from India, my wife feeds squirrels, crows and pigeon on kitchen window, they recognise her and wait for her to put food.my wife only feeds them freshly cooked food or raw rice and they have varied taste. they kind of avoid me as I am stranger to them.
How to Befriend Crows
51–60 of 229 posts
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#52I can vouch for this approach. I lived in the territory of a couple of ravens (close relatives of crows; just as smart and twice as large) and it took me maybe 18 months to build a close relationship. 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 nev…
I talk to them and throw cashews at them from my balcony. They have gotten pretty close in a matter of weeks, despite having a cat (she is scared of them tbh and I think they know). I also leave some nuts on the railing near my back door for them to grab (make sure they watch me place them) so they can get them when I go inside (my cat loves watching this and the little birds). Though sometimes they do a quick grab if there's some distance. It really is a lot of fun and to watch their behavior patterns. For example, there will often only be one or two on the ground and checking things out while more in the trees or roofs. Once they realize those two are not dying from the food you feed there's a few caws and more come down. The spotters are the ones that make the quick grabs at my railing and it took a bit for this to happen so I think they trust me some. In a different place I lived one crow came right up to me, just out of arm's reach, for sunflower seeds. They really are smart and friendly creatures. They'll even talk back a bit.
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#53I grow up in a small village in eastern europe. It is amazing that you can befriend most of the animals. Chickens are too primitive for that, but cows turned out to be quite intelligent. You can do it the same as with crows, but you should start with a younger animal. You may bring a young cow something to eat and after some time it will recognize you. And they really love to be hand carded (this thing: https://en.wi…
Cows can indeed be dangerous. We raise a few dairy cows here; they know us and eat out of our hands. When one of our 1000lb girls was in heat, she tried to mount my wife, and it was sheer luck that she escaped with only a sore leg.
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#54Re: How to Befriend Crows
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, of course. Your tone has to convey not only, "I am not a predator" but also "I do not perceive you as a threat, and so the purpose of my vocalization is not to scare you away because I perceive you as a threat, and if you come close I am likely to try to harm you in order to defend myself." In nature, the Bayesian prior on an entity that is not a member of your species, or even your tribe, seeking an interaction…
> the Bayesian prior ... 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…
You owe me a new keyboard ;-)
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#56Two crows. Rick and Two Crows.
I’ll take it over a Morty any day.
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#57Re: How to Befriend Crows
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
My amateur theory is that talking makes you less likely to be a predator. You basically say “here I am”, Predators tend to be quiet and sneak up on their prey. I think the tone does indeed help somewhat in my experience.
Yes, of course. Your tone has to convey not only, "I am not a predator" but also "I do not perceive you as a threat, and so the purpose of my vocalization is not to scare you away because I perceive you as a threat, and if you come close I am likely to try to harm you in order to defend myself." In nature, the Bayesian prior on an entity that is not a member of your species, or even your tribe, seeking an interaction…
Hummingbirds I've noticed are very curious about other creatures. To a fault even, mantises will sometimes exploit this to catch hummingbirds (they are much more powerful than you might expect). I don't know if this is universal across hummingbird species/groups, but I'm able get very close to them by just patiently standing still by the feeder for 10 or 15 minutes, and they'll start investigating me.
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#59I've been trying to befriend crows, but it's a slow process. When I go for a walk I usually take a rich tea biscuit with me. I put it on a post where a crow sometimes rests. 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 g…
It's an order of magnitude easier to befriend crows in the city, as opposed to the country. The more rural you are located, the more time it will take you to befriend a crow.
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.
Re: How to Befriend Crows
#60I haven’t made a point to befriend crows, but I’ve very much made a point to establish mutual trust and respect. When I moved my pup from Saint Paul (which had surprisingly few if any crows) back to my long time home of Seattle (which, I’ve only since learned, if famous for its crows), I had to teach pup not to chase crows. She actually has learned the difference between crows (and Steller’s jays) and other birds.
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.