The Ultimate Guide to Feeding Crows in Your Backyard 

4 years ago, a baby Crow (Wolfgang)fell in our backyard with a broken wing. Wr took him in the house and,bound his wing. He took over our dog pack and, went everywhere with the family (camping to). Anyway after he healed up,he got a girlfriend (Sam). He moved out to a tree in the back yard and, now has a kid. I feed them regularly, they co.e when called and, follow us all around town.😂

I must have at least 20 crows coming around in the morning for their breakfast. I give them unsalted roasted peanuts in shell. For treats later in the day if I have grapes going soft I’ll put that out. They love grapes. They start crowing when they see me going out of the house in the morning even if to trash can!

Great videos. If I don’t put feed out in the morning, this one crow will land on the deck corner, post and look right at my bedroom, window & CAW until I come out the bedroom door that goes under the deck & give him peanuts, etc. Keep the videos coming I love them ‼️❤️

I have three crows that have been coming to my yard for a few years now, they trust me enough that I can walk right under them while they sit in the tree waiting for me to give them the days offering in fact they will call for me to come outside, they have me trained pretty well. I call them Humphrey, Moe and princess and I love them dearly.

Cat food… it never fails. Also, toys they can play with, and shiny objects.

We have 6 indoor cats. Sometimes they don't finish their daily food so I have discovered that the crows really like the leftover cat food! The canned stuff is the most favored, but kibble is also eaten. Peanuts are the number one favorite. I do a human 'caw' four times after I put out the food and within seconds the crows arrive. I have even received a 'gift' from them, a white pebble! Being consistent is recommended if you want your crows to also be on time! I love my crows!

II see so many people feeding crows these days it's great! I'm not even embarrassed about walking around with a pocket full of peanuts for them anymore! 😀 Our local crows are in big flock now but will soon be back looking for nest sites. Several of them know a little tune and have taught us to give them peanuts when they sing! If we're lucky they'll sing with us which just warms this old heart right up! Feel free to check it out at our channel! We should have some updated videos in a couple months and hoping for hand feeding this year! Nicely done video, take care!

I did some extensive testing and it turned out that my city crows (hooded crows, Berlin, Germany) have this nut preference (best to worst): cashews (by far), walnuts / Brazil nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds. During winter most of my 20 crows prefer cashews even over meat. The best meat there is for them is fried minced meat. They love chicken hearts, too, and like any kind of meat in general. They also love fish. I give them fish sticks/fingers. Egg yolk is one of their favourites, too, especially when feeding the nestlings. But the best (i.e. most loved) food there is for crows (which I know about) is mice. They would start a war for those. The healthiest food for crows is superworms and house crickets but I consider those too much effort (and they do not really like them that much).

Watermelon! The crows in my yard love em😊

I feed the crows in my back yard. I used to have lovebirds, but they died in an accident. I'm not at home as often now as I was, so I feed the little birds, squirrels, and crows. I've seen a Raven the last couple of days. Last year I named the only squirrel I saw Peanut. She was very friendly and would come up to me. She had 4 babies, and they all survived. She chased them away and now she comes this year alone. I enjoy feeding and watching all of them. The little birds like to eat before the sun comes up, the squirrel comes after the little birds and the crows come before nine a. m. Thanks for your video, I feed my wild friend's bread and peanut butter cut up in tiny pieces, unsalted - peanuts, walnuts, mixed nuts and sunflower seeds. I live in sunny Santa Cruz, California.

Here in Vancouver, BC, crows live all year around. They feed on shellfish from the shores by dropping them from high onto hard surfaces. At night fall, hundred of crows fly to the eastern part of town to roost in tall trees. It is a sight to behold. Our local crows can be aggressive towards people at time, as reported in the media. I love watching pairs gently groom each other and practicing various calls, soft or raucus. They are referred to as tricksters in Indigenous stories. Such amazing birds!

My family of 5 crows ( the Jackson 5) come flying from way over yonder with 2 toots on the crow whistle. They don't like fruit, but will eat anything else, especially meat and peanut butter.

