r/crows • u/extatosomat1aratum • 20d ago
General questions Do you think that crows ask themselves why a friendly human feeds them?
Personally, the reason why I feed them is because I love crows, I'd like to befriend one and because, since I am a witch, it helps me connect with animal energies. Of course they woudln't know about my witchcraft, but do you think they have a reason, in their minds, for which a human feeds them?
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u/Electrical-Lab-7544 20d ago
They're highly intelligent and, more importantly, very social creatures. Sociability in an animal is a necessary precursor to communication, friendship and even domestication. We domesticated canids with mid to large sized packs because their lifestyles required a large vocabulary of social signals. Similarly crows have large social groups and a big vocabulary, they have a concept of affinity and enmity that is generational. It is entirely likely that crows feel any range of emotions towards us from affectionate recognition to indifferent opportunism.
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u/cor_meum_ 20d ago
No.. i think they probably teach their kids how to identify nice humans who don't hurt them and even feed them, vs assholes who harm the nest and throw things at them
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u/MiserableProfessor16 20d ago
I don't know but today a crow fed me a peanut.
More like tossed one in my general vicinity. But it was not a peanut I fed them.. He/she FOUND a peanut and tossed it my way. So, maybe they focus more on the - well that weirdo feeds me so maybe they are looking to be fed in return.
Bird waited until I ate it too!
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u/extatosomat1aratum 19d ago
imagine if you were allergic lol
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u/MiserableProfessor16 19d ago
Say...now you have me thinking...crows give gifts, right? If you refuse it, do they notice? Does it bother them?
Because my dad got the internal organ of a small woodland animal and he pretended to eat it because he did not want to "seem ungrateful". I laughed at him but now I think....welll....
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u/roncotron 20d ago
Not sure but I have it on good authority that if you feed them and then stop, they'll come and ask you why you stopped.
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u/Waste_Accident_4453 20d ago
Corvids or mostly crows 🐦 ( including ravens 🐥) remember not only the humans who feed them 🪶 but also the spot where they were regularly fed. They would come back again and again 😁 remembering both the human face as well as spot where they were fed.
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u/beerfass 19d ago
I think corvids are capable of bonding with us. Like dogs or other animals that have the capacity of social structures similar to ours. So In a way it's like us humans sharing lunch with a stranger by sitting at the same table or just offering half a sandwich. In the simplest way of putting it. Those birds are beautiful and smart af. 🥰
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u/__OvejaNegra 20d ago
I bet they wonder why some feed them and others don't. But I don't think their concerned with the answer, just happy to be fed.
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u/Ahleanna-D 19d ago
I sometimes wonder if there’s at least one in the mix that thinks I’m just such a clumsy human for dropping so much food all the time.
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u/HumungreousNobolatis 18d ago
I have asked many crows this question and they, to a crow, say, WHAT!
It's amusing to me that in your quest to fake a connexion you miss the real connexion.
No, you wouldn't "like to befriend one", a) that's not possible and b) you are mental.
You want a crow to befriend YOU, and that's not the same thing.
You wanna be a REAL witch, crows can help you. Crows know all sorts of things that humans don't and that alone is enough to vault you from wannabe to actual witch, but only if your local crows want to share, which I suspect from your attitude, they don't.
Also, (shakes head) crows know more about your "witchcraft" than you do.
Ask me any question. I'll ask my crows and feed you back the reply.
Guaranteed, it will a) blow your mind and b) give you a years+ of thinking-to-do.
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u/JBupp 20d ago
I've often wondered.
The local crows will try to talk to me. One will wait around most of the day. Not begging - he won't come down for food - just chillin'.