Imagine being black all over, it is 80 degrees and you are stuck at the beach!  That is the beach crow’s life on a sunny Pacific Northwest day.

They live down on the shore grabbing all the bounty of Puget Sound at low tide. Humans leave lots of tasty treats too. Most days here are cool or just warmish. This weekend we got into the 80s zone. Don’t laugh all of you from warmer climates but we are not equipped or used to hotter weather.  We are a temperate bunch raised on rain and cloudy weather.

The American Crow and his close relative the Northwestern Crow. I would say the Lincoln Park/Fauntleroy Ferry Dock murder is probably Northwestern. It is about as hard to tell which species they are as tell crow individuals apart.

There I was enjoying the beach and watching them bath in the creek.

They followed me to where I sat in the shade on some driftwood after I fed them a few peanuts.

As they waited for another tasty peanut treat, some of them started to pant. This panting isn’t exactly like a dog but it does help them cool in the heat.

Here is some info from Nature’s Q&A Blog:

When a bird pants, it breathes quickly, moving air across the moist surfaces of its lungs, throat, and mouth. This moisture then evaporates, which absorbs heat from the bird’s body. Each time the bird breathes out, some of this heat is carried outside, leaving the bird feeling cooler.

In a prior post a few weeks ago they were enjoying a quick dip in Fauntleroy Creek right where it hit the beach. They occupy a tree right over this spot.

Crows are not dumb. They have found a perfect home, fresh water, good natural eats and human stuff to eat and steal.  A crow’s heaven for sure.

Here is the short video and link to the blog post on them bathing.

Taking a dip in Fauntleroy Creek

And a few other posts on crow water dipping fun:

Crow Bath Time

Edgar Baby Crow learns to bath