Carl T. BergstromDec 25, 2022

For the holiday, a thread on how to befriend crows.

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Befriending crows is a wonderful thing.

I have many crow friends at home and at work. They bring joy at unexpected moments and can rescue a miserable day even without shaking down the dust of snow that Robert Frost described.

This thread is an updated version of one I posted at the bird site in July 2019.

#birding #birdwatching #birds #urbanbirding #crows #corvids #crow #corvid #crowfriends

Show threadCarl T. BergstromDec 25, 2022

If you live in an urban or suburban area where crows are around it's not too hard to befriend them. Rural crows are harder but not impossible.

First and foremost they like food. Peanuts in the shell are a favorite treat but most anything works; crows are omnivorous. It's probably not good for them, but they adore cheetos.

Photo: not a good shot but the only one I have of my beloved Tatterwing demonstrating next-level peanut technique: five at a time by spearing. No other crow figured this out.

Show threadCarl T. BergstromDec 25, 2022

If you feed them regularly, they will come to recognize you. They're remarkably good at recognizing faces, gaits, and even the sound of a particular car's engine.

In the rain wearing a new jacket with the hood up? They recognize me.

After a year away from the office due to COVID policies, I thought my office friends would have forgotten me. No. They spotted me within a few yards of the parking garage.

Show threadCarl T. BergstromDec 25, 2022
Try to be consistent. Make sure you have food for them each time you see them. Crows are so smart that this isn't essential. But it's a general principle in animal training which is, in a sense, what you are doing. Though as you'll discover, it's more like them training you.
Show threadCarl T. BergstromDec 25, 2022
Personally, I like to talk to them. I have no idea whether this helps or not. But I treat each one with dignity, greet them when I see them, explain what I'm doing as I'm getting out a treat, ask them how their days have been, that sort of thing.
Show threadMatti Aleve
@ct_bergstrom we have both crows, red tailed and coopers hawks in our neighborhood. The crows frequently collaborate and chase the hawks. Since it’s not nesting season, sort of curious why they’re doing it as I don’t think the hawks are a threat to the crows? Everything if found via google just says, yeah they do this.
Dec 25, 2022 at 1:51amWeb
Show threadJamesDec 25, 2022

@Maleve @ct_bergstrom

Crows are territorial about their nesting area and have feeding areas separate from the nesting area that they are also protective of. But they don't seem as strict about the feeding areas. I've sometimes seen raptors in the feeding area being ignored by the crows.

Show threadJamesDec 26, 2022

@Maleve @ct_bergstrom

1/2
A funny-to-humans story about crows:

I was waiting in a drive thru lane when I realized I had heard angry crows for some time. I couldn't see them, then as the line turned the corner I caught glimpses of a very big bird. Hawk? That would explain the crows. A bit later I turn the second corner and the large bird is a full-grown American Bald Eagle doing lazy loops about 100 feet up. As I move forward I finally see the crows.

Show threadJamesDec 26, 2022

@Maleve @ct_bergstrom

2/2
Two crows are a half-block away in the top of a large tree. And they aren't sounding as loud or as angry, because the eagle has been slowly looping closer.

As I watch, the crows scramble down three feet within the tree. The eagle lands right on top of them. It is now quiet. One of the crows stretches his neck up, as if to grab an eagle tail feather.

The eagle stretches his neck down and the crow changed his mind.

Then my order is up and I have to drive away.

Show threadCapritiaJHDec 27, 2022
@Maleve @ct_bergstrom Just learned on a raptor site that female Coopers, which run a bit larger than males -- as is typical for raptors -- can be a threat to *male* Coopers. So yeah, a big Coopers could be a threat to smallish crows. And definitely a threat to fledglings -- so crows wouldn't want them to even think of setting up territory around them.