The term “an unkindness of ravens” is believed to have originated in the 19th century due to a misunderstanding of raven behavior. People mistakenly believed that ravens were cruel to their young, sometimes forcing them out of the nest before they were ready to fend for themselves. This term has its roots in the Middle Ages in England, where people were highly superstitious and animals often faced threats.
A Conspiracy of Ravens presents readers with a compendium of over 100 collective bird nouns from the distant past, reflecting some physical or behavioral features of a species. Some of the nouns are portentous, like a tiding of magpies, while others, like a murmuration of peacocks, are descriptive. Common terms for a group are “rave, treachery, conspiracy”, or the more generic “flock”. A group of Ravens is called an “unkindness”, a “treachery”, or a “conspiracy”, probably because some people get an ominous feeling when they see them.
The English language brims with witty words for flocks of birds, thought to have originated from hunting manuals. The musical inspiration for this collection was the English folk ballad The Three Ravens, originally published in 1611 in the collection Melismata compiled by William Oddie.
In ancient Hebrews, ravens were considered unclean and bad omens, and the term “an unkindness of ravens” stemmed from a misunderstanding of raven behavior. The term “A Conspiracy of Ravens” presents readers with a compendium of collective bird nouns from the distant and not-so-distant past, aiming to capture the ominous feelings people get when seeing ravens.
📹 10 Odd and Interesting Facts About Crows and Ravens (North America)
There are many cool things about Crows and Ravens Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:04 How to tell a Raven from a Crow 00:35 Why …
What does ravens conspiracy mean?
New research suggests that ravens, often referred to as “unkindness” or “conspiracy”, can experience stress when found in large groups. These groups are described as a “mobile discotheque” – a group of males fighting for dominance and females trying to find mates. The stress in this fast-paced environment may push ravens to settle down, according to Nuria Selva, lead researcher at the Institute of Nature Conservation at the Polish Academy of Sciences. The study, which was conducted by Bernd Heinrich of the University of Vermont, suggests that the stress of life in the fast lane of the ravens’ mobile discotheque may push them to settle down.
Why is it called a kindness of ravens?
A flock of ravens, frequently designated an “unkindness,” is frequently associated with misfortune and trickster animals in mythology. A plethora of colorful collective nouns have been devised to describe these animals.
What is the hidden meaning of the Raven?
Poe intended the Raven to symbolize a mournful remembrance, driven by the narrator’s sorrow for his lost, perfect maiden Lenore. This sorrow serves as the driving force behind his conversation with the Raven.
Why are ravens seen as evil?
French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss suggests that ravens, like the coyote, gained mythic status due to their role as a mediator between life and death. They became associated with the dead and lost souls, with Swedish folklore seeing them as ghosts of murdered people without Christian burials and damned souls in German stories. Ravens have appeared in mythologies of Greek, Celtic, Norse, Pacific Northwest, and Roman mythology.
In Greek mythology, ravens are associated with Apollo, the God of prophecy, and are considered a symbol of bad luck. Apollo sent a white raven to spy on his lover, Coronis, and scorched the raven in his fury, turning its feathers black.
Why did Raven become unkindness?
Raven, a member of the Teen Titans, was corrupted by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and became an Unkindness. She used her magic to control the Horsemen, confining them within her body. However, their corruptive force proved too strong for Raven, so she convinced Shazam to confine her within the Rock of Eternity. From within the Rock, Raven communicated with Hell’s demons, forging an alliance with Neron.
Neron corrupted Shazam’s magic, turning him against his allies and using him to kill the Spectre. After the Spectre was dead, Neron channeled Shazam’s power into Raven, enhancing her abilities and releasing her from her prison.
Why do ravens have a bad reputation?
Ravens are often associated with bad omens, denoting ill luck or death. This may stem from their tendency to follow armies or pestilence, hoping to feast on corpses. In one myth, a raven informed Apollo of his nymph’s faithlessness, leading to Apollo blacking the raven. Other myths depict ravens as prophetic. Crows, like ravens, can be thieves of small, bright objects, similar to magpies. They have been known to ruin corn plantings and eat mature corn as it ripens. However, crows are also considered intelligent, with some being taught to talk and perform tricks. They are often depicted as prophetic and can be a nuisance in various settings.
What is the myth behind ravens?
Ravens, originally white, were messengers of the gods in Greek mythology, delivering a message of Apollo’s unfaithfulness to Coronis. Apollo burned the messenger raven, causing them to become black. Ravens are the largest of the Corvus species, including crows. Scientifically, ravens are smart and curious, and are carrion birds, a class associated with death and dying. It is theoretically possible that ravens may have said “nevermore” due to their ability to mimic human speech.
What do you call a large group of ravens?
The collective noun for a group of ravens is “unkindness”, but most people use the more generic term “flock”. The various types of ravens include the White-necked raven (eastern and southern Africa), Common raven (Northern Hemisphere), Australian raven (Australia), Thick-billed raven (Horn of Africa), Chihuahuan raven (United States and Mexico), Little raven (southeastern Australia), Fan-tailed raven (eastern Africa and Arabian peninsula), Brown-necked raven (northern Africa, Arabian peninsula, greater Middle East), Forest raven (Tasmania, southern Victoria and north-east New South Wales in Australia), Chatham raven (Corvus moriorum), New Zealand raven (Corvus antipodum), and Pied raven (extinct morph of common raven).
Is it a conspiracy of ravens?
Ravens, often referred to as a conspiracy, are clever, cunning, and intelligent birds. They are often considered equal in intelligence to canids like wolves, coyotes, and dogs. Ravens have been observed using sticks to extract insects from logs, placing walnuts in front of car tires, and collecting scraps of paper to use as a rake. They are often referred to as a “charm of finches” or a “parliament of owls”.
What is the meaning of unkindness ravens?
The raven, once seen as a guardian bird, has also been a symbol of ill-omen due to its harsh call and presence during death scenes. The collective noun for a group of ravens is “unkindness”. The Gaelic word for raven is fitheach, and Scottish place names include “an Fhithich” or “nam Fitheach”, meaning “of the ravens”. The word corbie, traced back to the Latin corvus, is also used for ravens. The raven is a significant figure in Celtic lore, with Welsh mythology featuring the god Bran the Blessed as a guardian of Britain whose totem is a raven. Bran ordered the raven to be cut off, allowing it to continue speaking prophecy.
Is a raven just a crow?
Ravens are larger than crows in appearance, with a larger bill, tail shape, flight pattern, and large size. They are as big as Red-tailed Hawks and have a wingspan of 3. 5-4 feet. Ravens are all black, have a 24-27 inch head-to-tail span, and weigh around 40 oz. The crow is also black, has a 2. 5 ft wingspan, and is about 17 inches long. They weigh about 20 oz, half the weight of a raven. Ravens are as big as Red-tailed Hawks and are about the size of pigeons.
