JTweedie
Well-known member
Predators, particularly corvids, may learn to associate a camera in an open area (where the camera is set to observe a nest) with the presence of food. The study suggests that being curious birds, they will investigate changes in their environment, such as a new camera, and then come to associate the cameras with food. It also suggests that the birds may learn to watch people in general and to investigate where people had been.
They suggest using smaller cameras that are harder to see in the landscape, but perhaps they need to take a cue from corvids and pretend to be active at multiple locations so that the birds can't remember all the places that the researchers visited, just like the birds are known to pretend to hide food knowing that they're being watched by their rivals.
wildlife.org
They suggest using smaller cameras that are harder to see in the landscape, but perhaps they need to take a cue from corvids and pretend to be active at multiple locations so that the birds can't remember all the places that the researchers visited, just like the birds are known to pretend to hide food knowing that they're being watched by their rivals.

JWM: Trail cameras can lure predators to nests - The Wildlife Society
Researchers’ efforts to observe natural behavior may skew predator-prey dynamics
