Why is this Western Jackdaw walking around with an open beak?

It is a quite hot day (30 degrees Celsius) for this location. It usually hovers around 25 degrees. The jackdaw was walking about with another jackdaw looking for food, actually pecking some dead insects off of a cars bumper. The other jackdaw did not have its beak open.

Is this a cooling behavior, perhaps similar to when dogs pant?

73 points · 13 comments · view on lemmy.world

13 Comments

GreyShuck@feddit.uk · 76 pts · 37d (2 replies)

Is this a cooling behavior, perhaps similar to when dogs pant?

Yes, that is exactly what it is.

skulkbane@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 37d

Yeah, if they get very hot they lift their wings a bit. Pore fellow

ggtdbz@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 36d

I remember first encountering this in the Gulf and feeling quite bad for the birds, and then remembering they’re native species so it’s actually them feeling bad for me in the heat

Apepollo11@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 37d (2 replies)

"What? What? He looks surprised. All children look surprised. Everything's new to them."

akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone · 6 pts · 37d (1 reply)

Original or quote? :D

Apepollo11@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 37d

Black Books (s1e4). It's a daft Father Ted / IT Crowd style comedy.

The main character's posh friends are angry at him for being extremely drunk at a dinner party and traumatising their son, who has been walking around with a shocked open-mouthed expression ever since walking in on him going to the toilet in their kitchen. He tries to downplay it by saying that's how children normally look.

RecursiveParadox@piefed.social · 9 pts · 37d (3 replies)

Not so sure that's a jackdaw, but the crows and magpies I've befriended who light on my balcony waiting for cashews have been doing this the whole heatwave in Europe. So, I think cooling is pretty good guess.

starlinguk@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 36d (2 replies)

I'm so confused about people not recognising jackdaws, they're very distinct.

Anyhoo, somebody give the poor thing some water.

RecursiveParadox@piefed.social · 3 pts · 36d

Weird thing is, I set up a pan with fresh water and a couple of rocks to stand on on my balcony, and none of the birds used it.

These guys will sit on the balcony railing and watch me (and even my cat) for hours, and they regularly spill nuts on the floor of the balcony and go to get them at their leisure. So it's not like they are afraid.

How do you water a bird?

Klear@piefed.world · 1 pts · 36d

Jackdaws are a type of crow anyway...

Theoriginalthon@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 36d

Chickens do the same thing when they get too hot

ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org · 5 pts · 36d

Where I live, they all do when out in the sun, and close their beaks in the shade

southsamurai@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 36d

Yeah, little homie needs some shade and water I'd reckon