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Comment by KineticLensman | Hacker News Reader

(I volunteer at a raptor conservation Trust).

Many birds will play with objects in their aviaries to varying degrees. Vultures (Hooded and Egyptian) will pull on shoe laces. Owls and Kites will fly off with a sponge if you take your eyes off it while cleaning their aviary. Caracaras are about as safe to have around as a raccoon. Many birds will look inside a bucket or try to pull it over.

These birds vary a lot in their intelligence, as indicated by their ability to solve problems to access food.

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On the subject of Caracaras, want to plug “A Most Remarkable Creature (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/251787/a-most-remar... ) by Jonathan Meiburg, lead singer of Shearwater

> Caracaras are about as safe to have around as a raccoon.

that doesn't sound very safe. Raccoons look like friendly rascally creatures but I think they can do some damage.

KineticLensman's writing is a little unclear there, but I think that was the intent--birds are tricky, and Caracaras are just as tricky as raccoons, i.e. not safe.

As the owner of a couple parrots, I can concur. Even parrots, who are supposed to be relatively tame still get into all sorts of trouble, are quite loud and will bite for no apparent reason (sometimes to hurt, other times to just show affection).

I love my birds, but they're definitely not the pet for everyone. I'd encourage anyone thinking of adopting one to volunteer at a rescue first to get a better idea of whether they're the right pet for your lifestyle.

what might you think of trading posts?

e.g use a visual cue, such as a dollar bill, coupled with food reward. attempt to cargo cult the birds, into replicating conditions associated with reward. to the end, birds will find the cue [$] and bring it to the trade post /vending machine.

the bird doesnt need to "know" any material value, other than; a particular item, at a particular place, allows food discovery

There was the guy who trained his local magpies to collect discarded bottle caps... https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/magpies-traine...

Not many dollar bills in aviaries, unfortunately. We already have to watch out for the free-flying birds diving into the crowd during a display to steal sandwiches, sausage rolls, etc. Probably best not to train them to go for wallets

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