📹 Symbolism of the Raven. “rave”, “treachery”, “unkindness”, and “conspiracy”. I
Collective nouns for a group of common ravens (if not all ravens) include “rave”, “treachery”, “unkindness”, and “conspiracy”.
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A crow’s memory is amazing. So to their credit, they remember good things too. I was outside on a lunch break once, and noticed a bunch of crows trying to get into a to-go box in the trash. So I walked over and took the to-go box out of the trash, and put it on the picknick table and opened it for them. It had left over salad and grapes. So I went back over to the other table, and finished my lunch… at the same time the crows were eating their left over salad. Interesting to note, about four crows would eat, and four would stay in the trees to look out, then they would switch out, and the guys in the trees had their fair turn to eat. Well, the whole time they kept looking in my direction, and before they finished the salad, they all got together in the tree and had a for real conversation, and one of them flew down, picked up some grapes, and flew over to my table. He was obviously afraid, but it was so important to him to do the right thing. He hopped over and set the grapes down in front of me, like my share of the take. I helped, so I get a share. And he stayed, he wouldn’t leave until he saw me eat a grape. So they feel a necessity to fulfill obligations. And they kept bringing me things through the month. Like they saw people smoke, so they brought me cigaret buts. They brought me food from God knows where, which I never ate, remembered I ate grapes, and then only brought me grapes. We had a little relationship going.
I found a young injured crow in the 80’s my father and myself nursed him back to good health. He imprinted on me and would not leave and belive me we tried! So “Walter” became a member of the family and my best friend. He had a large vocabulary. And was a big silly ham when the kids in the neighborhood gave him an attention. He lived many years and gave me many good times. I think of him often and still miss him a lot. Like I said Walt was my best friend.
A while back, I was sitting down eating hot chips at a Cafe and I heard someone talking and whimpering behind me. I turned around and nobody else was around. I continued eating and heard it again and this time being thoroughly creeped out I stood up and turned around. I had no idea it was the crow sitting on the ground behind me so I took a couple steps to look around the corner to see if there was somebody there. Nobody was there… I turned back to my table and the crow was eating my chips. I shooed it away and when it landed on the ground It started making whimpering crying sounds again. I was amaized at how smart this bird was, using the sound of a crying person to distract people so it could steal from them lol
You mentioned ravens or crows gathering like a funeral at the death of one of their members .30 years ago my mother had green houses . She use to wash the used pots out in a wheel barrow . The ravens were her friends, they use to ride on the edge of the wheel barrow, and walk, following her around the yard . The day she died, ravens lined the gutters of her house, shoulder to shoulder for an entire day . How could they have known ? Makes me think theres more to their abilities than we are aware of ?
Where I live, I have a lot of birds that “visit” my property, crows in particular. I started leaving a plate of dog food on top of an arbor I have near the garden and one day I went to get the plate to give them more treats and found a few items on it. There was a marble, a piece of broken jewelry and a red matchbox car! I guess I got a tip! Since then, I often find little gifts on the plate! So much fun to see what they’ll leave next!
Staying in a house with a walled garden in Romania, an old raggedy crow got stuck, couldn’t fly out of the garden. Either too old, or injured. His crow family kept watch, mobbed me if I got too close, cawed and threatened from the apple trees (the garden was an orchard), and used to feed the old bird several times a day. The raggedy crow would hop up on a rusty, rotting see-saw and climbed to the highest point. Younger crows dropped down to the garden and fed the old crow like a chick, stuffing food into the old one’s beak. Quite astonishing behaviour – wonderful to watch.
I have a crow call (They’re used to locate turkeys) and sometimes I’ll mimic them while I’m fishing. I’ll usually try to repeat a crow. If it caws three times, I’ll caw three times and so on. So a crow comes over and starts cawing. It caws 5 times, then 4, then 3 and it leads me in a countdown to 1 then counts back up to 7 with me copying it. I was thinking, OMG! This crow is showing me it can count. Then when it gets back up to 7 it sort of tilts it head then flys away, calling it’s murder of pals. Then I realized it wasn’t showing me that it could count, it was seeing if I could count. And apparently it was surprised so it flew back to tell its family.
In their early youth, my father, James, and his identical twin, Amos, left their farm home in early spring to explore the far reaches of their 180 acres. Amos carried a .22 rifle. On approach, the boys spied a murder of crows rummaging in the corn rubble. Amos fired upon and killed a crow. The surviving crows flew into and waited on the edge of the woods. The boys ran to examine the carcass and Amos raised high his trophy. In late autumn near harvest, the boys returned to that same area of their land though without the .22. A group of crows flew out of the woods and mobbed Amos who held his hands to his head while running for home. The crows did not bother James. Identical twins or not, the crows knew; the crows remembered.
I had a crow divebomb me everyday for almost a week . I saw a documentary on crows and found out about how they recognized certain things and even faces. I stoped wearing my red baseball hat and the divebombimg ceased. The city Workers where I live who cut down trees wear red hats! Guess they cut down someone’s home and the crows thought I was the culprit! Since then, I find crows&Ravens fascinating.
I knew someone that would trade with a flock of crows. He would give them food and they’d give him something shiny that they found. Usually trinquets, sometimes coins. Once, he got curious. Just as the crow went for the food, he made them aware that he had more before setting it down a bit away from the first one. The crow looked at him, both piles of food the trinquet then the food again before flying off. He returned a short time later with a ring to add to his offering. Kind of suggests that they can have a sense of value
Back in the 90’s, I flew hang gliders, mostly in the mountains of So Cal. That’s when I really learned about crows. Most other birds were off all day in search of food, but not crows. I believe they are so smart that food gathering is a small task for them. Why? Because they spend most of their day playing, and not just simple stuff. How do I know? I’ve watched them for countless hours at hang gliding launch sites play really dangerous games with each other. Here’s an example. Good ridge lift on the side of the mountain and the first crow announces and then flies along the ridge until folding his wings to his body, inverting upside down, and plummets toward the rocks below, only to flip over and barely recover by spreading his wings just before crashing into the rocks. Then one after another are vocally challenged to do better, which they do, just for the fun of it, over and over. Some of the death defying recoveries, trying to outdo the previous and impress the crow crowd, are beyond stunning. Of course the media doesn’t care about this, but folks, these are really smart creatures.
I have been feeding the crows at my office for years. They know my car, and fly with my car as I drive up to the building. When I walk out to toss peanuts and goodies to them, there is one crow who apparently wants to reciprocate, because he has dropped a pecan at my feet several times. They are remarkable, extremely intelligent creatures.
