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How To Befriend Crows: What To Feed Crows

Crows are fascinating animals, they are very intelligent and adaptable. They can be found nearly everywhere. Crows are very social animals that live in close communities with other crows. They enjoy spending time together and working to solve problems. In this blog post, we will go over how you yourself, can befriend a crow.


The Steps To Befriend a Crow


Feed Them:

Feed the crows
Feed the crows

This one is the most obvious being every time you see crows you see them either eating food off the ground or looking for food near human habitats.

Crows are omnivorous meaning they eat plants, fruits, and meat. They have also been known to eat other deceased animals. So to befriend a crow all you will need is food that crows look for every day. Crows love fast food but it’s a good idea to give them something more healthy.

Crows are attracted to a wide range of items, including tiny dog or cat food, eggs, unsalted peanuts, other nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables, as well as chicken and other meats. Make sure the foods you give them are lower in salt and sugar because they can be unhealthy for the crow.

Also despite popular belief feeding the crows bread is not good for them either. Many people, especially the older generation think this is good for them when it isn’t.

Expert Tip: Keep in mind in some places you can get in trouble for feeding crows. The reason is they can start bugging other people, who don’t necessarily want anything to do with them.


Take a look at your cities policies when it comes to feeding crows and birds in general. Crows also love fresh water so providing a birdbath or some water is also good for them if possible.


Have a Different Variety Of Foods Ready:

You have to understand that crows are a lot like us. Some of them like different foods. So if you only have one food available and the crow doesn’t like it, you killed your chances at befriending them by a large percentage. Go to the store and get a wide variety of the foods we listed above so you can see what they like.


Make Sure You’re In a Non-Hectic Area:

Crows like to be aware of any potential danger that can come from anywhere
Crows like to be aware of any potential danger that can come from anywhere

When you try and befriend a crow in the middle of New York City, for instance, it’s not as easy because crows have to be aware of their surroundings.

Crows like to be aware of any potential danger that can come from anywhere, and they like their personal space as well. So you need the location to be calm and peaceful for your first encounter with a crow.

The best places to befriend crows would be calm parks that not many people frequent or an open field that has little to no noise. Once you feed them in an area like this, your chances of them trusting you are much higher.


Timing:

Crows are actually very good when it comes to timing. They have an idea of when you were there the day before. So if you come back at the same time every day, they will notice and come to see you.

Crows are also very social animals so the more time you spend with them, the more friendly they become. Just be careful not to spend too much time with one crow over others because that can cause problems for them later on if they don’t trust other crows as well.

They have a group dynamic going on inside their community which is one of the reasons why it’s hard to befriend just one crow or two crows at a time. You have to befriend a whole group, which isn’t necessarily easy, but rewarding when done correctly.

Expert Tip: Keep in mind if you live in an area with fewer crows, you may have to keep your distance more so than trying to befriend a crow from a big city like New York City. This is because they are not used to people as much.


Keep Boundaries:

Keep Boundaries To Crow
Keep Boundaries To Crow

This is important for many reasons. The first is what was said in the last paragraph. You don’t want the crow or crows to have too much dependence on you.

Another reason is that they may mistake another person for you. This is not good because not everyone is comfortable with crows. This may cause someone to harm the crow, and you don’t want that to happen.


Be Patient:

This one is very important Crows, like humans, take time to warm up to someone new. So don’t get mad because you may see them in the area but they won’t come near you, because next time they will after they’ve gotten used to your presence.

Keep feeding them over time and be patient. It’s not easy, but for most people, it’s one of the most rewarding experiences they have. People do say that crows can be used as a sort of “spirit animal” because they are intelligent animals that seem to share some similarities with humans.

This doesn’t mean you should expect them to completely act like us though.


Only Befriend Them if You’re Prepared:

Only Befriend Crows if You're Prepared
Only Befriend Crows if You’re Prepared

Once you befriend a group of crows. They won’t forget you. This means if you live by them, every single time you leave your house they will gather and follow you where ever you go. If you come back, they will gather and greet you like a hero. If one single crow sees you it will actually call the rest of the group to let them know you are there.

You will have to have food ready every single time you leave your house or enter the area that you befriended them in.


How To Attract Crow

If you don’t have many crows in the area you may not have as much opportunity to befriend them as you would like. Here are a few tips you can do to attract crows.


