How to Befriend Crows
fediscience.org
fediscience.org
I started out just talking to them and throwing whole peanuts (roasted, unsalted) on the ground while I was doing it. They looked at me warily and did not come close. Later on, the peanuts would disappear, but I was never sure why. This period lasted months.
Eventually they would come down when I threw a peanut and approach it warily. If it was closer than 15 or 20 feet to me, I'd have to back away to give them enough room. Then I could throw another peanut near (but not at!) them and they'd walk over to get it.
After many more months of this (six, I'd guess) they were somewhat less wary of me and would hang out on our back fence sometimes. So we worked out a ritual. I would place a piece of food on the fence rail and back away; they'd hop over and get it. As he suggested, I would talk with them as I did it. I'm sure the words didn't matter, but I suspect the tone did, and it helped me focus on being soothing with voice, body language, and behavior.
Toward the end of my time there we got so that one of them would take high-value food, like a chicken bone with bits of meat left on it, straight out of my hand. That one, who we called George, would happily sit pretty close to me after eating. Out of arm's reach, of course; they were still a bit wary. But it would settle down and chill out. Truly a magical experience to just hang out with a big, smart bird like that. You looking at one another, both trying to figure out exactly what the other's deal is. And me, at least, knowing, that I'd never fully know.
In nature, the Bayesian prior on an entity that is not a member of your species, or even your tribe, seeking an interaction with you that will ultimately be to your benefit is very, very low.
Felis Catus: OK, stubclaws, listen up. You're going to toil the fields and by the sweat of your brow fill up a barn to attract my mice. Got that? Agriculture, Architecture, the works? Good. I'd explain to you how to make laser pointers for chasing, but I doubt you'd understand ... your kind always has to work things out for themselves, anyway. Now go forth and do your best to hold this covenant, you inflexible hairless monkey.
When 082... was jus' a little baby, sittin' on their papa's knee
Well they picked up a keyboard and a little CRT
Said keyboard gon' be the death of me, lord, lord
Keyboard gon' be the death of me
I’ve also had a hummingbird come within a few centimeters of landing on my hand while mounting biking (stopped, of course). I credit my new-at-the-time bright red gloves for that interaction.
Such as knats and such, which love humans.
So they may be looking for a meal, too.
They would flit past your head when you went out to refill them, but they seldom went more than a few feet away. You could stand under under the feeders and after a few minutes, if you were calm enough, they would start be willing to land on you and rest, or lick off any syrup you had gotten on your hands.
There are several examples where small birds, mammals, fish, or even some invertebrates clean much larger animals. The exchange straightforward, large animal gets clean smaller one eats the parasites, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleaning_symbiosis
Yes, of course, but unless such a relationship is already established the odds are very much against a random encounter between different species being mutually beneficial.
These things are incredible. (Or incredibly mean?)
Parent comment would explain this observation: predators gaze upon their prey.
(flipping the arrows around, I've seen the advice to dance tango, not so much with "snappiness" as is popularly supposed, but in a predatory manner: slow stalking, interspersed with rapid pounces)
I’ve also noticed with many birds that they prefer indirect attention. This includes not just eye contact, but pointing a camera (or really anything) in their direction. Which unfortunately means I have very little photographic evidence of the many times I’ve had birds just hanging around being pleasant companions for a while.
and ... like ... non-strange people?
I must have seemed very novel and sneaky.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm already being recognized as "that weird tree guy", even on the ground, and what it would take to test that.
It can sometimes end up in a weird kind of stand off, where they can see your path is through their nest or perch but they don't really know what your intent is so you just end up staring at each other. The most aggressive I came across was a big seagull, which I'm pretty sure was protecting it's eggs since it clearly wasn't going to move, thankfully that line was easy enough that I could just figure out an alternate way around. Climbing you also sometimes get to see some of the horrific remains from the predators - One time towards the end of covid lockdowns some peregrines had reclaimed a pinnacle due to the unusual absence of climbers. When I got to the top it looked like a sacrificial temple, filled with the carcases of all the other bird species, not to mention the bees nest en route, that one was a mini adventure.
