You keep asking me how to befriend crows, so here is your answer.

thewitchyredhead:

upthewitchypunx:

First, you have to find the crows. If the crows don’t live there you
probably won’t find them. Second, you must remember that while they are
urban wildlife that have lived near humans for millennia, they are still
wild life and are to be respected and not to be commanded or captured. Crows do not owe you anything. They don’t owe you friendship and they don’t owe you their secrets.

I live in Portland, Oregon. We have crows the same way some cities have pigeons, they are everywhere and I love them. Ian B
and I had serious conversations 5 or 6 years ago when I first wanted to
get to know the crows in our neighborhood about how smart they are and how I shouldn’t give
them peanuts all the time because they would identify me and become
demanding.

Crows love peanuts, unsalted and in the shell. They will also eat all sorts of scraps. I saw one dragged a discarded taco bell bag down the street. Cat or dog food is good good too. Here’s an article with the top 10 best and worst things to feed crows.

I first
started feeding them on a specific corner half a block away so as to not use my
house as a the base. I saw that they would hang out on power lines and I would jingle my keys or make a specific sound with my mouth and then leave the peanuts on the corner curb. Crows will notice patterns so I gave them a patters of sound and place to associate with the peanuts. Crows are incredibly bold and at times daring, but they are very wary of new things. Give them some time for them to associate you with the treats. Once they associate you with the peanuts they could become curious about you as a friendly human.

I have met several generations of these crows and they have brought me gifts of small trinkets. They hang out on the wall across from my house and they hang out on the power lines while I work in the yard. My indoor/outdoor cat is afraid of them, but the crows have learned to leave him alone. I’ve gone outside with JackieCat and scooped him up to show the crows that I can handle the cat.

I work about a mile from my house and when walk or ride my bike to work I know each different family of crows along the way. They all have distinct personalities and even variations in their calls. Some are more chatty or aggressive or playful. One of them will fly right next to me down the street when I ride my bike. With each generation the younger crows are taught that I am a friend and source of food. I love their goofy awkward “feed me” calls as they are learning how to be a crow. You can spot young crows because there is still a pink webbing where their beak meets and they will beg for food from parents or helpers because that was how they were fed in the nest.

 Listen to their calls and see if you can distinguish between alarm calls or friendly calls. Crows are also capable of mimicking sounds. They could mimic the sound you make. I’ve even heard one mimic a dog bark to a dog when it got too close to a peanut!

Watch the crows. see their family dynamics. The crows will also be watching you. Do not trick crows because they will remember.

new life plan: befriend a family of crows.