Leave Seeds and Nuts:

Leave food on the ground for crows
Leave food on the ground for crows

Step number one is to leave food on the ground for them. It doesn’t matter what kind of seed or nut it is. it just has to be a seed or nut that crows eat. This is one of the most important things you can do to attract them because if they have no reason to come to your home, there’s almost zero chance you will see them.

Maybe even get a bird feeder or two to put up so they have a reason to come back. Make sure to keep filling up the feeder every day though, because if they have nothing to eat at your house, they will go elsewhere.


Install a Bird Bath:

As stated above crows love freshwater. So if you want to attract crows install a birdbath on your property. You can get them for cheap at any pet store and they don’t take long to set up.


Provide Plenty of Roosting Space:

Since they travel in bigger groups you also have to provide a place for them to roost. The plenty of space will allow them to stay together and roost safely. If you don’t provide enough space, some of the crows may get left behind and they may not want to come back.


Get a Crow Call Whistle:

There are many of these on amazon. They may take a little bit to get used to, but it’s very effective.


Remove anything that might scare them:

Remove anything that might scare them
Remove anything that might scare them

Something as little as a garden statue can scare them. Look around your yard and think if I was a bird what would scare me. If there’s something in the yard that might scare them remove it because you want them to be comfortable when they land on your property.


Try and keep your backyard as quiet and calm as possible:

No matter what you try and do to attract them if your backyard is loud and full of movement they most likely won’t be back. Loud noises scare them and moving objects scare them. This means no trampolines, no children running around, and no other sources of commotion should be in your backyard.


How To Get Crows To Trust You

Consistency is always key. Once you start feeding them, don’t stop. If you do the chances are they won’t come back to your home because they will forget about you or assume there’s no food for them anymore.

You must be consistent when leaving seeds and nuts every day. The more consistent you are the higher chance of them coming around more often and trusting you.


Will Crows Become Too Dependent On You?

Due to the crow and human relationship that has developed over the years, crows will actually be fine when it comes to you befriending them and in most cases, they will not become too dependent on you.


Can You Keep a Crow As a Pet?

It actually isn’t legal in the United States to keep a crow as a pet. This is because they are migratory birds.


Why they wouldn’t make good pets anyway?

Keeping one crow as a pet isn't ideal
Keeping one crow as a pet isn’t ideal

Keeping one crow as a pet isn’t ideal because crows tend to get lonely really easily. They are very social animals and they learn to get used to a group dynamic. They also get depressed when left alone for extended periods of time. So taking a crow in as a pet will take away this whole dynamic for them.


Can you communicate with a crow?

Yes, crows and other corvids have the ability to learn how to talk. Birds are exceptionally bright, compared even to some humans. They do not mimic speech, but rather acquire words and their meanings. The bird’s brain has been discovered to be quite similar in structure to the human brain.


Do crows recognize you?

Amazingly enough, crows are able to recognize people. They do this through facial recognition and by remembering what you look like. They also remember the things that happen in their surrounding area, so they will recognize when you’ve done something to harm or helpful for them.

Expert Tip: If you’ve done something hurtful to them watch out because they will likely try to get their revenge.


How do crows show affection to a human?

How do crows show affection to a human?
How do crows show affection to a human?

Crows will show affection to humans by simply being by them for long periods of time. If the crow comes around and doesn’t leave for quite a while it means they are bonding with you and becoming fond of your presence. They will also get closer to you, this is another sign they are becoming more comfortable with you and who you are.


What does it mean if a crow talks to you?

Crows may caw at you for a number of reasons. They might be informing you about danger or frightening you off on occasion. A crow’s cawing might be an attempt to connect with or form a connection with you.


How Can You Tell Crows Apart?

You may want to keep tabs on which crows are coming back around. There are a few ways to see if it is the same crows coming back. The first way is simply by seeing if they have any distinguishing marks on them.

Many crows look a lot alike so another way to tell them apart would be by noticing different personality traits. Their caw may also even be a distinct sound so pay attention to that as well.


Will crows protect people?

Crows are actually known to protect humans. They have been seen to attack animals that come around people, so it is possible they would attack something or someone harming you as well.

Do crows have feelings?

Crows do have feelings. Their emotions just aren’t as complex as human emotions.

Are crows loyal?

Crows are extremely loyal. So much so that if one individual crow sees food it will call the others in its group to come to get some food.


Conclusion

I’m sure when you used to think of crows you used to think of garbage picking, obnoxious birds. We hope this blog post helped you learn about them and you now think more highly of crows and what they’re capable of.

About Rencel Leyran