I believe there are stories where people have trained crows to pick up trash in return for food. If she changed up how she gave them food she probably could train them to bring back money.
My auntie fed her crows. She baked them turkeys and would leave it on the picnic table in her backyard. She feed them rice and lots of other foods up till the day she passed. What they did for her in return was, whenever she drove to the grocery store or ran errands or when on her daily long walks in her small town they'd fly above her then sit in the trees while she was in wherever she was going, then fly above her on her way home - they protected her and she loved them very, very much. My uncle joked she fed them and loved them more than him and honestly I think she did. I often wonder what the crows thought when suddenly she was gone. The crows eventually left.
Incredible. A crow did that with my wife too. A crow we were feeding would fly over the car all the way to the shops. Later when it was in a flock (I think more than one is a Murder of Crows) it left the flock to fly by the window to say hello.
I've often seenbcrows give gifts as a way of barter in exchange for food. That would mean they have a more complex understanding of social awareness. One of my neighbors had noticed that the crows had eaten all her strawberries that she was growing on her balcony. The next time she saw them, she yelled at them for eating her strawberries, probably gestured towards the plant too. A day later, when she was outside on her balcony, a crow dropped a piece of bread on her. The next day, they dropped a chicken bone. It makes me think that they were able to determine the context of her anger and wanted to replace the food they took. They really are amazing
I was "paid" by a crow once. I left a couple of past fresh date hot dogs out on the snow for them and in the morning I found a bright shiny stainless steel spoon in place of the hot dogs. It had to be a crow there were no tracks to the spot and no other birds winter around here at 9,000 feet. I have kept that spoon for years and we call it the crow spoon.
I've seen videos where squirrels have brought twigs and dried leaves to people who feed them regularly. I guess because to a squirrel dried leaves and twigs have value as nesting material. They don't know that we don't build nests inside our houses and apartments. It seems to be a sense of reciprocation in a relationship and reveals a level of fairly high intelligence, Not just tree rats then.
I think crows generally tend to bring gifts. It's normal. It took me months to realize that all the blue lighters, blue wires and shiny candy wrappers are gifts from the crows. I just thought my neighbors were a little messy. So far the crows have brought me coins, keys, stones, pine cones, plastic pieces, a little bottle, an espresso spoon and a golden colored watch. Two days ago I got a little mirror. I love crows. Edit: I should have mentioned how it started. At first the crows picked things from our compost heap. That wasn't really much but the blue lighters started to show up. I asked my neighbors but no one missed theirs. Later I began throwing out the rests of what my picky cats didn't want to eat. And so the lighters showed up at that spot plus candy wrappers etc. Must have been a whole package of those blue lighters. Probably someone who smokes on the balcony/porch had it outside on the window sill or the like. Anyways crows are obsessed with blue things. 🔵
I love how the crows have no obligations to give anything in return for the food, but they INSIST they do. Crows are so intelligent, they can recognize what humans like, are able to retain that information, then actively look, find, and bring back those things to show appreciation
I love how you spend $50 in peanuts and everyone is like "They gave you a dime!!!!" 😆 It's sweet that you have a birdie family. I think the gifts are a way they are showing you that you're accepted ❤
Ravens & Crows love shiny objects...you give them food, they will bring you shiny treasure (we are no different, we humans love coin LOL). Ravens & crows are all about rewards...you birds appreciate you giving them food
Crows are very intelligent and Ravans I believe can learn to mimic some human words. Both birds also have excellent memories if you are kind to a crow they will remember you ever after that.
Not only crows and ravens, but also European Starlings will bring you gifts if you regularly bring them food, especially coins. I had one particular Starling friend many years ago that left me so many coins, and pieces of jewelry (anything that shines), I still have kept that collection 💞💞💞💞
That's so beautiful. It is amazing how totally wild animals willingly interact with us and show us friendship. A heap of thought and planning went into those gifts. Not only did the bird keep its eyes open for something njce, but collected it, flew all the way back, and then dropped it where it knew you would see it. Stunning amount of higher cognition and care
@@nikkid4890 Exactly, Nikki, I love the way you express this .. The level of thinking required is the most amazing part .. The idea of reciprocation as a necessary part of the relationship. In recent decades naturalists have been discovering so many animals that are capable of this kind of thinking, where a member of one species helps a member of another species, for the mutual benefit of both members. We really are just beginning to scratch the surface in our understanding of the many and complex abilities of our fellow living beings 💞💞💞
@LostHorizon52 aka Debbie Thanks! I am a Neuroclinical Psychologist trying to figure out how to change my career path to Ethology. I am vehemently against the senseless cruelty to animals in research, and Ethology offers the ability to study animal behaviour in their natural habitats. For years now, I have been saying that crows giving gifts is a cognitive act of displaying friendship. The current narrative still is that crows give gifts to coerce us into continuing to feed them. I think this is rubbish. I tried a pseudo experiment where I stopped feeding them during the day when they could see me, and put food out in the darkeness only. The crows stopped leaving me gifts despite the feed continuing. When I resumed feeding them again in the daylight, it only took a few days, and the gifts came back. And no matter which family member fed them (a different observation), they made sure the gifts were closest to the chair I habitually sat in. Even when I moved the chairs around, within a few days they were leaving them next to the new position. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friendships. It gives so much colour to life and adds a deep richness. Your experiences are extremely precious too. Lucky you!
