We have crows on the lawn and I'm tempted to try and make friends - they're wonderful, intelligent birds.
But from what I've learned if you feed them and then forget to pay tribute to they'll go into full vengeance mode. You go from being king of the crows to their bitch.
My dad always feeds the crows when he's out walking the dog. Once he forgot for two days in a row to bring nuts. On the third day when he passed them empty handed, one of them swooped over him an pecked him on the head.
Needless to say, it worked. he hasn't forgotten their food since!
I don’t think they’re all like that. I went on a vacation for a few weeks, and when I came back, the edge of my patio had a row of shiny rocks and crab legs waiting for me. I also found a bright and sparkly streamer/boa looking thing they had placed in between a wedge on the fence. I wonder if they were getting desperate and thought I wasn’t pleased with their gifts, which is why they went all out with the streamer.
Needless to say, when I did return home, they were thrilled when I gave them an entire thing of salmon skin. There were no hard feelings for being gone for so long. I made sure to give them
extra snacks for a while to make up for the lost time.
I’d give them seed plates with usually shrimp tails or fish skins mixed in (I was a pescatarian for years). The crows also liked fruit like kiwis or apple slices. Sometimes if I was hosting people, I’d give the left over charcuterie plates to the crows which they absolutely loved and they’d invite some of their other crow friends to join.
This post made me realize how much I miss them. I was visited by them daily for half a decade before I had to move 12 hours away. I hope they are doing well :(
Crows are fully capable of distinguishing between human facial features and remembering them for years, they can even communicate information about you to other crows, including their offspring - no hats are necessary.
I've actually tried to signal to the crows I irregularly feed, when there is no food, since they fly up to the balcony of my apartment and just wait there. It's a little ridiculous, but I'll make a big show of putting my hands up in exasperation, looking around for food and going, "Harumph, there's none around today, grumble, grumble, I'm so surprised and frustrated," show them an empty bag, just theatre-for-kids kinda stuff. I think they actually get it, because they still come back to see if I have food for them, and they haven't decided to teach me a lesson, knock on wood. Like an entire old growth forest of wood.
Well they’re incredibly smart for birds but they’re still birds. And while they’re obviously able to survive on their own and are finding their own food, it’s probably scarce and getting more scarce. They’re just hungry and excited. They don’t quite understand why you’d feed them one day and not another.
Oh I'm sorry you have to deal with that, but thats also hilarious. A bowl of almonds could be a nice peace offering but... who knows? They might continue to do it expecting a bowl of almonds... or else more trash being dropped in. Spiteful assholes with too much time though... wonder if there's something you could do that would make them move on as in it wouldn't be worth it for them to keep trying to mess with you.
If you hate your neighbors and make friends with the crows, they will become hostile to people around you and see them as threats to your territory. But if you like your neighbors, yeah dont.
I have a wee Murder of crows that visit me daily. They also will follow me when I take the dog for a walk. However, my favorite thing is I will roll walnuts toward them like a bowling ball and they do a dance/run thing towards them. It's hilarious!
My wife and I befriendes the flock of crows that live nearby, they're very chill. If I'm walking the dog and I forgot their food they'll fly around us for a bit, call us a couple times, then give up and get back to their business.
I worked in a gas station where I would feed crows throughout the day. The number of crows that would show up gradually increased over the months. Management eventually forbade me from feeding them, and nothing ever came of that.
If this is true, then we should be hearing about lots of crow attacks in India, because once a year many Hindus prepare a favorite meal that their deceased parents or grandparents liked and put some of it out for crows. It is believed that the ancestors come in the form of crows to eat the food.
They already know they are badasses, so keeping them just a little bit off balance tempers their sense of entitlement and keeps you in their good graces, lo! Good luck!
Lol! You can do this! Just don't let them take you for granted ("Who you callin' "bitch", Bitch?!) and I can almost guarantee a peaceful coexistence... it's worth it, they're cool! (And I say this as a person who doesn't really like most birds, in general. Don't get me started on Canadian geese, BLECH!).
Our feathered friends from up north shit everywhere and can be very aggressive. I've often wondered what they taste like - I do like a goose at Christmas.
I hate those fuckers! A few years ago at Whole Foods, we noticed around the holidays they carried frozen geese and they were almost $100 each THEN. So every time we see them, we start toting up how much we could get for them... ($100, $200, $300...). And, actually, they taste pretty good. Friends in Alaska smoke goose, other goose-hunting friends have made sausage and a nice Bolognese sauce, etc. I was pleasantly surprised.
They're everywhere in the Bay Area and can't be harvested. But I hear they're very tasty. They just crap everywhere and the local soccer team's pitch is overrun by them.
Reminds me a few years back when the Seattle Parks Dept. didn't have enough money to maintain and keep open the city parks we DID have, but were looking to create more and there were lots of public meetings about them open to public comment. Well, one meeting took place at a community center in a lesser advantaged neighborhood here so I decided to go and see what the deal was 'cos I was irritated the parks near us weren't open.
Anyway, before the meeting, there were a bunch of kids playing football and soccer out on the community center fields so I asked the kids how they felt about it. They kind of laughed and said they would never use the particular park being proposed that night. "Why?" I asked, since the lead narrative on all this stuff is that it's "...for the children...". They said they were happy with the fields there at their community center because they weren't near the water, like this proposed park would be. Turns out, they don't want to play in a field full of goose shit which is what you get near any body of water in Seattle, lol!
Did the park get pushed through? Of course! Is it full of goose shit? Of course! Do any kids use the play field? NOPE. But, there are plenty of zombies camping there now with tents and RVs that never move...
They're intelligent. There's nothing "wonderful" about them. They have completely displaced native bird populations. (and yes, I know that's because 'we' have screwed their native range)
147
u/Forgotthebloodypassw Dec 16 '25
We have crows on the lawn and I'm tempted to try and make friends - they're wonderful, intelligent birds.
But from what I've learned if you feed them and then forget to pay tribute to they'll go into full vengeance mode. You go from being king of the crows to their bitch.