How Crow Family Showed Gratitude

Crow Family

Built a nest right in front of her house Crow Family.

When Tango Steinke moved into her new house in Virginia, she discovered her rather unusual neighbors. A pair of crows, whom she named Doc and Dottie.

Steinke says that at that time she was already feeding the other birds and squirrels so she tried to give the crows some food as well, hoping to befriend them. They would come through randomly and Tango would throw peanuts their way. But the crows would not eat it until she went inside.

When winter arrived, food sources became scarce and the little crow family started to visit Tango more and more often. It took them nearly a month to become comfortable around her and once they started to feel safe they became more vocal about their arrival. They would caw at her house non-stop until Tango would come out to greet them with a small bag of peanuts. Sometimes the crow couple would bring their friends to share in the feast.

One day she had gone out to feed the birds when she noticed something unusual on the perch. When she saw the two shining coins laying there she immediately knew that it must have been a little gift from her crow friends. Since then the two of them started to leave all kinds of shiny items for Tango as a way of showing gratitude. Usually, the crows would leave them in the feeder nearly once a month.

Doc and Dottie became very attached to Tango. They follow her to the bus stop in the morning, hang out around the playground, and, most importantly, they keep an eye on Tango’s little kids. The alarm calls when one of them falls over. Tango says that the pair is always around them whenever they go outside.

Andrea Parss is a writer at Animal Club where her primary focus is on anthrozoology, conservation, human-animal relationships. Andrea has been writing and researching animals for over ten years and has decades of hands-on experience working with a variety of different animals.

Rate author