CrowBox: Training Birds to Be Our Eco-Sidekicks?

Around two years ago, CrowBox hit the radar as an idea for training crows to do all sorts of useful tasks, including green tasks such as collecting garbage. Now, the idea has been let loose as an open source experiment. Anyone can start training crows to perform acts of green good.

As experiment creator Joshua Klein states, "The goal of this project is to create a device that will autonomously train crows. So far we've trained captive crows to deposit dropped coins they find on the ground in exchange for peanuts. The next step is to see how quickly we can get wild crows to learn the system, and then how quickly they can learn it from each other. Once we've got a system down for teaching coin collection we'll move to seeing how flexibly they can learn *other* tasks, like collecting garbage, sorting through discarded electronics, or maybe even search and rescue. The crows continue to amaze us with their abilities, so who knows?"

CrowBox Unleashed

The CrowBox is an open source experiment - meaning anyone who wants to participate has access to the information they need, and can contribute what they learn to the project. You can download the files for creating your own training box for crows in your area.

Trash collection, harvesting fruits or nuts...who knows what it might be possible to train these brilliant creatures to do that would mutually benefit both the humans and the crows - and the ecosystem in general.

There's a line to draw between training crows to perform useful tasks, and training them to do the dirty work as we filth up the planet, but if the tasks are beneficial and participants in the experiment are quick to spot unintended consequences (such as explosions in crow populations due to an abundant supply of peanuts as rewards...), it could be a valuable collaboration.

Making Your Own CrowBox

So, think you're up for the task of making your own CrowBox and joining in on the experiment? Visit CrowBox Unleashed and get started. Even if you don't want to build your own box but want to help out the project, you can make a donation or help get all the raw files organized into a How-To document.