Kindness seeks no return, but every good deed comes back in some way. Children love animals, but not all of them become true friends with them.

Yet, the unusual story of a little girl from Seattle, Washington, and her crows, fascinated the world. Gabi Mann has been feeding crows for a long time.

After a while, they became so great friends, that the birds began leaving her little gifts!

The little girl keeps all the precious presents in a storage box in labeled bags, so she can remember all the important details. For instance, she has a bag with a broken light bulb, labeled: “Black table by feeder. 2:30 p.m. 09 Nov 2014.”

Her favorite gift is a pearl-colored heart, but she has also received many other gifts, such as buttons, pieces of foam, beads, Lego pieces, and paper clips.

Gabi believes that the gifs show how much the crows love her. The practice of feeding the crows started by accident in 2011, when she was only 4 years old, and she had a habit of dropping food.

Soon, crows started approaching her to check if she has dropped something they could eat.

As she got older, she realized they were hungry, and decided to feed them on her way to and from the bus stop. After some time, the crows started waiting for her at the bus stop. They often got all of her and her brother’s lunch.

Over time, the entire family started to love the crows, and since 2013, Gabi and her mother have been feeding them on a daily basis. They left peanuts and dog food and filled the backyard birdbath with fresh water. As they worked, the birds assembled on the telephone lines, calling loudly to them.

Over time, the crows also left a little shiny gift behind for their friend, like a screw, a button, or a polished rock. Yet, some of the gifts are truly valuable for Gabi, like a piece of metal with the word “best” stamped on it.

Gabi finds it funny that out there, there might be a crow wearing ” the part that says ‘friend'”.

According to John Marzluff, professor of wildlife science at the University of Washington, developing a bond with a crow is possible, but one needs to “be consistent in rewarding them.”

He adds that he has seen crows giving gifts to other people, but they are not always pretty and shiny. Gabi has received some filthy gifts as well, like a rotting crab claw.

Gabi’s mom, Lisa, also has a favorite gift: a camera lens cap, which was actually hers, but she has lost it in an alley close to their house.

When she checked the bird cam, she saw that the crows brought it back:

 “You can see it bringing it into the yard. Walks it to the birdbath and actually spends time rinsing this lens cap. I’m sure that it was intentional. They watch us all the time. I’m sure they knew I dropped it. I’m sure they decided they wanted to return it.”

Lisa added that her daughter loved seeing the birds eat, and she even” gave the crows nicknames and could identify them just by looking at them. “

According to The National Audubon Society, a nonprofit that protects birds:

“Crows are amazingly smart, social, and playful, and they’re one of the few bird species that’s been documented to have individual human facial recognition. With all of these factors combined, it’s easy to see why they would develop a very interactive and social relationship with this family.”

Sources:
www.bbc.com
www.inspiremore.com
animalchannel.co