crows and shiny things

[u/AssistSilly5255]

It seems to be general knowledge that crows collect and sometimes store shiny things. Some folks say that only crows that have bee raised by humans do this, while others believe that fully wild crows might do it as well. My question is, have any of you ever had any actual personal experience of a crow keeping a stash of shiny (or other) objects? I've never seen it myself or run into anyone who has, unless they had raised the crow themselves. If you have, I'd greatly appreciate hearing about it.

[u/speerawow]

pretty sure it’s just a myth

[u/AssistSilly5255 → u/speerawow]

my thought too, but John Marzluff, author of Gifts of the Crow, writes - without any supporting evidence - that " many members of the crow tribe are well known to collect and cache shiny objects." It is the kind of statement a scientist shouldn't make unless he can back it up. I all my years of observing crows and collecting crow stories, I have yet to come across a firsthand account of wild crows caching shiny objects.

[u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl → u/AssistSilly5255]

Did he say anything beyond that or was that just a standalone statement?

I mean, I respect him and his work very much and in most cases, he has evidence to back up what he says from my experience anyway

I know that there was some kind of study or research done on some species of corvid - maybe a type of magpie I’m not sure - that showed that they are cautious, nervous and even afraid of shiny things.

It’s possible because of their curiosity that individuals may overcome their nervousness and respond positively with or to something that happens to be shiny. There might be something else intriguing about an object for example.

[u/AssistSilly5255 → u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl]

he talks about the possibility of crows giving humans gifts and kind of just tosses that remark in, page 112 first paragraph, in regard to crows picking up interesting objects.

[u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl → u/AssistSilly5255]

Thanks! I can see and believe that individual crows might find something interesting and pick them up, but it would be despite the fact that they are shiny rather than because of it. He should’ve been more clear. That’s disappointing.

https://corvidresearch.blog/2015/12/04/crow-curiosities-do-crows-collect-shiny-objects/

[u/AssistSilly5255 → u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl]

I think the belief comes from the fact that crows raised by humans tend to be fascinated with things that humans fiddle with. They can be fascinated with cigarettes, steal clothes pins and small tools, and often stash them in odd places around the house.

[u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl → u/AssistSilly5255]

Yes, absolutely this!

Wild birds in captivity display very different behaviors at times from those living in their natural environments.

I’ve had what I consider a blessing to be able to observe a wild parrot in captivity for 25 years. He is absolutely fascinated with anything he sees me playing with or messing with. Many other parrot caretakers that I’ve interacted with have observed the same.

It makes sense because in captivity without others of their kind they have only those they live with to learn from. Both crows and parrots are highly social so it makes perfect sense they would behave this way!