Crows

Crows are awesome! I (and my partner, Robin) want to make friends with crows. These are our notes.

Preferred food

So far, we’ve mostly tried in-shell, raw, unsalted peanuts, and some dog treats. Both work OK.

We purchased some spicy suet for birds (birds can’t taste capsaicin, but mammals like squirrels can), but haven’t encountered any crows in the neighborhood since then.

Important

Crows are scavengers and eat lots of stuff, but it’s important to provide healthy food. Do not give crows salted food, like salted peanuts. Don’t give them bread.

Suet is a great high-energy food for winter.

Locations

We see small groups of crows in our neighborhood on average probably every two weeks. We often can’t find any crows within running/biking distance of our house, so they must be traveling significant distances.

Are there any patterns we can identify? I’d like to start a dataset that tracks crow sightings and locations, ideally one that others can contribute to.

Measures of success

We will feel like we’ve established a friendship with crows if:

  • They will come within arms’ reach to get food
  • They establish a regular visit schedule at our house
  • They bring us shiny trash gifts

So far, the best measure of success has been that the crows are comfortable hanging out with us on our driveway, if we sit still. They will come within 10 feet of us to get food, but react fearfully to movement.

Talking to them (e.g. gentle coaxing like a dog or cat) seems to be surprisingly effective at making them more comfortable with getting morsels of food that are closer to us.

Misc

Crows vs. Ravens

Ravens and crows look very similar but can be differentiated with a few features:

  • Tailfeathers: Crows’ tailfeathers will form a flat trailing edge, resembling a triangle pointing towards the front of the bird. Ravens’ tailfeathers come to a point (often called “wedge”, but to me more resembles a “diamond”) at the trailing edge.
  • Size: Ravens are much bigger. Crows are closer to the size of a woodpecker, and ravens are closer to the size of an adult housecat.
  • Call: Crow calls are more of a clear “caw” sound, and ravens are more of a vocal-fry “croak” sound. Ravens have greater vocal range, and can even mimic human speech.
  • Location: I’ve never seen ravens in my neighborhood, but I see them often in Boulder.