For a second I thought I was dead. But, when I heard all the noise, I knew they were cops. Only cops talk that way. If they'd been wiseguys, I wouldn't have heard a thing. I would've been dead.
-Henry Hill, Goodfellas
Here's the thing. You're suggesting a raven is as intelligent as a crow. Are they in the same family? Yes, Corvus. But scientists who study crows, will tell say, specifically, crows are smarter than ravens. But it would be okay for either of us to just admit we're wrong, you know?
So each day many people here feed the crows first with rice before breakfast and on new moon day many undergo fasting, Make special food and give it to the crows first.
Obviously crows , Extraordinarily intelligent as they are keep perfect timings for their food and seems to know the lunar phases; No wonder we revere them.
Of course like you said, we caw for them and give them food during festivals and anniversaries of deaths of ancestors.
At first she tried to thwart the them, but in no time started recognizing the squirrels as individuals and noticing their personality and behavioral differences, and gave them names. After that, she stopped buying birdseed and began stocking the feeder with various nuts, and setting up some ramps and jumping obstacles, but not to any crazy level, just something to watch.
They recognized her as the person that fills the feeder with nuts. Once she tried hand feeding them it took only a couple weeks for the first brave one, then other squirrels didn't want to be left out and came up to her too. When the feeder goes empty, they'll stand on it and peer into the living room to see if she is around. Once they make eye contact, they hop down and run to the door to get fed.
My wife has some chronic health issues that mostly keep her housebound, except for doctor appointments. The squirrels have been a godsend -- even on her worst days, the squirrels make her smile and bring her joy at random times throughout the day.
My wife was sick for several years before she passed, and for the last 14 months, we knew it was coming. The main thing that got us both through the ordeal was finding joy in everyday life, wherever we could. My wife was amazing at that, and that had a lot to do with her faith too. I'd be remiss to leave that out. That's also been my coping mechanism in almost every way. But it's not a blind faith that she "went to a better place" or just listening to what some pastor says. My faith is fully informed, and I've chosen it after deep Bible study.
I know that may not be the answer you're looking for, but it's the truth. Without my faith I'd have been wrecked. It was hard enough as-is, but the religious organization I belong to has excellent written articles as well as videos that have gotten me through some really, really rough times... the kind you don't know even exist until yougo through them. Foremost however is my relationship with the true God. He has helped me immensely and brought tremendous relief.
This isn't a platform for proselytizing, and I respect that, so I've limited my answer to an honest answer to your question. There are resources that I'd love to share with you that will help you even from a secular standpoint. If you'd like, email me at my hn user at gmail. Take care, my friend. You're welcome to reach out to me any time.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgeXOVaJo_gl1ZIpbYyPR...
Even songbirds do this with my parents. If they're outside and the feeder is empty, they'll perch on the closest (but not too close) spot and squack until my parents move, then they'll perch a little closer to the feeder and repeat if my parents follow them.
If they're not outside, they'll sit outside the door or even fly into the garage if it is open and chirp and squack until they come out.
It's amusing and more than a little impressive to see since songbirds aren't much associated with intelligence like corvids are.
This reminds me of my University days, where peeps would go and eat under large banyan trees. There would be a number of squirrels who'd hang out and be fed by students, and as a result these squirrels would get gutsy. A friend had a squirrel leap onto their table and steal fries while they weren't looking!
At first, it was more-or-less luck as to who and when a crow found it. But they began to catch on, and I'm pretty sure at least one was waiting for me. They were either on the post, or nearby. They fly off when you approach, of course. But they get the idea, and I know they're watching. I try to step back, but they need quite a large distance before they'll try to take the biscuit. Crows seem to know that humans are always up to something. The probably know that it's always plans within plans when it comes to those damn hairless apes. Is he really being generous, or is he running some inscrutable psyop?
The problem is that I haven't been consistent the last few days, so the crows lose interest.
A few days ago, mind, there was a crow sitting on the fence a few feet from the house. He flew off as I left the house, but he didn't seem particularly alarmed. He flew up to the top of a conifer quite a few yards away. But I knew he was watching. So I put a biscuit on a post and went for a walk. When I came back the biscuit was gone.
