Since crows are known to repay you with shiny trinkets for feeding them, would it not make sense to use them en masse to recover lost items?

But you could never be specific as to what you were looking for. Not the keys to a Ford. I need the keys to a Chevy you silly bird!

Of course you could not commission specific items. It would operate more like a pawn shop.

You could groom your own personal crow though.
If you become close enough, they start following you around.

Not the cheese, the keys!

The crows would not be very highly motivated. If there is something shiny that catches its eye then a crow will use it. If not, the crow is not going to search to find something. It has better things to do (from the crow’s point of view).

Have you priced birdseed recently? I’ve heard that zoos and public parks have enlisted crows and ravens to gather litter to be rewarded with food. But in your example, what percentage of lost objects are shiny? I would think the mere effort of sorting through bottle caps and aluminum foil would be exhausting. But who knows? You might collect enough in scattered coins to more than pay for the project. How about this? Train a flock of homing pigeons to snatch paper money from the hands of patrons at hot dog, popcorn, ice cream stands, outdoor ticket booths, etc. You then truck the thieves to the big city and await the “dividends”. Come to think of it, a dollar isn’t worth much. Of course there would be occasional 5s, 10s, 20s etc mixed in with the haul, but to be really efficient, you wouldn’t want your birds flying from NYC to Scranton with a single dollar bill. You would require a relatively secret and very local “deposit” hideaway to minimize the turnaround time for gang members. Pigeons would be ideal, and actually you wouldn’t want easily recognizable pedigreed birds. You would cull your flock to look as drab and distinctionless as common pigeons. Just think of it. Your own personal gang of hardened criminals loose in a town where the suspects number in the tens of millions.

Assuming they are capable of conscious, logical, understanding thought?? Nah…

@kritiper
Leave your racism at the door.

Racism? The accusation implies kritiper to be a fellow crow. We need input from our own espiritus corvus.

In the War Pigeons were used to send secret messages ( under the leg band).
The item had to be very small as the weight would weigh the birds down and affect the flight.
They were used only as messengers, so I don’t see how they could carry much weight as money or coins, especially over any long length of mileage.

Pigeons and crows are two different birds.

How did racism get in here???

@chyna Of course they are not the same birds, but birds, they are.

Just saying that they cannot carry things that would weight them down so they are limited in transporting items.

@kritiper Loli’s offense from your quip that crows are not as sharp as the “rest of us.”

GUM WRAPPERS! ALL YOU EVER BRING ME IS GUM WRAPPERS!