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?
Yes, that is exactly what it is.
Yeah, if they get very hot they lift their wings a bit. Pore fellow
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