We feed them regularly. They can recognize me no matter how I wear my hair, or whatever hat I have on. One of the crows can imitate sounds, he does the chain saw, crying baby, wood pecker, alarm and a few others...the alarm is funny because my two elderly neighbors are always burning toast, setting off the smoke alarm and somehow this crow has picked it up! He also can do hawk and eagle sounds that causes the other birds to scatter and he swoops in to take the food - it's amazing how smart they actual are!
In one of the murders I feed there is a crow that imitates a cooper hawk it almost sounds like a chicken or rooster. It follows me everywhere too and lets out that call about once a minute. Once it came up to me, sat on this fence about 2 feet away , started bobbing them let out that little cobra chicken call 👺👺
At least they give you things in return, alot of humans don't even do that lol! Every mid-November to early spring a host of crows inhabit my neighborhood, it's so wonderful to see them fly around all winter ❤
I befriended a couple of adult crows in my local park at the start of spring last year. It started when I saw them trying to eat some food and a seagull was attacking them. I stepped in and chased the seagull away. Since then, I have fed them almost every day. The male will even take food from my hand. They introduced me to their three chicks that they had last year. I continue to feed them, and they even come to the window of my apartment now, to get food treats. I haven't received any gifts yet, but just being able to interacting with them is a gift in itself.
@@fishypaw all in good time. The gifts they leave are things that the crows themselves find to be interesting, like buttons, shells, shiny object etc. But whenever they give you money give them extra food. Soon all they will bring you is money and you will train them to rob people.
Set up a jar, a coin jar. Place several examples of what to look for inside so they can see them but not take them. Small slot on top allows for deposits only. This could be a money maker. You could probably make tens of dollars in just a couple decades. But it would be fun to watch.
I admire crows . They are so intelligent and they are generations of the same family teaching their young the best spots and people to go to or avoid. Never upset a crow because not only will they remember but they teach their young to remember it as well. There is a family living in a group of trees across the road from me and they are fun to watch and listen to :)
They definitely remember and grieve. My son told me his landlord came over and shot one with a bebee (?) gun. At first he was shooting squirrels because they were chewing the wires on the garage, then he decided to shoot a crow as they were squawking around him. The grows went to the dead one and preformed a ceremony of such. They were mad and followed him home, diving at him, squawking, circling him. They remembered him, every time he came over they harassed him!
Definitely don't anger them. Here in Zagreb, some crow once followed a guy and then, when he was crossing the street, attacked him in at attempt to get him hit by the traffic (nothing happened to him). I guess he killed some crow at some point, and this crow came for revenge. Crows are very smart and fascinating.
@@johnstrawb3521 What if they can read? Don't give them any ideas. Any crows reading this: this guy is not serious, that won't work... Don't even try (crisis averted)
@@irishcanuck9489 same with mice. My father hurt or killed some mice in our house and my father’s brief were tore down by them and other things I think shoes or socks. My mother also prohibit us to say the word mouse in our language because they might be listening to our plan and they know that word mouse is them. I didn’t really believe and was just laughing when my mother told me this until I saw videos of lhow smart people’s pet mice and rats are.
We have a raven, he lives in a large bird box I built for him on our deck, and he brings us all kinds of things. Most of it is useless, though still appreciated all the same (I always praise him and give him extra fruit and head scratches), he really loves the appreciation and bobs his head up and down and does a little dance. However, one time he brought home a broken, yet really heavy, 14k gold chain. We live near a lake, so he probably found it there. I had it repaired and I always wear it.
My neighbor and I have been talking to a Raven couple for years. We don’t feed them, we just say hi as they fly by both in our language and we mimic their calls. They often caw back to us, and sometimes wait for us to walk by perched above us. It feels so good to connect to them and their family members even briefly. Birds deserve our appreciation and respect.
