The girl who gets gifts from birds

[n2doc]

Lots of people love the birds in their garden, but it's rare for that affection to be reciprocated. One young girl in Seattle is luckier than most. She feeds the crows in her garden - and they bring her gifts in return.

Eight-year-old Gabi Mann sets a bead storage container on the dining room table, and clicks the lid open. This is her most precious collection.

"You may take a few close looks," she says, "but don't touch." It's a warning she's most likely practised on her younger brother. She laughs after saying it though. She is happy for the audience.

Inside the box are rows of small objects in clear plastic bags. One label reads: "Black table by feeder. 2:30 p.m. 09 Nov 2014." Inside is a broken light bulb. Another bag contains small pieces of brown glass worn smooth by the sea. "Beer coloured glass," as Gabi describes it.

Each item is individually wrapped and categorised. Gabi pulls a black zip out of a labelled bag and holds it up. "We keep it in as good condition as we can," she says, before explaining this object is one of her favorites.

more

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31604026

[jakeXT]

1. There is even a squirrel in the video /nt

[csziggy]

6. There are also a lot of pigeons

Feathered rats and fluffy tailed rats!

The crows here watch for me to throw out bread crusts but they haven't brought me any gifts. Probably because they don't get crusts on a regular schedule since I only throw them out once or twice a week.

Same for the gray foxes - they check out the little bit of organic waste I throw out, but there usually isn't much for them to be interested in, maybe some eggshells, seldom even a bone. Most of our waste are coffee grounds and banana peels - not very appetizing for a fox!

[jakeXT]

11. I knew magpies were stealing shiny objects, so I was surprised crows would donate them

The neighbor's cat is the only one donating something, mainly dead rodents. That happens usually on a regular basis, without being asked to, I might add.

After doing a bit of googling, it looks like the Australian magpies can be evil.

Magpies are ubiquitous in urban areas all over Australia, and have become accustomed to people. A small percentage of birds become highly aggressive during breeding season from late August to early October, and will swoop and sometimes attack passersby. The percentage has been difficult to estimate but is significantly less than 9%.[84] Almost all attacking birds (around 99%) are male,[85] and they are generally known to attack pedestrians at around 50 m (150 ft) from their nest, and cyclists at around 100 m (300 ft).[86] Attacks begin as the eggs hatch, increase in frequency and severity as the chicks grow, and tail off as the chicks leave the nest.[87]



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_magpie

[csziggy]

12. Around here, sometimes mockingbords will attack people

[lovemydog]

2. I love this part of the story:

Lisa, Gabi's mom, regularly photographs the crows and charts their behaviour and interactions. Her most amazing gift came just a few weeks ago, when she lost a lens cap in a nearby alley while photographing a bald eagle as it circled over the neighbourhood.

She didn't even have to look for it. It was sitting on the edge of the birdbath. Had the crows returned it? Lisa logged on to her computer and pulled up their bird-cam. There was the crow she suspected. "You can see it bringing it into the yard. Walks it to the birdbath and actually spends time rinsing this lens cap."

[elleng]

7. My goodness,

rinses the lens cap!

[drmeow]

15. Me, too.

And the whole thing reminds me of the sledding crow video:

[TuxedoKat]

3. That's cool

I feed crows in one area of my yard too. They are such intelligent birds. When they see me they start squawking and calling to each other because they know it usually means food being put out. They love peanuts, corn chips, old bread, suet, dog food, etc. Mine haven't brought me any gifts yet though.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. Crows are so cool. Thanks for the link. n/t

[cemaphonic]

5. What is it with Seattleites and crows?

I know a guy that trained a murder of crows to follow his pickup truck for a block or so every time he leaves his house. Seems like a weird hobby, but OTOH it does look pretty badass.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. That's so neat. I'm going to try and make friends with my crows after I retire.

[Enrique]

9. they are giving offerings to their Food God

the crows teach their young about the Great Gabi.

[dolphinsandtuna]

10. or their servant

[haele]

13. The crows had their rookeries in the trees around our cul-de-sac -lots of fruit and nut trees.

I used to put out the left-overs that couldn't be re-heated; things like bread going bad mixed up with left-over popcorn in peanut butter, a stove-top dinner - stir-fry, noodles, veggies or beans - that had been inadvertently left sitting in their pots overnight, or two-week old forgotten Tupperware fridge left-overs mixed with scrambled eggs. Left-over pancake batter or oatmeal at breakfast when the picky eaters were living with us. The crows loved it and would keep an eye out for us.

One day when I was going out to the car with the then 18-month old grandchild, a stray dog began to charge us from across the street. The crows who were hanging out waiting to see if there was food forthcoming when we opened the door just began to loudly dive-bomb the dog hard, actually hitting it several times, and chased it yelping all the way down to the next street.

They got a nice serving of half the pot-roast and veggies cut up for sharing the next morning. After we moved, whenever I find myself back in that neighborhood (a very nice bodega was on the corner), I still get all sorts of greetings from them, and usually have a spare box of stale cheezits or other crackers in the back for them.

Haele

[lovemydog]

14. Here's a great documentary, A Murder of Crows.

Produced by National Geographic. I watched it last year, it's really great. Pretty cool it's free online now, so you can watch the whole thing.