In late May and June I have often seen crows picking items off the water's
surface, and when I've been able to identify the fish it's always a
stickleback. It seems there's a seasonal increase in stickleback (and yellow
perch) mortality, possibly associated with changing water temperatures and
reproduction. Just a few days ago I saw a crow pick up a stickleback at
Magnuson Park in Seattle, and it appeared to use its bill and its feet
almost simultaneously while picking it up. While it flew it held the fish in
its bill.

I regularly work on Seattle area waters, and in Union Bay it seems that many
or even most of the times that I pass the navigation buoys east of Foster
Island, I see a crow on the buoy with a french fry. Sometimes I see the crow
flying to the buoy, and usually it comes from the direction of Madison Park.

Kevin Li
Ballard, USA