I used to give a lot of food to the birds in my backyard, and they started to bring their friends and family over. But I have two dogs that also hang out in the backyard, and when the birds started increasing in numbers they started acting aggressive towards my dogs, I guess because my dogs food was also outside. So now no more food for birds
A friend of mine was feeding crows outside his house and they left him some pull tabs from a soda can with some tree pieces ran through them. Legitimate art. Crows are incredible.
That is so cool that they left you gifts!! I had two crows Rocky and Rachel that I gave them peanuts everyday. They would be waiting for me and always knew I’d give them food. Rocky would open the peanut, and feed it to Rachel. Then they had a baby. Daddy would feed him too. It was wonderful, I loved them like they were my own pets. Then I had to move. 😢 Crows are so smart and friendly.
I spent 7 years living in Southern Alaska and the Crows and Ravens are around there like pigeons (same with Bald Eagles). They are so intelligent and funny. There are a couple of ravens outside my dad's place up there and they tease his Border Collie all day. They know he likes to bark at them when they fly by the window or perch in a close tree. So, they will fly super close across the window and perch in the tree and just stare him down while he is losing his mind barking at them to back off! 😆
Just watched a similar video where a crow brought someone they'd befriended a dime as well. Later the person gave the dime back and the crow happily took the dime away. Crows are the coolest.
A few years ago a crow was hanging out on pole where I was playing ball with my dog. After he called out my dog barked directly at him and two other crows showed up. At that point the original crow started making barking sounds at us perfectly mimicking my dog. Ever since then they hang out near my apartment and the original crow barks at us which signals the others who immediately come to the tree where he's perched. The main one barks at us and the others call out in different ways. It's really entertaining and never gets old.
'Scientists' say that crows give gifts to encourage us to continue feeding them. I dispute this! I fed wild crows, and they brought me regular gifts. Once I was certain that the gifts were not random and happened very often, I started putting food out in the darkness so they couldn't see me. Within about 2 weeks, the gifts had totally stopped. For 2 months, there was not a single gift... until I started feeding them during the day when they could watch me. A few days later, the gifting was back in full swing! They even placed them ONLY on the chair I sat in, and not any of the other chairs. I have zero doubt that the gifts were meant for me, and me only, and are tokens of friendship. After all, they give each other gifts too, but only their fave buddies. They give gifts as an act of friendship, a very high order of social affection, and not because of some primative coercive drive for food. They were fed despite them not being able to see me, but the gifts stopped when they couldn't see me anymore.
"They were fed despite them not being able to see me, but the gifts stopped when they couldn't see me anymore." Doesn't that kind of prove that they gave the gifts to encourage you to feed them? If they weren't sure it was you giving them food, there was no point in bringing you stuff
The claim that they do it out of friendship and the claim that they do it to encourage you to keep feeding are not mutually exclusive though. Remember, scientists aren't the callous-unfeeling-figures-in-spooky-white-lab-coats you see in sci fi movies. They're people like you that love and dedicate themselves to these animals, just as much, if not more than you do. Think of it like this: you pet a dog, and a dog licks you back. It's being friendly! It wants you to know that it thinks of you as a friend. But also, the dog is encouraging you to keep petting. That's what the crows are doing; they offer tokens both to be sociable, AND to signal that they want you to keep going :)
@Merptastical I have to disagree. I befriended wild crows and fed them daily. After a few weeks the gifts started. Being a Neuroscientist I decided to try a few different experiments. I wanted to know if they couldn't see me, but were still fed, if they would still drop gifts. And, if anyone else fed them, would they drop gifts too... I continued feeding the crows but put the food out in the dark when they could not see me. They stopped leaving gifts. Months later, I started putting food out in broad daylight, and the gifts suddenly resumed. Whenever I was away, my daughter or husband would feed them exactly as I did. The gifts stopped. And resumed when I came back and fed them. I have NO doubt that not every crow gives gifts (unlike every dog licking hands). And not every person who feeds crows gets gifts either. Research recently uncovered that Crows gift each other USEFUL items. Specifically selected to please their friend. And ONLY for their friend, with the sole purpose of pleasing them. Why shouldn't their fave person be given a gift of friendship too? Giving gifts IS for friends only in their world. I also have to question the logic that dogs lick hands to encourage more of the same behaviour. Who says that they aren't showing friendship too?
The ones I feed left me an Avon stainless steel arrowhead necklace encased in a rock hard cow patty. 😂 I had to soak it a week to get it clean. They probably left me other gifts I didn’t recognize.