We had a wild born blind adult Crow living with the family as a pet for just over 10 years. It learnt to understand a lot of English but never spoke. Instead it would mime out what it wanted whilst yelling at us in Crow language so we’d learn the call for something. Our Crow as called “Blackie” and had his own custom built house complete with heated perch. During the day he’d hang out in the garden and be visited by members of his Crow “clan” and a tame wild giant Wood Pidgeon, who’d act as his bodyguard and attack any Magpies that attempted to steal from his daytime food bowl. When an interloper Crow kept stealing from Blackie’s daytime food bowl and was caught attacking Blackie by the other Crows they held a parliament in a tree in the field at the bottom of the garden (so Blackie could be involved) and the bad Crow was there. After over an hour of Crows cawing, the Crows chased the bad Crow away and we never saw it again. I stood with Blackie on my hand during these proceedings after coming out to see what all the racket was about. Blackie asked to be picked up and carried. He was doing a lot of the cawing and the other were listening, then others would take a turn at cawing, etc. Kind of a once in a lifetime experience to be invited to spectate a Crow parliament from directly next to the tree where it was being held.
Crows are known for their loud cawing, but they can do a lot more vocalizing than that. I was eating lunch under a large tree at a park a few years ago, and there was about 7 crows high above me in the tree. They were at rest and hunched down on their perches. Over the next 20 minutes or so, they made a very wide range of bizarre and unexpected noises. These sounds included high-pitched whistling, moaning sounds, hissing, and what sounded like people whispering in another room. All the sounds were delivered quietly, with some barely audible. I’m an ornithologist, but the sheer number of different sounds they made astonished me, never having heard this before. They definitely seemed to be communicating with each other in a complex way that went beyond the normal singing or “danger” or “I found food” calls that most birds make. It was one of the most interesting and bizarre things I’ve ever witnessed.
I’m ‘friends’ with a group of crows. For the past 10 years or so they’ve followed me during my walks and recently brought a baby crow to meet me. (I bring them treats so that’s how it all started) The first time the main crow realized I was a friend he did barrel rolls in the sky above me. I’ve met about 4 generations of them I think. I wish I had made a journal of this but at the time I had no idea they’d remember me for so many years!
For the past few years my young daughter has, each morning, prepared food to feed the crows around her home. They now have an established routine whereby the crows will each bring a “gift” for her. This may be a button, piece of alfoil, bottle top, the ring pull from a can of soft drink, a clothes peg – anything really!! She has also told me she can recognise a fair few individual birds, and that some have even brought their offspring too – who also follow “etiquette”. I think it’s amazing in what she has achieved!! 👍
ravens and crows are so FIERCELY intelligent…ive known people who have trained them to recognize,find and retrieve missing objects for their owners…i even heard a story of a guy who befriended a murder of crows to the point where whenever he would go to the park they would bring him presents in the form of small shiny objects,including money!
My father was a true Nature Guy who could charm even wild animals. He ended up with a pet crow this way. The crow just showed up and… stayed. I was a little girl at the time, and every night I’d visit Edgar on his perch in my dad’s workshop (yeah, Edgar Allen Crow) and my dad would supervise as I interacted with him. It was so fun! Edgar was friendly, sneaky and clever. My dad cared for him for about 7 years, I think. (Near the end of his life, my dad opened the front door to find a white dove standing there. The dove just walked into the house and stayed, usually sitting on my dad’s shoulder or perching nearby. My dad liked to call it the Holy Spirit. The dove disappeared when my dad died.)
When I was a kid in the 70’s in southern California we had a big backyard with a pool. One day I was walking to school, and found a crow with a wounded wing, or so it appeared. It was in some ivy on the ground. I picked him up, and a janitor at school kept him for me until after. I took it home, got worms for him. Eye dropper for water. Made a nice safe place for him. Anyway, in about a week, he got better. I figured it was time to see if he could fly away. Although I wanted him to live on my shoulder! 😁 But I helped him, and got him to fly. He flew up and perched on the wires way up across the yard. He groomed a little, squawked a little. Then flew away. A day later he came back, and brought me a top of a soda can, the tap that you used to pull off. Then a few days later he brought this beautiful flat bead, like from a bracelet. He brought me shiny things for about a month. Then I don’t recall him coming back, but maybe he did. I’ll always remember that. Always.
Just later last year I befriended the crows in my neighbourhood. There aren’t many but I often feed and converse with them. Because of the lack of crows in my area (and my keen interest in them) I’d like to find more. As much as I’d love to chill out with them at a cemetery, more or less observe them, I think people might find me creepier than I actually am…
when i was young my father got a young crow. we clipped his wings and he would walk around the neighborhood and sometimes bring us other peoples house keys(maybe from other peoples hiding spots?). One time my brother was working on a chainsaw in the back and the crow kept trying to get my brother to play with him, but my brother ignored him. When he left it alone to come in to have lunch the crow went over and took four identical bolts and hid each one under a different leaf. Another time I was the only person home and in bed and I could hear the crow pecking on my window for me to come out and play with him. A little later I was awoke by the door bell ! I got up and checked and just the crow was there! I cant say for sure, but I think that the crow flew up and pressed the button. I always talk to crows when I see them. R. Hogue
Absolutely without question have loved crows and ravens since childhood. I remember vividly when I had a condo where I could feed and care for them. They would literally follow my car home, fly over the condo complex where I lived, and would wait for me in the backyard for their treats. Usually one of the larger dominant ones would put out the call as if to say “he’s home, come and get it!”. Sure enough the flock would respond and come flying up the hill from the valley below. They are really an enjoyable bird to be with.
About 15 yrs ago there was a single crow who hung out around the dumpster next to a restaurant near where I did my shopping in CA. It was walking around on the sidewalk when a restaurant employee came out with a bag of trash. Then I noticed one of the crow’s wings was dragging on the ground and it looked really pitiful. It followed the guy around while he dumped the bag and went back inside the back door of the restaurant. When the crow realized he/she wasn’t going to get anything, it waited a minute or so, tucked it’s wing back up and flew up to sit on top of a tall light post in the parking lot, where it made some angry sounding calls before flying away. I saw this crow at least one other time wandering around the sidewalk by this restaurant with it’s wing tip dragging whenever someone with the restaurant uniform was visible. Hilarious and it taught me just how smart these birds are.
I rescued a baby hooded crow and I bring him to fly everyday. Other hooded crows attack him viciously but the other species leave him alone. Sometimes, magpies and rooks play with him, but his own species won’t. Territoriality? Most probably, if he was in the wild he’d be hanging around with his family and they would have their own territory and he wouldn’t be getting attacked so much. And it’s true that he has a sound for me: he copies my laugh and won’t do that when there’s anyone else around.
Crows are so intelligent, I remember walking home through the park and feeding them popcorn. We have 3-4 crows who visit the grassy area outside our house. We leave them small pieces of buttered bread along with other food items which they eat almost immediately. They are so intelligent and it makes my day to observe their fascinating and beautiful behaviour. Thanks for uploading this priceless article.