I guess what I like about crows is that they're really smart, so you're always left wondering as to how much they've cottoned on to and how much of it is just blind coincidence.
The first one is the hardest. They'll start bringing friends, eventually. They like they rituals and consistency -- you've already discovered this. They also lose interest if you don't keep it up regularly.
Don't look straight at crows, they don't like it at all. When they're ready to be your friend, they'll put themselves into your field of vision. I was able to communicate vocally with crows and get them to respond before they were comfortable being face-to-face friends with me.
My mother had been feeding birds for a while. The local crows quickly realized that she's a soft-touch, so they sit on the garden fence outside her window. If she sees them, she throws something to them. It started with one female bird who eventually brought her young. She would take treats and feed them to her annoyingly loud offspring before eventually having something for herself. My mother got a kick out of this. The matriarch would eventually come to her window and tap on it. But if my mother looked at her directly she'd fly back to the fence. But she could open the window "nonchalantly" and throw treats without scaring her off as long as she didn't look straight at her. Other crows have noticed this. She now has a dozen or so hanging around. The original bird sits looking into her bedroom window in the morning waiting for her to get out of bed, and then flies around to the kitchen to tap on it. You see, there's competition now.
He was flying low across the road near my house and I saw him get hit by a car. So I went over to stand in the road and make sure the other cars coming drove around him, and I picked him up. One of his eyes was bloody where he'd been hit, and he was stunned and very distressed. I kind of just knew what to do, I held him in my hands by the side of the road for a few minutes which I think helped him calm down from the shock, and then he jumped down and sat for a bit when he was ready. I stayed and watched him for a while, but I could tell he'd had enough after a bit so I just left him.
I didn't see him fly away but I don't think his things were broken and he wasn't there the next morning. I guess he probably only had one working eye, I don't know how well birds manage with only one eye. Maybe he didn't make it but I hope he did, and I'm sure he would've been stuck shocked and panicking in the road until he got flattened without my help.
It was cool.
[1] https://cdn.birdwatchingdaily.com/2017/06/European-Blackbird...
They kept us updated and let us know a week or two later that it'd fully recovered and had been released. Made us very happy to hear.
Pigeons, on the other hand, are the species that gave birth to the term 'bird brain'. They will happily sit in front of oncoming traffic forever, then take evasive action that is, like, the opposite of the optimal strategy...
Day and night the sun and cold air dry the pigeon mat. The smashed meat and connective tissue act as a protein glue to hold the mat together. Each vehicle presses, mixes, and spreads the mat into, on average, a very light colorful circular feather pattern (feathers tend to retain their structure more than bone, possibly b/c of their flexibility) that, once thin enough, wafts to and fro in the parking lot winds before settling gently to the ground.
I first thought to spray them with a waterproof coating and sell them as "Pigeon Frisbees" but alas, they were aerodynamically unsuitable (they rode the air like cattail seeds), and so, in the end I asked HEB parking lot employees to consider cleaning the remains of dead pigeons as a favor to their customers. The parking lots are more pleasant these days.
Plenty of pigeons are killed by cars, esp. females resting in empty parking spots, where they sometimes sleep.
It kept going, and going, and going, and at the end of the video, he was feeding it cat treats.
Here's a video of one of them solving a couple of puzzles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x0PwKHvW10
And here's one of them taking a bath, just because it's so cute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AgAIh43OUs
It's a highly entertaining hobby, and I'm excited to continue putting out more interesting and complex objects for them to interact with!
This changed when I got a dog and moved to a different part of the city. The dog loves scaring away birds by running up to them, which the crows weren't happy about obviously. I tried to prevent the dog scaring crows (pigeons were O.K.) but she managed to scare them a few times anyways.
The crows didn't like this. Up to a point where whenever the dog and me encountered crows, the birds would warn and call others, swarming around us in a threatening, scary way.