Love people like this! I don’t even make enough to afford a modest one bedroom apartment anymore, but camp out and still feed the wild birds. They are the meaning of life well lived. And though it made have started with just food, you are their human now. Birds know most humans, and their dogs and cats are trying to kill them so when they find one they can trust, they covet their prize.
Funny you should mention... The entire backyard avian and squirrel society - they all know what's going down. After I started feeding them, feral cats came around. One of them was stalking birds and when I got up to chase him off his prey, all of the animals took notice and it changed our relationship. A baby squirrel would sit next to me for protection and the blue Jays sang whisper songs. It feels miraculous to make friends with the birds. (Eventually I was able to socialize the cat and get him adopted)
Crows are hella smart. When I was a kid, neighbor's pet crow kept trying top steal some food from our outdoors table, so my mother chased him away. He retaliated by taking a crap on her laundry several times.
We've been feeding our local crow family every day for about two years now. I too have been shocked by how intelligent, playful, and loving they are, how complex their social structure is, and how different their personalities are. They're just amazing.
This reminds me of a fabled story about a medieval king recieving a crow as a gift. It was very intelligent and good at helping him hunt, in fact during his hunting parties, he hunted so well that his fellow hunters got sick of him getting all the kills and left early. Before the king decided to go home as well, however, he felt very thirsty and so he decided to find a stream or a lake. Sure enough he found a trickle of water just a few drops coming down from what was a possible pond. grabbing an iron cup from his pack, he decided to fill it up, but his crow gave a screach, "Caw Caw." and nocked the cup out of his hand. angry, he yelled at the bird for its misbehavior as he picked up his cup. As he attempted to fill up his cup again, the crow again chirped, "Caw Caw!" and knocked the cup from his hand. This time the king had lost his patience, he was thirsty and wanted something to drink, so he picked up his cup again and placed a hand at his sword preparing to swing if the bird decides to mess with him. Sure enough, as he starts to fill up the cup, the bird gives one last sound, "Caw Caw!" and swoops down to knock over his cup. This time, however, the king was ready, he drew his sword and slew the crow. The king greedily drank from the cup with what little trickled down. In fact the water trickled so slowly that eventually the king grew impatient and so he decided to climb up the steep hill to draw directly from the source. once he made it up, he saw a before him a pond and in that pond was the floating corpse of a venomous snake.
My roommate in collage had a pet crow named Marty . Every time I couldn’t find my keys or a pen , I would find them in his cage. They love shiny things !
Like parrot .. Crow is also a lovely bird... It can feel the love and care of a particular human......my crow shouts until I give him bread or parle-g...if I say kaaakku... Catch.. The next second it opens its beak and ready to catch the food... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤗🤗🤗🤗
We have ducks in our backyard. Wonderful, funny birds who view life as a game and can eat snails and slugs raw when nothing else will touch them. When a raccoon came and started killing our ducks, the local crows started warning us when they saw a raccoon in the area. The crows even told us where the raccoon had its nest. We think we earned crows loyalty after we rescued an injured crow and got it medical care over five years ago. Naturally, there are peanuts and dried corn on the cob kept on the back porch for the crows and squirrels.
Wow - I knew raccoons had a thing for bird eggs and small hatchlings, but had no idea they would actually kill adult ducks! Do they eat them? That's cool that the crows would warn you about the raccoon coming. I didn't even know that ducks like to eat snails and slugs, I'd never heard of that before.
If raccoons are killing ducks its because they are starving. You should probably feed them cat food and things. They are also a blast. How about leaving them chicken eggs.
Thank you for being kind to animals I feed them too!! I live in New York City and I put knots in the window boxes for them especially early spring when they come bird from the south and all the birds in the city❤
@@animaladvocate8938 Imagine if somebody made them little really shiny ( but lightweight ) bling necklaces and put it on them. They would probably proudly wear it. 😅
Lovely! You are so kind to post this video. Watching you feed your feathered friends was therapeutic. I love watching fish in aquariums too (fish in any habitat actually). Birds, Fish and bright stars are what I really want to be surrounded by. Thank you.
