latest Cornish project.

More than 150 people listened to him recall how a pet magpie - known as Maggie - would nibble his ear lobes whilst he collected conkers as a child. The bird would stay with him for about a year before flying off to the wild and being replaced by another Maggie' who would similarly befriend him until the call of Nature proved too strong and she, too, disappeared.

His mother, he said, used to keep a pet jackdaw who could speak and childhood rambles into the Dorset countryside sparked a love of natural history that led him to St Peter's College, Oxford and a degree in zoology. Art, however, proved an irresistible attraction - particularly as he found the way zoology was taught at university less interesting than his own nature rambles.

With The Cornish Crows' project, Mr Jackson was able to express his scientific interest in the crow family - which includes rooks, ravens, magpies, jays, jackdaws and choughs - in his own unique artistic style.

"Kurt Jackson is an extraordinary artist who, as the popularity of his lecture shows, has a keen local following," said Hilary Bracegirdle, director of the Royal Cornwall Museum, who introduced the talk. "I am delighted that so many people took up the opportunity to listen to him speak about his latest Cornish project in person."