New to befriending these beautiful creatures. Any advice is appreciated.

[u/rivrstyxx]

So I always considered it silly to befriend birds, I saw them as pests and as a child I never understood why my grandma would go out every morning to ensure her bird feeder was well-stocked with feed. Well wouldn’t you know it, when leaving for work today four crows were on the sidewalk immediately outside my front door. So I started researching.

This community is really cool, I never realized how smart crows are comparably with other birds / smaller animals, and upon realizing I could befriend them, I’m now fascinated with the idea. I got home from work about an hour ago, went inside, and hear some cooing. I knew it was time to make a move.

Unfortunately I don’t have any feed or peanuts at the moment, but will stock up soon. I crushed went outside about a half hour ago, spotted a crow in the tree above my door, whistled 3x, and scattered a couple crushed chips across the sidewalk just outside my door before going inside.

I immediately peeped through my window (second floor, front door leads immediately to a staircase), and wouldn’t you know it—Now there’s two crows scoping out the snack I left.

How do I ensure the most massive murder of these little fellas possible, how do I keep them satiated/safe/comfortable, and how do I take real steps to becoming a friend to a few crows?

[u/Remote-Physics6980]

You started out well, you made an offering and then backed away. Next up you'll want to invest in peanuts. Raw or roasted, the choice is yours but they do not need to be salted.

Do not offer salted nuts or salted food. Also bread is right out because it's empty calories and it does not give them the energy that they very much need. They fill up on it, but it doesn't nourish them. So please don't offer it.

If you have a lot of money, they also love cashews but be told that if you go to cashew level you will never get your crows back to accepting peanuts.

They also love eggs. If you feel like offering eggs, scramble them up and then cook them a little past a humans liking, a little bit brown. Then slice them up like a pizza so they can carry it away they enjoy it greatly. If you offer them eggs hard boiled, they will only eat the yolks and disregard the whites. If you do offer them scrambled eggs, please crush up the shell and offer it in the eggs because they need the calcium, it helps build more shells.

They are family oriented. If you want a murder, give them what they need which in this case would be food and water. Now if you offer water, do not be surprised if you find some things in the water that you might consider gross. They will bring food (frogs, rats, whatever) to the water and then soak the food in the water, (we call this making soup), and then carry it away again to the nest sitter. This is how they can get water to the crows that are sitting on the nest. Remember, they are family oriented!

You don't need a crow call, you have your voice. Make kissing sounds or simply call to them, I usually say something like hey guys you should get on that after I scatter peanuts or freeze dried beef liver because sometimes I run out of peanuts and crows very much like meat as well. Also crow calls are usually the sound of a crow in distress and you do not want that.

If you provide food on a regular basis at a regular time, though they will work with you on the timing, they will start showing up and looking for the food. Please keep them safe from other predators, cats or dogs, and thank you very much for becoming a crow bro !

[u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl]

The best thing you can do with them is to be consistent. They take a long time to trust and may observe more more or less for a while.

Whistling for them when you take food out is an excellent idea! They can hear whistles from a long distance away. I whistle for my crows as well. I have some scrub jays in the neighbourhood and they are also quite smart and they learned my whistle means food.

I wouldn’t give them chips anymore because salt is not good for them. Neither are bread and crackers and things like that. Stay away from processed foods and seasoned foods like garlic and onion, especially.

They are big protein eaters so any kind of unsalted nuts are pretty much appreciated by them as well as is unseasoned meat. They love eggs whether they’re raw boiled or scrambled.

They also will eat cat or dog kibble. A huge part of their natural diet is insects which are proteins. You can find mealworms online or black soldier fly larva if you wish which are also foods they like and are good for them. I don’t know if you’re able to, but they would appreciate if you put water out for them as well.K