Aside from my Vending Machine For Birds, there have been quite a few efforts by other folks which I am listing here.

Corvid Cleaning in Sweden: https://corvidcleaning.com/

Started by Christian Günther-Hanssen on 2013. Got scooped by the media - not ready to share details yet.

Their site has an informative timeline of similar projects: https://corvidcleaning.com/index.php/timeline/

Puy de Fou Park in France: https://www.npr.org/2018/08/13/638205639/french-theme-park-asks-crows-can-pick-up-trash-why-cant-you

More of a stunt than a sustainable effort, but very cool.

The Crowbar by Crowded Cities: https://www.crowdedcities.com/

Kicked off by a Dutch Startup around 2018. 

The Crowbox: http://www.thecrowbox.com/

Open source project based on Joshua Klein's idea. Latest version uncovers food instead of dispensing it.

Original Version

Current Version

Steve Joy: https://www.youtube.com/@4STEVEJOY34/videos

I think Steve Joy was the creator of the CrowKit. There is footage of crows using it as intended.

Hans Forsberg: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtkv3wuEP-Veur4iYJWkBgA

Real accomplishment getting wild magpies to exchange bottlecaps and other items for food. This project really got me started on my own. 

Tomas and Olof Morsing (The Magpie Recycling Project): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEhPdSIMrLNynfwnkibVzZg/videos?view=0&sort=da

Other than Forsberg, one of the few successful examples out there. Huge contraption, but if I had my own yard I'd build big too :)

Crowbuddy: https://www.youtube.com/@CrowbuddyNL/featured

Gijs-Peter Kuijpers developed a movable, battery-powered, solar-charging cabinet that dispenses dog kibble for depositing litter. Seems to be an active project with an installation at the Vienna Zoo!

Christophe Vieren:

At the suggestion of one of his students, Sébastien Audibert, he built a device and has video of a magpie picking up a flattened can on the ground a few meters from his device, approaches the device and deposits it.

His blog is no longer accessible since I originally posted this :( 

It used to be here:  https://christophevieren.fr/collecter-les-dechets-grace-aux-corvides-sauvages

Birds For Change: https://www.birdsforchange.fr/

I must have overlooked this earlier, since I just found it in 2024. A French startup that now has a few installations in parks in France. It looks like their first device was derived from the Crowded Cities Crowbar. Apparently they picked up the project after Crowded Cities paused activity.

Their current solution:

In the end, for the purpose of getting wild, untrained birds to exchange stuff for food, the only the  success in getting wild birds to exchange litter for food I've seen so far was had by:

• Christophe Vieren
• Steve Joy
• Hans Forsberg
• Tomas and Olof Morsing