I used to work with a bloke who had worked as a plant operator on some of the beef development roads in the Northern Territory. Every day they would leave camp and drive to where they had parked up their machines the previous night. They would take with them drinking water and styrofoam coolers with a bags of ice and their lunches in them. They would move the machines to where they had been working the day before and then come back to the park up area for lunch. Every day when they stopped for lunch, they would find that one of the coolers had a hole in one end and a hole in the lid and some item of food would be missing. At first they thought it was a goanna doing it, but soon realized that a goanna would have just torn the cooler apart to get at the food, instead of making two small neat holes in it. One day they decided to solve the mystery once and for all. They all went to work, went through the same routine of putting the coolers under a shady tree and went off to work. Once they had reached the work area, two of the men got off their machines and walked back to the park up area and hid in the bushes. After a few minutes, a crow flew in and landed on one of the tree branches above the food coolers. He had a good look around to make sure there was no one else about and then flew down and landed on top of one of the coolers. He then pecked a hole in the lid and put his head into it and had a good look at what was inside. When he had decided on what he thought was the tastiest looking of the food inside, he hopped onto the ground and pecked a hole in the side of the cooler, dragged out a plastic wrapped package of sandwiches and flew off to have his lunch!
I have 2 life size ravens that are made from resin that hang on my wall. I ordered them from a Toscano catalog, but I have seen them elsewhere. Incredibly life like. Look exactly like 2 ravens perched on branches. My pride and joy. They are in remembrance of my raven friends I left behind when I moved, ( Topper and Boo ). I couldn’t tell them apart by appearance, only by behavior. Funny but my I moved into a new place and befriended 2 others. Blessed
interesting Raven facts in Norse mythology, Odin has 2 ravens that fly around the world every day and bring important news to him in the Viking Age, to kill someone in battle was to make “Raven’s meat” In lore of indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest, Ravens were once pure white, but in defiance of gods, one of them flew to the sun and brought back an ember to people to make fire, his feathers were burned black and as continuing punishment for defying the gods, all his kin were turned black also in Oregon, there is a flock of pure white Ravens, they are NOT albino, their eyes are black
I have a crow that has learned that when my dog is outside barking, I come out to get her to bring her inside so the crow will wait for me on my neighbors garage roof because it knows I’ll leave it some peanuts. It all started about a year ago when I noticed a crow in a tree and decided to leave some peanuts out for it on a tree stump. After doing that for a few months (dog outside barking, I go out to get her, I see the crow, I leave it peanuts rinse/repeat) now each time my dog barks, it will land on my neighbors garage roof right outside my back door waiting for me to go outside to get her. There are a few other dogs around me, but when they bark I never see the crow land on the garage roof or even in the trees outside. It only happens when my dog starts barking that it might take a minute or two before I see the crow on the roof waiting for me to come outside with peanuts. So I believe that it has learned both my dogs bark, because it doesn’t do it for other dogs and that when she is outside barking I’ll be out there to have something for it. I haven’t quite got it to take any peanuts out of hand yet and that’s ok, but it now allows me to stand right next to the tree stump I leave the peanuts on. My girlfriend has tried to stand next to the stump, both by herself and with me standing there with her but the crow won’t fly down from the garage until she walks away. So it only lets me get close and I think that’s kind of cool lol. And even though crows are almost impossible to tell apart, I know it’s the same crow because it’s the only one that ever lands on the garage roof or will fly down to the stump while I’m still standing there.
When I was young I used to spend a lot of time under the trees in the back of the yard. One day, I had been quietly sitting there for a long time when the crows nesting up high in the next tree began to sing the most lovely fluting song to their babies. I was so astonished I stood up to look, and they were FURIOUS and alarmed that I had heard their private song – they screamed at me for the longest time. I have never heard crows make that sound ever again, but I read once that others have heard it on rare occasions.
Today I was attacked by a crow. My husband and I wanted to have a picnic in a park. This crow came to attack a second time and I was already bleeding on the head from the first event. We had enough and drove home only to find out that our 90 year old neighbor,who lives on his own, was shouting for our help. He had a fall in his garden and could not get up.Without the aggressive crow we would have stayed the afternoon away from home. Praise God.
Although not a crow or raven specifically- Blue Jays are still pretty much like blue crows to me since they seem to act similar and being in the same family and all. A few years back, I would have a Blue Jay that hung around and would tease my dog. It would mimic her whining noises and whine back at her and get her riled up on purpose it seemed. It, or they also would seem to eat spiders off of the house in the mornings and evenings, which was always fun to watch and appreciated, haha.
Back when I was in high school a murder of crows would follow me to and from the school on my daily walk. They never bothered me, they were just there. They’d also sit in the trees outside my house in the evening. There was 15-20 of them. That was about 3 years ago. Now there are 5 or 6 crows that have started gathering around my work when I’m in the yard. Idk if some of them are same crows or if it’s just a coincidence, but I think it’s pretty neat.
I’m a truck driver and I stopped at a rest area in the middle of nowhere NM; and there was I believe a raven, on a telephone pole cawing loudly. I started talking to it in a mild higher pitch voice and it stopped and listened. It was obviously looking at me. When I stopped, it cawed back at me also in a softer mild tone. When I had to leave, I’d like to think it was following me. May have been a coincidence. It flew the same direction I was heading, but of course it could not keep up. It was a nice experience!
When my grandpa was alive he had a fairly large garden that took up most of his back yard, it was truly beautiful. I know that sounds odd calling a garden beautiful but it really was, he took a lot of pride in it and every day he’d tend to it. There was a section where’d he grow corn for us and then across from that he’d grow corn feed for his cow (yes just 1 cow lol). My grandpa had a daily routine with every vegetable in his garden like putting down home made pesticides, testing the crops to see if they were ready or needed something to help them grow correctly/healthy. I don’t remember how he did it but my grandpa had a way of testing the corn he was growing for his cow to see if it was ready. Just like clockwork he’d wait till the next day to have us grandkids pick it so he wouldn’t have to bend over too much and when the next day came almost half of it would be gone. Obviously he knew it was the crows and even though it annoyed him he kinda thought it was funny. Through out the entire time he’d check the corn while it was growing it wouldn’t be touched up until that last check up. It’s crazy but they knew when it was ready everytime and to me that’s hilarious because that shows they could’ve ate it while it was growing but didn’t because they liked the tasted when it was ready. There really wasn’t much he could do, yeah he could’ve shot them but it was just corn feed, no big deal. So he planted a special row for the crows so they’d leave the other alone and for the most part they did, the whole thing was just hilarious.
