A family of crows pays a good deed forward

• Stuart Dahlquist, a confessed bird-lover, has been observing his new neighbors, a family of crows.
• When these crows were in need, Stuart did not hesitate to help them.
• The crows took notice of Stuart’s concern, and made sure to repay him in their sweet, unique way!

Jet-black crows are believed to be symbols of bad luck and death to some cultures, but crows are known to be the most intelligent and most cunning birds on earth. They are menacingly-looking, and is said to remember people, especially who mistreated them, and even hold grudges against them for a very long time!

Despite these, a man from Seattle got to experience the best of these creatures, leaving him still in awe of what crows are actually capable of.

Stuart Dahlquist, a confessed bird-lover, has been observing his new neighbors — the Crow Family — for quite some time already.

“This particular family of crows has been hanging around our house I’d guess about four years,” Stuart shared. “They had nested in a large Douglas fir in the front yard and we could hear the babies when the adults fed them.”

One day, Stuart realized that something is off with the crows and when he checked them out, he saw both chicks fell off from their nest. The parent crows seemed pretty angry, unable to rescue their babies.

“[The chicks] were almost able to fly, but instead were just running around the yard — their parents squawking,” Stuart said. “I caught the two of them and got them into a tree. I put some food and water underneath them in case they fell again.”

Since the incident, Stuart consistently helped the crows, regularly throwing snacks at the base of the tree. But he had no idea what these wise birds were up to, to show him some gratitude!

There was this time when one of the crows was sitting exactly where Stuart feeds them. He then noticed and was surprised to find a fir twig tied in a soda tab.

“I noticed it straight away because I’m kind of sensitive about trash going where it belongs,” Stuart said. “But the pull tab being threaded onto the sprig of fir wasn’t normal and I hung onto it,” he added.

As if the surprise wasn’t enough yet, Stuart found another fir twig in exactly the same soda can pull tab around it the next day. “This is when it dawned on us that the crows were making and leaving them.” 

Dumbfounded, Stuart couldn’t believe the crows can be this “amazing,” extraordinary, creative, and grateful in a unique way. “Not only were our crows leaving gifts, but they had created something beyond. It was crafting,” he said.

“The adult male is very amiable and will fly sometimes within a few feet, swooping by to say, ‘Here I am!’”

It looked like a beautiful sight every time, when Stuart would take his regular walks, and these crows would land on wires along the way to say hi.

Source: The Dodo