I looked out the window and saw this bird with what looked like a red bill... mmm... what bird has a red bill like this. So I grabbed the camera and zoomed in a little closer. Oh wow, it's a crow with its head in a weird pose and its mouth open.
It kept its mouth open for quite some time. I of course was worried about it, but there's not much I can do for a crow on our derelict neighbor's roof.
So I wrote the bird maven guru Julie Zickefoose and asked her what she made of this behavior. She wrote:
"I believe it's sunbathing, and trying to expose its neck and breast to max sun. If it was able to fly, able to take off and go, there was nothing wrong with it. Its wings are slightly out here, too, which is consistent with sunbathing. At the full-blown level, he'd have keeled over, head tipped to the side, bill agape, tail and wings spread, and you'd have been sure he was dying."
Ah, just a sunbather enjoying this sunny warm day respite from our week-long foggy gray weather. We understand!