It appears to me that they are allopreening, otherwise known as "mutual
preening". It is rather common and is hypothesized to serve a hygienic
function as well as serving to strengthen the pair bond between couples and
family members.

Elizabeth Bacher
Seattle, WA

On Fri, Dec 11, 2015 at 1:47 PM, Michael Brown <michael at flycatcherfile.com>
wrote:

> Just watched two crows outside the windows of my school's lunch room. One
> was squatting on the ground while the other used its bill to comb through
> its throat feathers. I don't know if it was looking for parasites or what,
> but I'd never witnessed it before. A little while later the behavior was
> repeated on the crown of the bird's head and on its neck. I'd be
> interested to know if this a well known behavior. Here's a link to a cell
> phone video. You may need to watch on a large screen.
>
> https://flic.kr/p/C37XwA
>
> Michael Brown
> Puyallup, WA
>
> *Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID*
>
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>
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