Thankyou , I loved watching this , I also have a family of crows that come daily, and stand right in view of my kitchen window so I can see them , there they stay till I feed them , about 3/5 times a day. I never get presents though, but once I had a crow with a limp and scrawny, I felt so sorry for it , I used to feed it. It became strong , and lost its limp eventually. It used to wait high up in the tree , at front of my house ,I saw it at the top of the stairs , and by the time I reached the bottom of the stairs it would be waiting in the middle of the lawn. I fed for couple of years, until one day almighty commotion out front , was my crow , being got at by others , his head looked like a beetroot , bloody and no feathers . I went out there and shooed them away, he stayed there and eventually hid under a bush near my back door . If only I could of picked him up and bought him in to care for him, but he would not of let me. That day was the last I ever saw of him. But I do know he knew I would not hurt him in anyway, and I gave him food …. I will never forget him. I DO THINK PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERACTIONS WITH WILD LIFE ARE THE LUCKIEST PEOPLE . There is nothing nicer than a wild animal trusting humans. 👍👍👍👍👍🌸
It is such an amazing feeling to be that in tuned with wildlife 😁 That's is so cool...Your jar of keepsakes & gifts from your feathered friends! Keep enjoying yourself with them 🙂
pro tip:if a crow gives money give them better food this makes the crows brain to think that more money = better food so you get money and crows get food so a win for both
It is fun to feed the squirrels and the crows. They both love and prefer peanuts to bread pieces. They are both surprisingly intelligent. They know my cry I do to call them to eat. They are special.
They love peanut butter. I used to make them sandwiches. The squirrels brought them up into the trees to leave them to share with their crow friends. It was so amazing.
I love how Jesus prayed. Wait. Did he pray to himself? Did he resurrect...himself? Didnt the voice out of heaven say “this is my Son...”. Or was Jesus throwing his voice and tricking everyone? 😂😂😂
How does she know that they gossip about each other? I’m not questioning it; I really want to know. I love this lady. She has a great appreciation and understanding of them.❤
You can teach them to talk too.Someone in my neighborhood told me there was a local who had a pet crow he was teaching to talk.Didn't quite believe it till I was out gardening one day &heard from the trees a little voice saying Hello repeatedly....
Pound for pound, crows are among the most intelligent animals. If they had arms with opposable digits, maybe they could've even evoled into complex tool use and an avian civilization.
This is my five year plan - to be surrounded by wild bird friends. I had one amazing blue jay summer when I was house-sitting and now require a lush backyard. But from my city balcony overlooking asphalt and concrete, I have a lot of squirrel visitors and play bird calls on my phone according to the birds I hear. Once in awhile the larger birds venture over.
I made friends with the crows/ravens at the university where I worked. Within a couple years I hada whole wall of their feathers! They dropped them right in front of me, lol. We would call hello out to each other every morning.🙏🏼
Actually I do think they’re lovely and intelligent creative. I was told they would feed their parents generation by generation until they pass away. They’re too incredible! 💜💜💜💜💜💜😊
For a while when I was caring for an elderly lady I began to interact with some local crows. I had set up bird feeders where she could sit and watch the action. She lived in a fairly rural area so we would see many types of birds including palliated woodpeckers. The local crows were very, very wary at first. I think because people kill them and hang their bodies as a deterrent to other crows. It was very interesting to see how aware of their surroundings they were and how they worked things out. Since I was trying to feed many types of bird, I put out a variety of food including protein, which the crows liked. It seemed after time they recognized me and my car and looked for it as I came up the mountain to work. I sometimes wonder if the crows who live near me in town are any of the same group or is it too far. They don’t seem to come to feeders but prefer to hang in the very mature trees up the hill and in the cemetery. You can tell when they find a hawk or owl in the area, they are relentless trying to drive it away.
I've been working with the crows in my neighborhood but there is a pair of hawks that also live around. They caw and fly away when they hear one of the hawks.
That's so amazing that they brought her gifts and it almost brings tears to my eyes. They like shiny things but they wanted to give them to that lady for helping them...... Or at least that's what I like to think.
I love to feed the birds at my house. I have cardinals,blue Jays, crows, morning doves, woodpeckers, and lots more. They all have different personalities. The squirrels to. Different colors, some calico.They squirrels will let me know when the food is low by climbing on the screen and looking into the house. Thank you for taking care of them!
This beyond cool , much ❤ love . Whether you give them 🥜 or not .It's so amazing how they show you love and appreciation for it.Animals are so amazing .
Wow this is so amasing!!! To the woman who shot it: you have made an important input into understanding crows by sharing your wonderful story! I wonder how you realised they gossip!
In the 1990s, Saturday Night Live used to run a skit called "Brief Thoughts, by Jack Handey". A short usually emotive text would appear over a hazy cloudy background and a soft narrative voice would read it. One was: "The Crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw."
We live in a concrete suburb filled with condos and other utterly dull architecture pretty much devoid of nature. 'Our' crows, which we hand feed during our daily walks, provide us with a beautiful glimpse of our wildlife. Its pre-breeding season right now, so we get inundated with murders of them. Going through peanuts like crazy at the moment, but all good