Not your common shorebird

There are a lot of different species we can find near a shoreline; although waterbirds are the first ones that come to my mind, species we can find in forest areas can also be seen frequently, like passerines.

This passerine in particular, is one of the biggest species, and one of the most intelligent too!

^{Hooded crow - Corvus cornix}

I had seen hooded crows near water before, but this was the first time I've seen them actively exploring the shoreline. And they weren't afraid to get wet!

They were jumping around the rocks, exploring, even moving small rocks with their beaks. At first I thought they were just goofing around, since crows are curious birds. But after a couple minutes, it was clear what were they really doing there.

The little devils were catching limpets!!

Hooded crows are omnivorous; they'll feed of basically anything, from carrion to small prey. But this was the first time I've seen them going for seafood! 😁

And they seemed to be very good at it. I could almost swear that they actually washing the limpets after removing the hard shell!

The two crows that were keeping me company didn't seemed disturbed at all with my presence; they were far more interested to try and find where the most juiciest limpets were.

It shouldn't be a surprise to see them so skilled at seafood catching, on second thought; with the abundance of food on the rocks, and being armed with a strong beak and the intelligence to use it in the best way possible, why let such a tasty meal escape?

Nevertheless, it's always interesting to see a species out of the habitat where one normally sees it, and with an adaptive feeding behaviour (yes, you already know I have a geek side!).

They even got to the point where they started to be curious (or maybe annoyed is a better word?) about the crazy human stalking them with a camera.

But only for a short time. They even got really close to my backpack, but since there was no suitable meal for them there, off they went back to their lunch.

Warm weather, crystal clear waters... and seafood as fresh as it gets; some birds know how to enjoy life! 😉

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