I have 2 crows that hang around my place daily. “Flo the crow” and “Joe the crow”. Joe spends most of the day sitting on a perch outside my kitchen window. At first I got a little paranoid because I thought he was perusal me. The paranoia really set in when I realised he was definitely perusal me. Whenever I moved out of his view, he would reposition himself on the perch so that he could see me again. It became a bit of a fun game after that. I’d hide and he would look for me. After he stole my phone (Yes, for real, but I got it back) I decided to start feeding him, although he always keeps a safe distance of about 4 metres away at all times, which is a bit of a shame but I guess he’s just playing it safe.
Also was in a 4th story dentist chair having some serious work done when my dentist, her assistant and I noticed that the nearby sycamore tree had several crows or ravens standing on and near a nest. They were all looking at us with a look of what appeared to be horror. My dental assistant remarked that the crows probably thought that I was being tortured or something.
I have about four that hang around my house because of the peanuts I feed my squirrels. I’ve been having a hard time trying to figure out if they are crows or ravens, so this is very helpful. I’ll have to pay attention tomorrow and see if I can tell. The one thing that has been standing out to me is the very peculiar noises they make, its so fascinating! Like coos and gurgles, all types of noises like that. I would love to get close to them like I am with the squirrels!
Crows also hold court on sentinel birds that failed to notify the flock of approaching danger. The murder may escape initially…but when safe, they get in a ring on the ground, surrounding the offending bird. A great deal of chatter follows, and if found guilty the murder descends upon the offender and they kill it as a group. This behavior has been observed on several occasions… Cf. The Life History of the Crow…I forget the author’s name…fascinating book. Thank you for the article!
The gulls at ocean isle North Carolina would dig up clams and mussels along the waterway then then fly over the road and drop them to break them open. The crows would hide in the scrub on the dunes and swoop in for the clam before the gull could react. Serves he gulls right…they would swarm people carrying anything that looked edible….the crows would watch and wait for handouts or crumbs but never attack
Had a neighbor, really good with animals and very observant. He was telling me how he rescued a baby crow when he was younger. It was just like his dogs, always around. He would feed it with his dogs, it would be by the dogs and even climb over them on occasion. But he said it would watch him and get ready to “see” him off. He would drive off to work and see him following him. Then later in the day the crow would see him driving home and he would see it flying home following him. He was amazed how far the bird would follow him and his ability to spot his car. That could be a sound thing though as I had a dog and the ups guy would always have treats. I worked close by and after some time I learned his route was my neighborhood. Anyway all kinds of ups trucks would drive by, same style and shape / size and she would know if it was Earnies truck every time. But back to the crow, it grew up real young with my neighbor and pretty much only identified with him his dogs and his friends. It didn’t imprint with other crows at all. They would actually bully him. Interesting story he told.
It was definitely a Raven I made friends with during a work stay in Florida. The bird was interested in cheese balls I had purchased to feed seagulls on the beach for fun. The Raven followed me to my hotel and recognized me on the second floor balcony, sat on my railing. I tried to lure the bird into the room by creating a trail of cheese balls into the open sliding glass doors. The Raven would not cross the thresh hold. On the last day of my two week job, the Raven brought its mate that sat a few feet away. The Raven had been eating cheese balls from my palm and fed his mate a few in between enjoying his own. On this last day, the Raven laid a shiny piece of asphalt on my palm as a gift. It remains one of my most prized possessions !
I had a pet raven years ago and it was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had with any animal I’ve owned and I’ve owned a lot of different animals.a friend brought it over and it had a broken wing and broken leg and had been that way for a few days.the leg healed ok but the wing didnt.I was keeping it in a cat carrier and had to wear leather gloves to handle it at first until I sat on the floor and opened the door of the cage and let it come out and check me out.From that moment on that raven took me on as it’s mate and trusted me with everything.They mate for life so if you can get one when it’s young it will take you on as its mate and you can do anything with it.Within 1 month it was already saying 4 different words and it followed me everywhere.My neighbors dog broke his chain and killed it when we were in the driveway about 6 months later and I was heartbroken.When you looked in this birds eyes it was like looking into a humans eyes that was stuck in a birds body.It was truley amazing.
Pretty cool article! I’ll never forget a time that I was about seven years old and I lived on a dead-end street with a Brook at the end. There was a hanging bunch of trees right before the short path down to the brook. I wandered off right from three houses down on the left right before my family and I will ready to leave. And on the branch of the tree was a raven I believe it’s beak was bigger, but it may also have looked way larger because I was so little LOL so it could have been a crow.. but either way it let me pat it ! 💓 I remember it like it was yesterday in my memory.. I will be 39 this year.. it’s crazy when I think back now, as to how naturally it happened.. I remember petting it and talking to it saying hello.. and then my mom called me and I had to go…☯️♾️💓🍻
At my last job I was in the habit of taking a 3-mile walk each noon along a country road. At the top of the 1st hill was an open field where crows often gathered to feed. At first they flew off at my approach, but in time they became accustomed to me and just ignored me. One day I stopped to watch them. Immediately they came to attention – every other time they’d seen me, I’d just walked by, so this didn’t fit the pattern they’d come to expect. In a puckish frame of mind, I cawed at them – and they went absolutely berserk. They fled, screaming, in all directions. I don’t know what I said to them, but it didn’t go down well.
I watched two ravens perform an act I thought only eagles did; a locked claws spiral fall to earth. I was walking to my car after visiting the post office when I saw two ravens circling high overhead. Being a lover of ravens, I just watched them enjoying riding the thermals. They began to come together until it seemed to become an inflight tussle of some kind and what happened next stunned me. They locked on to each others claws and began a spiraling fall. They fell spinning for what seemed around 15 to 30 seconds until around 50 to 30 feet above ground they released each other and swooped off, gliding in different directions and then regrouped and flew off toward a distant mesa. Until then, I thought only eagles did this and I’ve seen articles of eagles doing just that. But these were definitely ravens. Not eagles. It was an amazing sight I will never forget.
When I drove a dumptruck, there was a large population of ravens at the rock quarry. Multiple times a day, I would throw stale bread out the window to the ground. One got brave early, landing on my mirror mount, and holding it’s beak open like a baby bird wanting to be fed. I would talk calmly, saying, ” Hey Buddy, how are you today?” He would take his favorite treat (peanut butter&cheese crackers) from my fingers. How did he pick my truck out from all the hundreds of almost identical dumptrucks? They must have the ability to recognise a particular human face. Hopefully, he is out there today, lighting on someone else’s mirror mount saying, ” Hey buddy, how are you today?”
3:55 Ha!! As a teen, when I walked to and from school and also spent many hours per week walking for pleasure and exercise, I gradually noticed that at certain points during my weekly schedule, what seemed like the same medium sized crow would be perched somewhere high up perusal me with apparent interest. I felt like s/he had noticed my schedule and was making a hobby of people-watching me, but that seemed kinda silly. I guess not!
