Woman saved a crow desperate for help. Soon mysterious objects were being dropped off at her home

Not everyone can do what Leah Wilson, a Canadian woman, did for an injured crow. Well, in what may seem like the viral scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 movie "The Birds," crows were dive-bombing from the sky and circling a house. Soon enough, Wilson realized that all these blackbirds were there to save a crow who was stuck in the house’s eavestrough. Nobody had a ladder long enough to save it, so she approached some firefighters for help — and it's safe to say that became the starting point of what turned out to be the most adorable friendship between Wilson and the crows, CTV News reported on May 28.

Life-changing friendship 

“I was really distressed,” Wilson told the outlet, "and I knew I had to do something about it.” That’s when she noticed some firefighters in a fire truck parked a couple of blocks away. "I was like, 'Hey, you look like you want to save a crow today,'" she recalled with a laugh. With the help of a tall ladder, they rescued the injured crow, and Wilson drove it to an animal rehabilitation centre. But in the car, something incredible happened. The crow, as she described it, latched on to her finger and held on. "That was life-changing," Wilson remarked.

The 'thank you' gift

For Wilson, it seemed like the end of the story. But after a few days, when the crow was released back into the wild, she was walking her dog when she noticed a crow swooping towards her, and in no time, dropped a feathered bundle for her. "I was like, 'Wow! This crow has given me a thank-you gift.'" Ever since, lucky Wilson has become a godwoman among the crows who have showered her with dozens of gifts, from sticks to balls of moss to tiny nests and all.

Wilson belongs to the Metis community, an indigenous Canadian tribe born out of relations between First Nations women and European men, according to the Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada. Being a Metis, she grew up with an understanding of having relationships with the natural world, and here she was, experiencing it in her sensory reality. “It feels so good,” said Wilson, and he added that "it's like visiting my friends every morning and knowing they’re going to be there.” She calls the crow that she saved the “star of the show" and is now able to recognize him by the cool band on his leg, which he got after being rehabilitated.

Science behind a crow’s sense of gratitude

While what happened with Wilson might sound like a one-of-a-kind case, such instances are not uncommon in the world of animal science. According to a study published in PNAS, crows' neuronal circuitry is designed in a way that they can recognize and remember human faces, and perceive them based on whether they associate the person as dangerous or generous.

While these brashy blackbirds can’t create art, they occasionally leave gifts like keys, lost earrings, bones, or rocks for people who fed or did something generous for them, as John Marzluff, conservation ecologist and Swift’s colleague at the University of Washington, shared with the National Audubon Society. A 2014 study also showed that crows were motivated to gift and exchange objects with humans they knew rather than with humans they didn’t. But, at the end of the day, these crows don’t actually understand the word "gratitude," but their behaviors illustrate the innate impulse of thankfulness that exists in every living creature. Meanwhile, emphasising the friendship with the wild, Wilson added, "When we are aware of what is happening around us, there is so much potential to come together and beautiful things can happen." 

'You made a friend for life'

Meanwhile, reacting to Wilson's heartfelt story, @wobblesandbean shared, "It's art. My crows gave me pop can tabs threaded onto fir sprigs, twigs with leaves stuck onto them, all very deliberate creations by the crows. This one is doing the same thing." Similarly, @sneakydudesgarage7121 commented, "I've got a squirrel that does this — I rescued her from a dog's mouth when she was a baby and raised her; now she brings me odd little presents that she leaves on my mat, and when she's hungry, she'll knock on my window by slapping it repeatedly...over and over again...lol."

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