My crows brought me “gifts” at my old place, but they’ve been warming up to me living somewhere different now.

I used to feed them at regular intervals and I changed the schedule to a pattern of a different time per day as I was experiencing crowding and therefore dominance at the new place.

I have continued to wonder if they still trust me in this new environment. No doubt they recognize me, but my old place had covered windows thus only brief and infrequent cat appearances, my new place is floor to ceiling windows 180 degrees with no curtains, and with 2 cats now (my trauma rescue was still struggling to cope so after a year of working with her, I got her a literal emotional support kitten, whom she loves dearly and is now a cuddle bug), it’s definitely a questionable situation for them.

So just a few minutes ago Alex came by (one of my regulars). He obviously had something in his beak. He landed on the railing of my balcony, did a few side steps towards me, put the object down, did another side step and cocked his head, I said hi to him and he flew over to the food bowl. He left in his new way for the 3rd time by flying out right over me.

So with all that backstory, I realized something interesting today. I have been spending more time with them here while they are getting used to the new “scary” environment (cats). I’ve been talking to them to tell them they are safe. I’ve been calling them by name more frequently. Alex in particular because he’s been a daily visitor for a month now. 

I started by doing the same thing I did initially, put food out, go inside, close the door, stand near window. I started noticing hesitation and changed to put food out then sit at a distance, to tell them it was ok. Possibly they realized only I could open the door and if they could watch me they were safe.

Just now, the correlation hit me. When I got gifts at my old place, it was when I wasn’t only feeding them, it was when I interacted with them, and started talking with them frequently. The difference between a silent friendly stranger and a vocal friend seems to have some weight on gifts in my experience.  

Curious if anyone can confirm this theory? I know several people that have never gotten “gifts” from their crow friends, and I’ve always thought it may be happenstance, but I know their interactions are always quiet.

TL;DR: My crows who found me after I moved just brought me my first gift at my new place and I think the correlation may be my interactions with them. 

Gifting, my experience