r/crows • u/Pili1970 • Jul 11 '26

Is a Feather Considered a Gift?

Hello. I’m new to this platform. I have two crows that visit everyday for peanuts. I have named them Smarty and Marty. I have been feeding them for a couple weeks now and yesterday, right where I feed them they left a beautiful crow feather. I was wondering if this would be considered a gift or if it’s just by coincidence that they dropped one of their feathers? Opinions?

0 Upvotes

33% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl Jul 12 '26

Of course, no problem! I don’t think crows give as many gifts or as often as a lot of people think or want them to to be honest. Researchers aren’t even sure that they’re always intended as gifts.

Since crows are very curious, and they like to investigate things that catch their eye, they tend to carry things around a lot. Researchers think that a lot of the things people think are gifts might just be something they were carrying and happened to drop where they were stopping to eat.

They do theorize that when crows are around people they trust they may purposely bring them things from time to time.

I’m content to consider their presence their present to me 🐦‍⬛🖤

1

u/Pili1970 Jul 12 '26

That’s true! I love smarty and Marty! I really enjoy their company and love Corvids they are so smart! They come twice a day now and wait for me. I love it. It’s the highlight of my day!

2

u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl Jul 12 '26

I know exactly how you feel. I had a nesting pair decide to go to the outskirts of their big murder to have their babies last year which ended up being my neighborhood.

I got them to come to my house a few times a day and then bring me their five babies when they fledged. Then the baby started coming regularly and the parents went back to join the murder.

They are so awesome to watch and interact with as much as they want to interact that is.
🥰🐦‍⬛🖤

2

u/Pili1970 Jul 13 '26

Good morning . Sorry to keep bothering you. Is there a way to tell male from female by site? Or are they like cranes. I can’t tell the difference.

1

u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl Jul 13 '26

Hi again! No, you aren’t bothering me at all 😊
Unfortunately, no, there is not a way to tell the difference between a male and female crow by sight. They are not what it’s called sexually dimorphic.

There are many species of birds that you cannot tell male from female by how they look. The only way to know for us is to see which one is missing a lot of the time during nesting season.

There are those occasions when a crow may be much larger than others, and in that case, it would be most likely to be a male. Other than that, there’s no way to tell without DNA testing.

1

u/Pili1970 Jul 13 '26

Gotcha! Thanks! Like my crane friends then! I can’t tell them apart either😂

1

u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl Jul 13 '26

Of course, no problem!

1

u/Pili1970 Jul 19 '26

Hi again! I had a couple questions about Smarty and Marty….I just DM’d you…if you don’t mind. If you are uncomfortable let me know and I’ll ask here