But after months of me carefully keeping the dog from scaring the crows, pulling her back on the leash and letting her know the crows are our friends, the crows are friendly again. Even when we walk closely by crows, they don't mind. I'm 100% convinced the crows have learned that the dog is under my control and I keep her from charging at them.
No more warning caws and ganging up on us. Such amazing birds.
A while back I had found what I thought was an injured bird. I captured it and brought it to a rehabilitation center for wild birds.
Turns out I had just capture a baby crow that hadn’t learned to fly yet, which explains why there were two other crows (parents) barking at me from trees as I tried to capture their chick.
After the rehab center verified I had not injured the chick during capture they let me return it where I found it.
Let me just say the parents were not happy with me when I let that chick out of the box they started divebombing me.
I had my own baby about a month later and as I was carrying my kid in from the parking lot I got dive Bombed by a crow.
I’ve always thought it was one of the parents retaliating.
From that point on every time they saw me they would start barking at me
Crows are incredible. And yeah, you can definitely make friends with them too. This Harper's article has some amazing stories of people making enemies, and also really touching stores of friendship.
> From then on, each time Adam or Dani walked onto their back deck, a crow would call out and the murder would reappear as if summoned, squawking so loudly that it was impossible to carry on a conversation. Sometimes the crows would dive-bomb them or attack Mona when she went out to pee. When Adam took the dog for a walk, the crows swooped low and followed them. He tried walking Mona in other neighborhoods, but the crows terrorized him there too. Adam and Dani felt under siege. They worried for Lina’s safety. “The crows are like the Mafia,” Dani told me a few weeks into their ordeal. They’d stopped going outside, she said, unless it was absolutely necessary. And because of the pandemic, they couldn’t really go anywhere else.
> The day Dani rescued Mona from the crows, a neighbor thought he’d spotted a fledgling in Mona’s mouth before the murder first descended. Dani and Adam weren’t so sure—they had never seen Mona attack a bird before. But it nevertheless occurred to them that they might be on some kind of crow hit list. Through online research, Adam learned that crows have an uncanny ability to recognize humans, assign them moral qualities, and pass this information on to other crows, even to future generations. Desperate, Adam took to Reddit. If you’re at war with the crows, post after post advised, your best option is to move.
—https://harpers.org/archive/2021/04/the-crow-whisperer-anima...
They enlist a crow expert to help them apologize and make peace with the crows, and it does eventually work. Hope you don't ever need that advice!
all hail decentralized social media!
https://fediscience.org/@ct_bergstrom/109571409346371116 -> https://fediscience.org/@ct_bergstrom.rss
My browser displays RSS natively well enough. It just can't display mastadon pages even with JS on because it's old.
The api interface through https://fediscience.org/api/v1/statuses/109571409346371116 is handy but it doesn't seem to give the full post.
We live in the mountains in North America. We were tearing down and replacing our deck when the builders came upon a nest with multiple eggs (finch eggs). Thankfully the builders asked us what to do.
Our family decided to do some quick research, build a birdhouse within 10 meters of the previous nest, and put the eggs inside. We were able to watch as the mother bird found her eggs and cared for them through their hatching.
Years later, so many of them come back every Spring. It makes us smile and wonder what would have happened if we wouldn't have moved those eggs a decade ago. I'd like to attribute how friendly the birds seem to be to some sort of anthropomorphism, but that is probably not the case.
Regardless, even the "most basic" birds are wonderful.
They are also several ravens in the area, often staying at tree top level, 60-70 ft. I've never been able to get their attention. even with peanuts. I'm guessing they just don't see the action at ground level, too many trees, or feel safer higher up.
Now it feels like we are old friends. If they happen to be around when we pop out of the house, one will vocalize and come near. Others show up soon after. My wife chats with them and leaves various snacks. They really love peanut butter sandwiches! I kid my wife about how much she spoils the crows with the peanut butter, but she just laughs about her "extra shiny" crows.
The closest to a solution has been to cover every window with outside blinds to at least stop them smashing into them.
I stayed with them for a few months and was woken up by this every morning without fail. Honestly, it was pretty distressing.
