This Seattle Man Has Been Feeding Crows For Several Years And They Started Bringing Him Gifts

Published 5 years ago

Most of us have probably noticed that crows are not only majestic and rather menacingly looking, but they’re also pretty smart – they can solve complex tasks and even hold grudges against people who wronged them! However, one man got to experience the good side of these smart creatures.

Stuart Dahlquist is a 56-year-old bird enthusiast from Seattle who has been feeding a family of crows for a few years. To his surprise, one day they brought him a unique gift, followed by another one the next day.

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Image credits: StuartDahlquist

In an interview with Bored Panda, Stuart said he always felt crows are amazing creatures. “Birds – all kinds – have been a real focal part of my life; I love watching them, listening to their calls, identifying them… Oh! And helping them if they need help,” said the bird enthusiast. “I’m not a real ‘birder’ with high powered binoculars or anything like that but they play an outsized role in my enjoyment of life.”

Stuart has been feeding this crow family for nearly 4 years – they made a nest in a fir tree in his front yard and he could hear the babies when the parents were feeding them. One day he saw that both crow babies had fallen from the nest and weren’t really able to fly: “We got them into a tree and the parents – pretty angry with us actually – took it from there and the little ones survived. We began feeding them soon after.”

There were originally four crows that Stuart was feeding but, sadly, one was killed by a raccoon a short while ago.

“Sometimes when I’m walking they’ll fly with me, landing on the wires and branches above as I amble along. When we get home they like to land on the fence and wait to be fed,” said Stuart. “Other times they simply “Caw! Caw!” at us… It’s pretty obvious when they want food.” He usually gives them high-quality dry cat food with no corn – according to Stuart, for some reason crows aren’t really fond of corn.

At one point one of the male crow’s leg got injured and didn’t heal properly, so he hops only on one foot, making him stand out from the others. “I often wish we could do something about it but there really isn’t a way. He gets around just fine otherwise,” said Stuart.

Image credits: StuartDahlquist

“When birds are very young, they will become very tame and I had a few wild birds as a kid; a robin, a magpie. Since I became an adult, crows have been my companions quite a lot, as well. I had one ‘The Judge’ (named after Cormac McCarthy’s character in Blood Meridian) for ten or eleven years,” shared Stuart. “He was really a wonderful pet and we’d likely still have him if it wasn’t for some raccoons killing him one night.” He regularly rescued crows while he still had The Judge – one of them was even rehired to a wild animal trainer and now appears in movies!

None of the birds Stuart rescued were taken from their parents: “They came to us as hurt, of having fallen from the nest and couldn’t be returned, or had been abandoned. Please don’t ever take a chick from its nest.”

This is Buddy – a rescue crow with a broken wing.

Image credits: Stuart Dahlquist

“The Judge hanging around the living room. He used to give the other pets hell!” joked Stuart.

Image credits: Stuart Dahlquist

“This is our pet crow ‘The Judge’ taking a bath in the tub”

Image credits: antinostalgist

Image credits: StuartDahlquist

People were impressed by Stuart’s generosity

Image credits: Oz9podcast

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Image credits: mulberryjane

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Image credits: AmandaYeardsley

Image credits: IanForrestAdams

Image credits: grm_chikn

Image credits: Seattle_JC

Aušrys Uptas

One day, this guy just kind of figured - "I spend most of my time on the internet anyway, why not turn it into a profession?" - and he did! Now he not only gets to browse the latest cat videos and fresh memes every day but also shares them with people all over the world, making sure they stay up to date with everything that's trending on the web. Some things that always pique his interest are old technologies, literature and all sorts of odd vintage goodness. So if you find something that's too bizarre not to share, make sure to hit him up!

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crow family, crow gifts, crows bring gifts, feeding crow family, feeding crows, smart birds, smart crows, Stuart Dahlquist
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