Corvids and Coins, Or Crow Box

I lure them to me

and ask them to give up

their glinting metallic trove–

a precious heirloom in exchange

for a pellet of food.

“They aren’t thieves,”

I tell myself to feel better,

“just finders.”

And this crate is the community lost and found,

inaccessible to anyone but me.

I do not want an olive branch

or any other dove-delivered gift.

All the proof of life I need

is a scrap of wire,

a few coins,

and an irreplaceable diamond ring.

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Are crows particularly attracted to shiny things? No, probably not (and many of them avoid shiny things). Can you train crows and other corvids to bring you specific things? No, probably not. But the idea is super cool, and that’s why companies can sell the devices that provide a bird with food for bringing a gift.

Wive’s tales are weird. Humans are weird. And crows with their gifts that humans view as gratitude? Yes, also weird in a wonderful way.

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Image The Crow and the Pitcher, The Eagle and the Crow (1908) by Walter Crane (English, 1845 – 1915) found on Artvee