I love birds and feed them in our garden (so do my parents!), but I wouldn't want to encourage crows to follow me around after that. I'm always in two minds about this tendency for humans to...humanise...animal behaviour.
They're now competing with the endangered seagulls, which used to roost in large colonies on the coast, but due to predation from introduced species (mink), plastic pollution in the ocean and commercial fishing, have now decided it's better to live on the flat roofs of our malls and apartment blocks.
We're messing so much with their lives already. A little kindness on an individual level doesn't seem like it would make things worse. I try not to humanize them too much, let them be birds, let them be wild (in particular I don't try to tempt them to overcome their natural wariness at humans).
Over the last 5 years I've realized that there are a pair of crows which essentially own the airspace above our house and in front of it.
Each time a hawk or owl or crane flies into this airspace, it will be hounded by these 2 crows. And it happens pretty often.
(One of the crows only has 1 leg - that's why I know its the same 2 each time. We've named him Blackbeard.)
I imagine there is so much of nature we just blindly miss.
https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
They like licking hands and under-the-chin or cheek scritches; move slowly and talk, and if they're skeptical try crouching to make yourself smaller. (but don't make mothers suspect you're after their calves!)
Anyone know about bison?
Now that's some cultured dairy!
No arguments now, this is science damn it!
Although you can open up a new branch of Science.
(Cows give birth to steers, that's what not to like.)
Over the course of a couple of years, the magpie pair even brought their chicks along for a free feed. At one point there were six or seven regular breakfast guests.
One of the original magpies would practically eat our of my mother's hand, the other wasn't quite so bold.
Sadly, they stopped coming at one point. My mum heard from a neighbour that a large number of local birds, including magpies, had been poisoned. I guess that's what happened to them.
We have lots of magpies where I live and I've always wanted to make friends with them but they're both timid and obviously pretty smart so very hard to get near here.
1. https://gplama.com/2022/09/01/the-worst-magpies-ive-ever-enc...
They get a bad rep as they swoop, however, they're fascinating and beautiful animals; from their social structures of forming lifelong relationships or forming gangs[1], to their ability to mimic[1].
[1] https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-12-11/magies-ten-th...
Having watched this since my childhood I too had once befriended, in my case Cows and Sheeps from the nearby fields, while on my daily walks few years ago. I use to sing songs and they use to gather around me. It was so amazing to watch. Afterwards even if I did not sing they use to gather around just after seeing me. The sad part was some of these animals were raised for slaughter and I thought making them believe in humans was not the right thing to do. It use to be a dilemma for me whenever I saw them on whether I should engage with them.
Having communication with animals and seeing them respond back is one of the most amazing experiences. Most pet owners will understand this.
They’re amazingly intelligent and very gregarious once they trust you. A particularly brave one will even perch just out of reach and snatch cashews out of the air. Others will hover over me in the breeze asking for treats and catch them as well.
They definitely train you too - they know where I live. If they don’t get fed for a while, they’ll croak their frustrations down my chimney at me.
Amazing birds and I feel very fortunate to have formed some bond with them.
Heck, there are videos of lizards and fish enjoying being petted. Most every animal seems to enjoy being touched gently.
Turns out one of my friends neighbors used to feed the crows and taught one of them to say hello like a parrot.
And the crows definitely know us. And recognized us when we moved to another neighborhood. They know we give them a wide berth if they’re doing their thing on the ground whenever we can, crossing the road or splitting the middle wherever possible. And they calmly move aside when they see that we can’t. Sometimes one will see us and (I think) find a perch to announce our approach to the others. At first this seemed like a warning, but now it feels more like a friendly heads up.
I don’t regularly give them food, but I did sometimes leave little stuff for them at a designated place outside my last house. It was an accident the first time, I had left a little cup of salsa out on top of my yard/food waste bin and forgotten it was there until I saw a crow fly off with it. After that, any deliberate offering left there was swept up within minutes.