Lesley, I have 3 Crows that visit my bird paradise quite often, in fact every day!!! They eat shelled peanuts and sunflower seeds, but as far as I know that’s it. I love all my birds! The Cowbirds and Starlings have pretty much taken over my feeders, but it doesn’t last long. They come here and nest, raise their young, then move on until next year at this time. Thank you so much for your articles, especially the Jays articles!!! I love my Jays!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️
One day while on my lawn mowing route, in the City of Lakewood California, I was driving down a residential street. There in the middle of the road was a baby crow just laying. I thought it was scared and was afraid to move out of the street. Other crows were cawing, and swooping down at the baby crow, trying to get him, her to get out of the street. I pulled over to the curb. I got out if my truck and cautiously walked up to the baby crow. Me: “Hey! You! Waddeeya dooin’ in the middle of the street?! You could get run over!” I said in a happy tone. As I was by the baby crow, the other crows were cawing and diving on me. I gently picked up the baby crow and took it to a parkway and set it down. I went Beck to my truck and took out a granola bar from my lunch. I took it out of the wrapper, and crumbled up half of it and piled the pieces for baby the be able to eat it. I got back in my truck and drove off. As I was driving down another street, two crows, possibly the parents if the baby I had rescued, flew past the open driver’s window and both clawed at me! I really do believe they both were thanking me for rescuing their baby!
About 10 years ago, I started to befriend my local crow family. Over the years, the family has grown to several families and they have learned what vehicles or bike I use. They will wait for me where ever they see my transport or even follow me, knowing I always carry food for them. Sometimes they don’t want to eat, but have long drawn out conversations with lots of clicks, rattles and other bizarre noises. For the past couple years, that damn Avian pox has hit. Even though I clean and bleach their eating and drinking areas, I have buried about a dozen friends. In the last couple of days before death hits a bird, the flock and the sick one trusts me enough to hand feed and give them water from my hand. Every time I think the flocks are over the pox, another crow will pick it up. It’s been difficult!
Years ago when i was younger i found an injured crow. i named him Munnin. He had been injured by the neighbor, so i picked him up and over the course of about eleven months he rode on my shoulder when i rode my bike, much to the dismay of my mother after seeing the droppings on my jackets. He loved mac and cheese but would eat just about anything. My dad ended up making me learn about crows to make sure he was given a healthy diet. After about eleven months on one of our rides he took off. but returned periodically for mac and cheese which i would happily provide and in return he would bring little bits of shiny stuff. I am pretty sure his offspring came back as well because this happened for about ten years. After the old oak on the hill behind our house was cut down we stopped seeing them.
My husband and I watched a PBS special on a Raven in captivity studied by a Zoologist. We actually watched this bird fashion a small piece of metal into a tool to open his cage. FASCINATING!! I knew they could remember faces and body styles. They come right out when I am in the yard…the reason being that I am the one who fills the feeders, suet bars and I clean and refresh the bird baths. My husband loves to watch the birds, but when he is outside, he is usually wielding a noisy tool or deep into his tasks. I love all birds, but the Corvids have my heart.
I saw a group of crows kill another one. It was horrible! Didn’t know what was happening so I drove my car through the group several times to get them to disperse but to no avail. They would not leave him alone. Every time he got even two feet off the ground one would swoop and knock him down again. Along with a hummingbird homicide it ranks as one of my least favorite animal experiences.
I enjoyed this article. I had a murder of crows roost in the surrounding area of the house I was living in earlier this year. They hung out for about 45 minutes. I was able to feed them a loaf of bread. They were quite vocal and I think they enjoyed the experience as much As I did. I hope the future holds more interaction with them. Thankyou for the informative article, I enjoyed it.
Hello crow people, i grew up raising crows that fell out of their nests,13 in all. my grandfather started the whole crow thing, he had one named Pete for a pet in1918. and all of my crows went back to the wild but one. And yes his name was Pete. He would follow me across town to my Grandparents home & my Uncle’s. He would show up at my junior high school walk around the window sills until he found me and when he did he would start crowing until i petted him & sent him on his way. he would wake us up every morning waiting for a snack to start his day, I’m so thankful to of had pete for a friend.
Hey, Lesley the Bird Nerd, I have one for you. The spring before last, (That would be 2018,) I was training to drive a school bus. There is a district owned parking lot where we practice parking maneuvers, backing the busses, turning around, parallel parking, and so on and so forth. The lot is bordered by nice pine trees, and I would see the same ravens or crows, I’m sorry, I don’t know which, but they were big, so let’s say Ravens…anyway, they would watch me, day after day, and they seemed to get a lot of satisfaction out of it. In fact, one could say they were my audience. In fact, to be totally accurate, as I was sweating away, trying to get these various maneuvers down, I really think they were rating my attempts. It’s possible I see these birds now and then when I am in that neighborhood. They look familiar. Now in my route, I have been followed by a hawk, at least once, all around town. He seemed to have a message for me. I have no idea what. I don’t speak hawk as well as I should. I think, now, it was either…”Hey, you have rabbit meat wedged in that back tire. Stop a minute so I can pick it out for you,” or, “Ha Ha, I beat you here, you slow moving giant caterpillar.”
I clean enclosures at a local wildlife rehab facility and there are a pair of crows there that have been ambassador animals for most of their life. And year after year they see people walk up and read their species off the plaque. So much so that they have learned to say “American Crow”. I was warned about their ability to talk when I first got there but was utterly unprepared when I heard them talk so realistically. One of them said “American Crow” and I looked around for where the person was who said that because I thought I was alone. They said it again and I finally realised it was them. When I looked at them I found they were staring straight back at me. It was quite literally the creepiest and most fascinating thing I have ever experienced.
I once walked lonesome down a path all too familiar by a nearby creek (made infamous by a massacre many years and many more miles behind me). Above the black birds cawed, as if cajoling me with laughter. I called out to them “& which of you will deliver me to Valhalla”? They were all silenced for the remainder of my route…
I was reading a story about a man who raised a bobcat kitten. The author pointed out that two ravens will work together when scavenging for food. One will sit in a tree to keep watch while the other works on the ground. Even a bobcat could not get close to the raven because the one in the tree would warn it that the cat was nearby. I have also read that crows and ravens recognize a rifle as a danger and know to stay out of range.
I love crows always wanted one as a pet because I’ve seen them do so many smart amazing things! I would feed them and talk to them at work on my alone breaks…and I just knew they knew me..after a while they would go crazy( just all making noises) when would arrive at work and go outside..I would always talk to them smiling wondering if they really new me because it seem like they did. Now after perusal this and seeing number 4, I’m convinced when they knew it was me each time. Wow!!! One day I still want to get a baby one and raise it. They are soo AWESOME!!
