A Threads user, "biz_dave," says he spent months training wild crows to remove MAGA caps by placing food beneath the hats. He reports four months of feeding to attract the birds and roughly three more months to teach them to pluck off the caps; videos show crows removing hats to reach treats. Experts note crows' advanced intelligence — tool use, problem solving and complex communication — which helps explain the rapid learning. It is not confirmed that any trained crow has taken a hat from a supporter in public.
Man Trains Crows To Remove MAGA Hats, Shares Videos of Birds Plucking Caps
A man who goes by the username "biz_dave" says he successfully trained crows to attack MAGA hats by hiding treats underneath them.
For nearly a decade, the red-and-white MAGA cap has been a clear marker of political support for former president Donald Trump. The bold white lettering on a red field is instantly recognizable and — for critics — a polarizing symbol tied to a backward-looking political agenda.
A social media user who posts under the name "biz_dave" says he spent months training wild crows to remove MAGA hats by baiting the caps with food. In a series of posts on Threads, the self-described "big nerd" and "very part-time artist" said he placed treats such as peanuts, chicken scraps, mealworms and dog kibble beneath a red MAGA hat.
According to his account, it took roughly four months of regular feeding to get the crows to return consistently. Once that pattern was established, he wrote, it took about three more months for the birds to learn to pluck the hat away to reach the food.
"Once they were coming regularly, it was only about three months to get them to the hat removal stage," he wrote.
Video clips shared online show dark-feathered crows swooping in and removing the cap to access the hidden treats. The poster said his favorite part of the project was observing newly discovered behaviors — including vocalizations and coordinated actions — before a crow tore off the hat.
Why Crows Learn Quickly
Crows are widely regarded as exceptionally intelligent birds. Researchers often rank them among the planet's cleverest animals outside of primates, and some studies suggest their problem-solving abilities can be comparable to those of a seven-year-old child.
Field observations have documented crows using tools (including fashioned hooked implements), recognizing and remembering people who posed threats, and using gestures and complex behaviors to communicate. In 2022, scientists reported that crows can demonstrate an understanding of recursion — the ability to process embedded structures — a cognitive skill once thought to be rare outside of humans.
Given that background, the poster's timeframe for training — several months of consistent reward-based conditioning followed by targeted behaviors — is plausible to experts who study corvid intelligence.
Public Impact And Unanswered Questions
It remains unclear whether any trained crows have removed a MAGA hat from a supporter in a public setting. When asked on Threads whether anyone's hat had been taken in the wild, one user wrote, "Do we know if they have taken anyone's hat yet?" The account owner replied, "Nothing confirmed. Anxious for reports."
Whether framed as a clever experiment in animal behavior or a provocative political statement, the episodes highlight both corvid intelligence and how people use social media to share unusual wildlife interactions.
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