I’d like to make better friends with them, but most of my encounters are with pup in tow. While she definitely understands they’re different than other birds, she still needs fairly strict control to keep her behaved while we pass by. So friendly respect at a distance feels more appropriate.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I5Vm_YO_MY
[1] - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77166.A_Year_in_the_Main... [2] - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/254704.Mind_of_the_Raven [3] - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122665.Ravens_in_Winter [4] - https://www.audubon.org/news/how-tell-raven-crow
If crows are cawing it means there are guests outside.
It won't make sense in urban areas much but it does in rural. Since they are intelligent and good at recognizing faces, there cawing can mean there is someone unknown outside.
Does anyone know if the same goes for corvids?
Edit: also faster.
I want to say this was the beginning of a jay/cat alliance but nothing came of it. The jays are around all summer though which is nice.
https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Feeding_the_Birds_at...
Darryl on research gate:
https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Darryl...
"Feeding the Birds at Your Table is designed to provide detailed, comprehensive advice and suggestions for people wishing to feed wild birds in Australia from their own backyards and balconies."
Seems like he has a vested interest in selling copies of his book.
Australians of all people should know better than to claim to understand the ramifications of human intervention on complex natural systems. See: introduction of cane toads to Australia.
Backyard wildlife feeding is extremely intrusive in all cases, it should be and is blanket banned in many places.
People with feeders also have a vested interest in convincing themselves that it's OK.
"I'm making friends with the bird", yes you are, it's a profoundly toxic relationship.
If you can claim to understand the full and long-range ramifications of your intervention in a natural system, who thinks they are so smart?
Why is that more likely than just "eating the bones, skin, feet, and other animal parts the humans didn't eat" ?
Either is more likely than "hand feeding" since that takes a pretty tamed animal.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animals-and-us/20200...
Is there something special about crows where these things aren't so much a factor?
The more we learn about crows, their behaviors etc the more we realize that we severely understate their intelligence with each new finding.
They also already are adopted to living in human cities. Usually in parks where they can do some traditional hunting intermixed with trash collecting and some direct feeding. But they are usually not reliant on the later and will move on in Winter if the other sources dry up.
The magpies certainly recognize me now, and do a kind of friendly swoop in front of me to make sure I see them. Sometimes the crows sweep in and grab the treat, to sharp protest from the magpie. And in the summer half of the year, the crows too sometimes get bullied away by a seagull.
I have a feeling the magpies definitively don't like it if I deliberately feed any of the bigger birds. But even the seagulls (which are rather aggressive when they have chicks) have gotten noticeably nicer to me when they've understood there's a chance at an unsalted peanut from time to time.
I can relate
I then had to go back to my desk, not knowing the end result.
A couple of hours later we had our monthly all-hands meeting in the kitchen / lunch room space.
For the full hour of the meeting, there was a juvenile magpie standing on the balcony floor, at the door, looking inside and warbling.
I'm assuming it liked the country cheese sample.
These bastards are such a nuisance that they’ve made me fear birds. During their nesting season they’ll repeatedly dive bomb innocent walkers-by and threaten to peck at their ears.
Any tips to appease these fascists of the sky would be appreciated.
They are incredibly smart and very tame. They will happily land on your shoulder while you try to eat your lunch and pick away into your lunch box.
They will do loopings above groups of tourists, land, beg for food, and when they receive food, do some more fly-bys and loopings.
They bury food in the ground and I bet they find all of it later.
I am pretty sure they recognize people, as they came straight for me and my wife when we were hiking and not to the other people around...
They're also quite socially/situationally adept. A crow snuck into my mechanic's garage and stole a bag of sunflower seeds on top of a rolling toolbox about 30 ft / 10 m into the building without being seen. They then proceeded to take their loot back to their murder and had a sunflower seed party in the alley.
I definitely wasn't expecting the author to be a biologist. Where I live, fed wild animals are dead wild animals. Because you don't know when that animal who is now used to being fed is gonna break into the neighbors' houses or simply beg at the door, and get trapped or shot or poisoned or all three. It happens. Dang.
I’m no friend of crows (specifically, magpies), having been attacked by them in the past. They’re also considered a non-native, invasive species in my country.
My policy on neighborhood birds has always been neutrality.