Joni Mitchell, singer and songwriter legend, named her production company Black Crow and her song “Black Crow” on album “Hejira” is a wonderful poetic rock song if you’ve never heard it in which she identifies with her own personality, life’s experience and love of travel to the crow. I love this and other references in song and language dedicated to crows.
I have a few crow stories but the oddest one is… I deliver the mail on a rural route, one day at top of this hill there was a field and a crow was hovering over the field holding something in its feet… Two other crows were sitting on fence posts making all kinds of noise… There were all different kinds of birds, Starlings, sparrows, flying up to the crow and on the ground looking at the crow… It was crazy. Then the crow throws whatever it was holding on to the ground and flies over to the fence posts with the other two crows… All of the little birds went and looked at what the crow threw down. Making all kinds of noise the crows flew to a stand of trees in one direction and the assortment of other birds flew to a stand of trees in the other direction. Of course I had to get out of my car and go look at what that crow threw down… It was a dead bird look like a starling and it look like it has been dead for a very long time. It was kind of stiff, its eyes were gone and it looked like a bird that flew into a window or a car… It was old dead. It looked to me like something that crows found on the side of the road and used it to tell the other birds some kind of message… Which I thought was you stay out of our territory… But honestly I don’t know. It was very cool to see.
I drove a taxi for a while in the ’90s in the DFW area. At a fine high $$ hotel we drivers would be in line waiting our turn, hidden out of the way from guests viee. After a fare drop we’d come back around to end of the line, rotating our turns. When the doorman needed a cab, he would whistle for next cab for the fare. Their luggage was loaded before to be ready for pick up, door open like a limo driver. One day, after several times, the doorman insisted each cab was not whistled for. We all heard him. We finally realized that a crow was whistling for us when it saw the doorman bringing out luggage on a dolly. He had to change to a whistle & then wave of his hand to confirm it was him & not another crow. Yep, they are smart…HUGS2U
I feed them pieces of raw chicken everyday at lunch when I’m at work and over the months they have gotten comfortable enough for me to sit next to them. They seem to know when I’m at work and will gather on the fence and wait but if there is someone else out with me they stay back until that person is gone. How well do they remember a person? We all wear the same uniform so is it the face they remember or the clothing etc.
In the farming area where I live it was noticed that occasionally a crow would get hit by a vehicle. The incidence of them being hit increased dramatically in the fall during the grain harvest. The provincial government was made aware and set up a Governmental Enquiry at a cost of several millions of dollars to determine why so many more crows died in the fall than in the rest of the year. Surveillance was set up and found that the crows would sit on the fences and nearby trees. When a truck drove by and spilled grain, all of the crows except for one would fly down to eat. The one crow that stayed in the tree or sat on the fence acted as a look out and would let out a loud “Caw” when a vehicle drove by. The crows would then fly out of the way. It was noted however that the crows that were killed were never hit by cars but they were always hit and killed by the trucks hauling the grain. From this the government concluded that all of the crows could say “CAW” but none of them could say “TRUCK.”
My friend and I were back in town after a day of bird-watching in the wilderness. We saw a dazed raven low in a tree. Turned out that it had an injured wing. We captured it, putting a jacket over it so it wouldn’t be too upset and drove it to a wildlife rehab center in the area. I actually got to hold this raven in my lap while my friend drove!!! Can’t tell you how cool that was!!! We learned later that the raven had mended and been released back into the wild…. a birder’s dream come true! :thanksdoc::goodvibes:😃
We have a Raven’s nest on our property in the Southern Sierras, around 60 ft high in the top of a pine tree. The nesting pair come back each year and are currently working on the nest. It’s a big nest about 3 ft in diameter. I’ll find large sticks on the ground and soft material that drops as they must do a remodel each year. We also have a Red tailed hawk that’s been hanging around. It was resting deep in one of the pine trees the other day which I was made aware of by a Gray squirrel who was trying to run him off by verbally harassing him. I don’t think he had any luck as the Hawk was just resting but the squirrel was sounding the alarm that a Raptor was present. Birds and all animals are wonderful.
Hey,i saw you love ravens and crows too so i decided to share with you.From an year and half these beautiful black friends follows me almost everywhere.I don’t know how to describe it but twice(day and the another day)a crow was stopping and just like seeing if i am getting home then flew away..Sometimes even there have not one,even two of them.I feel like that happened from the day I found dead raven near the road and buried him because one of my friends started to joke around and kicked him around like he was nothing more than a dead flash..I stopped him and just got the bird in my hands and buried the crow or raven(before i didn’t recognized them as i’m doing now)and from that day I feel like some of the other birds who was there(ravens and crows,both) like told to each other about that and i feel like they can recognize me and kinda protect me..I shared because many think that i’m crazy or imaging things and after i saw one fact you mentioned on that article i think that i’m right on believing in that!
I had a really cool/spiritual experience out in the woods by myself. I was meditating and a raven took some interest in me. He flew right up to and circled around me. So close I could see his eye upon me, checking me out. He made a noise I’ve never heard from a raven. It sounded to me like it was trying to form a word. I was immediately filled with emotion and started weeping. Lol
Just amazing!!! I have nothing that I think should be perceived as creepy or weird! But for years now these crows follow me so it seems wherever I go when I leave in the morning they wait for me outside my door we have I guess you say it’s called a murder and the local news does a story on it every couple of years just a few blocks away but I am very nice to them and it seems like they just follow me I go to work on the other side of town and there’s another murder I guess you call them of crows move circle my truck and wait for me to feed them popcorn!! Also the same seagull has been showing up for months now he disappeared for a long time but he’s back again!! I don’t know why but I do love these animals!!
I have two Ravens that have befriended me. I feed them every morning when I feed my dogs which is after our 4 mile walk in which they follow checking in periodically. Before we moved I had another pair for many many years and they used to bring their young by as well when they were old enough. Miss those guys but we still go up there a couple times a month and believe it or not they fly in to greet me. Like the know I am coming to visit
I’m in Queens, NYC and for the longest time I had been hearing a “quack/honk” type sound coming from outside, I could never spot where it came from and nobody I spoke to had any idea either. I thought maybe a random duck or goose. That’s how it sounded. Then I saw a article about ravens and I saw one making that sound! HWONK.
I’ve noticed that the grackles relentlessly attack my beautiful raven friends. I wasn’t sure if they were ravens or crows until I saw a grackle attacking one in midair. I was blessed by seeing the now actual raven turn upside down in flight while the grackle was chasing it. That was the moment I knew for sure that my black birds are really ravens. Not to mention I can be sitting right outside on my phone and I don’t hear them come into my yard and take the food I left for them.. One of them actually alerts me it’s me from a telephone wire.. I let him know it’s OK come eat.. And then he flies down and eats.❤️🖤❤️
The crows in our neighborhood know our car now. Since we have little kids who generate a bunch of crumbs whenever they eat in the car, I’ll usually toss some of the larger crumbs, or fruit or whatever in the bushes nearby. The crows caught on to that, so now I noticed they show up whenever me or my wife get home. Lookin for snacks.
