Here are the video highlights of my unusual experience of 3 sessions with the bird over 2 days. This friendly wild, yet somewhat tame, young crow has been making rounds in Pt. Richmond, CA. Does anyone know it’s backstory? Was it a rescue? An escaped pet? Or maybe just a smart bird that found a new method of tool use to get fed! It worked on me!
UPDATE: the bird turned out to be a rescue that was in the early stages of exploring its freedom. It would make its rounds in the neighborhood making friends with picnickers, hikers, cyclists, etc. After a few weeks it stopped coming around and probably found other crows more interesting than the humans! It seemed to be able to relate to other crows, just fine. I found out that the rescuer never took away the crow's freedom, and was always free to come and go. While growing up, the crow was able to hang out with the rescuers 2 golden retrievers.
I suspect that those who made friends with this crow will never forget the experience!