Ravens also have the name and face recognition thing as my mom when she was working for my grandfather used to pass by a raven families nest/den daily (she also always greeted them like neighbors)and the first time she had to change routes they literally came to her office tricked someone into opening the door for the one that was sent to look and began actively calling for her until she came up and confirmed she was ok. Then she opened the door and the raven left.
A young crow used to play with my rabbit in the back yard. They’d play hide and seek, chasings and sometimes they’d just jump together and touch feet in the air. It sometimes brought other crows to see it’s friend, but they just sat on the fence mostly and watched. one of them sometimes joined in the chasings. It was really fun to watch. Today the crows we live near are strangers but they seem to show her more respect than my other rabbit.
We used to have a lot of crows on our 6th floor balcony and I was worried because at that time we had adopted a kitten and I had read that like eagles they can lift a small animal and carry it away. Fortunately I didn’t harm any of them or even shoo them away .I love birds and animals and to be honest I was rather scared of them.I say fortunately because when I read up on them I found out what you said in number 4: that they actually not only remember people but also tell their group about them ! Wow how can that be ?They are SO intelligent !Anyway our kitten grew into a rather large cat and now they don’t come anymore.However I will always respect them.
When it wants to call me, it has a different sort of snort a short call language and I know it. Very intelligent. Moreover, they have a Union or Association and territories earmarked. A foreigner never enters. Also, it has a heirarchy which is respected. Whenever I feed them, in a particular designated place, the same boss crow I have identified from the hair and some identification on their legs that will peck first; only then will the others peck.
You all write fun happy stories! I on the other hand had a large tree in my front yard with 4 or 5 nests filled with baby birds. One day I hear birds making loads of noise, I go outside and a crow has a baby bird on the ground in the street. I walked over thinking I could save the baby…. but it flew away with it. It came back over and over till the tree was picked clean of babies birds. : (
I’ve been trying to make friends with my new crow neighbors by feeding them and leaving bowls of water out for them. Yesterday I was planting flowers and one of them kept flying down to sit on the fence, it was perusal me. I walked around the house to get the water hose and I heard a the flappin of wings behind me. The crow followed me around the house and then followed me back, I thought it was so cute. I’m on my way right now to get them some more food.
Thanks. Crows recognizing people. I started throwing scraps on my front yard the crows seem to be the most appreciative. At first they would fly off the utility pole when I came outside, but after a while a couple of them would stay. One would watch me in my yard. About a month after the food in my yard was being tossed every day I was coming home from work. About a mile from home I was waiting at a traffic signal when I spotted about two dozen crows sitting on a wire. Just as I started wondering if any of them were the crows I knew, they started cackling. My guess is they recognized me by my car and we’re crowing, ‘hey, that’s that guy…’ They’ve never done this since. I think this is like what Temple Grandin says about cows. Lay down in a cow pasture and every cow will walk over to look at you. For ten seconds. And then they’ll never give you a second glance. It’s not that they don’t know you, it’s that they do. ‘Hi ya’ every time an animal sees you shouldn’t be expected. Hummingbirds. I’ve got at least a two dozen buzzing my front porch everyday (Southern California, feeders full of nectar). Before I installed a screen door about once a month one of them would fly through the open door and then try to exit via the ceiling. I’d toss a black t-shirt to catch them to take outside. At first I would feel terrible, they go stiff in some awkward contortion and I’d think, ‘oh no, I’ve killed it.’ Nope. All fake. On several occasions, always the net day, when I would be on the other side of my house, I would get a close visit, usually hovering about 4-6 feet away, by a hummingbird.
I’ve been feeding my Magpies (my, haha!), Scrub Jays, Steller jays and chipmunks rolled oats. they all love them! there is a flock of Crows but they never came for food until the other morning when it snowed. Then they came in a mob and ran off all the other birds. It was so good to see them, but the second they saw me, gone! I really like feeding them rolled oats, good protein unlike day old bread which is NOT good for birds. You can buy rolled oats pretty cheap (69 cents a pound at the grocery store) or feed store. One summer I heard the Magpies freaking out in the big tree below the house – there was a bunch of Ravens robbing the Magpies nest. I even got a short blurry article of one Raven tossing a baby Magpie in the air. Magpies get a bad rap for robbing other birds nests, but it’s all the circle of life thing. I love all these big birds. How do they survive winter tho is amazing.
There’s a crow that recognizes my work truck. He\\she would look in the bed and cab for food opportunities. I keep some cat food in the truck and feed him\\her every week when I’m in that neighborhood. Once in a while he\\she will stop by at a nearby neighborhood to get a snack as well. I try to use a familiar whistle to communicate with the crow. Also, there’s a nesting pair in my back yard right now. I leave food out for them as well. I also whistle to them to establish recognition.
I teach horse riding lessons. And I have always fed birds. Years ago while teaching my lessons, a murder of crows, more than 10, would follow me all over the farm as I took my students to various spots on the place to practice riding. When I would take the students on a trail ride, the crows would follow us the whole time. This went on for years. I moved from that farm and have new crows that do the same. They know who feeds them and they always let me know when they are around. I love crows!!!
I am friend of many Crows they always come over when I show up. I throw them different snacks but mostly almonds. I love how they hold the almond in place with their foot and smash it to bits with their beak. I have also see them put the almonds where a car can run it over for littler birds that can’t break them like the crows can. I name them and have even chased off seagulls that were trying to bully their way into a meal. They are the 5th smartest animal on the planet
Hello and thank you for your hard work, when I was a young boy I climbed into a tall tree and got a crow chick,I raised it into an adult and she and I were best friends for years. She left at about 2 years and raised her one chicks but came home every day for food during the raising months, after being gone for many mounts on Christmas day 50 years ago it was winter and cold, I awoke to a crow calling from the roof top after going out in the cold and calling to her she landed on the ground near me we talked for a time, she was very cautious, but after only about 5 minutes she was on my hand and in the house with me she stayed raised another brood and then was gone never to be seen again still today,one of the most profound thing’s on my life I have many stories about her and I loved her thank you Mark
I found a crow with a broken wing a few months ago. I took him to a wild life sanctuary for care, but they had to put him to sleep because he would never be able to fly again.😭😭😭💔💔💔 I was so upset. I only had him for a couple hours but I fell in love with him when he tricked me into letting him out of my coat and hopped around my bedroom knocking everything over. Mischevious little bugger. ❤
I was feeding the crows but they started playing in my flower garden and destroyed some plants. I had some sunflowers. One would land at the top of the stalk bringing it down to the ground and then would pull off all the leaves and break the stalk. I did put shiny objects in the garden and have gone back to feeding them, one in particular.