Thank you for the video. We fed dozens of crows daily, morning and afternoon. They were great fun. Here's the thing, tho. Crows will eat ANYTHING! They loved food scraps and pet food scraps of any kind! We always gave a scoop of dry dog food, and added scraps to that. Anything the crows didn't want, which was literally nothing, the raccoons would eat. And while some may disagree with our methods and say it isn't organic or healthy, look around. Crows hang out by restaurant dumpsters looking for a treat! Hubby spent hours watching crows.

The local crows come when I call them. I give them meat. That is what they prefer.

Crows love kibble, and it provides balanced nutrition.

Terrific video! We moved here from Ohio to our little ranch in central NM close to 25 years ago and totally love it! Nice to not have to worry about severe storms and tornadoes! Every day I feed the crows and ravens and also every other bird. The Corvids know me, and wait in the trees (like a scene from THE BIRDS!) until the horses are taken care of and then they know it's BREAKFAST! We have the rubber Fortex feed buckets with fresh water (several all around the barn and house). Our deer family usually visit at least once a day, and I put rocks inside one of them for the smaller birds to reach the water. Every once in a while, I will find a "thank you" gift from the crows and ravens. They have left a beautiful shell , a rainbow marble, and a shiny Denver Penny. This is pretty common for them. I just have to have a cry, it is so wonderful! They also let me know if there are coyotes around. We have a family of Canyon Towhees who have been with us for years, and they bring their little ones over to visit when they are just little fluff balls. They are a lot like cardinals and we feed them finch seed and mealworms. They follow me all around when I do my outdoor work every day. They will come into the barn and sit on the stall and jump down to see if there are any yummy bugs (not in my barn LOL!). They also eat from our hands and come flying over when I sit on the front steps. Sometime I look like Snow White LOL! We also have four species of hummingbirds. We live on the edge of a national forest. NM is, after all, the Land of Enchantment! 🤠🐴🐦🖖❤

Oh neat, I didn't know a lot of this! I love crows so much :)

Nice video 👍 The crows in our area love cottage cheese. It’s their treat item so to say! Many of them take food from my hand as well 😊

I always have a bag filled with unsalted peanuts with me. 🥜 The crows knows me. As they see me, the fly up to me and make their laud crow sound.💖 If they want more, they keep flying towards me, as I keep walking towards my destination, and to say "I want more".. I have doing this for years. They unfortunately, don´t come to my balcony. They´re very shy.

My SF Bay Area crows love roasted unsalted peanuts 🥜 in the shell. They enjoy walnut halves as well. Another big favorite is scrambled eggs. They don’t care much for meat. 🐧

This was enjoyable. I live in Southern Ontario Canada( red area) and I've been feeding crows and ravens for a year. It takes time and patience to earn their trust. In the summer of 2023 before they migrated, I discovered the love cooked egg yolks and plain sardines. I've tried several types of fruit with no luck. I'll try again this spring when they all come back

Here in India it comes to my house daily, almost the same time, thrice a day... It calls loudly.. We offer rice, bread, fried items etc. It almost receive the food from my hand..

Mine love kibble n bits puppy food and leftover corn chips on Mexican food night.

I love Corvinius birds (crows/Raven/western jackdaw/european mackpie) They are such social, intelligent birds that you want to make friends with. We also jokingly call the ravens/crows “the pastor’s pigeons”. Greeting from Germany

I give my crows some raw meatballs, theyll love you forever. Peanuts are great too. They sometime bring me little gifts like pinecones and little trinkets they find.

I put out about a full cup of blackberries for five or six crows I've been feeding. They would NOT TOUCH them. Surprising. I had planted blueberry bushes at my previous house, and birds stripped the bushes every day, eating the Green berries as much as the ripe ones.

I put out unsalted in-the-shell peanuts; it seems the crows enjoy extracting the nut from the shell. I also occasionally put out hard boiled eggs (shell on) and the least expensive hot dogs I can find ($1.89/lb), and sometimes raw chicken livers on an absorbent "platform" of sliced bread to absorb the liver juices. Crows are omnivores and enjoy meaty protein. I've been feeding this family of crows for more than 30 years. They know who I am and I "call" them by making a special kind of vocal sound. I make no attempt to "domesticate" them, although a couple do seems friendlier than most. "My" crows are bigger and more handsome than other crow families in neighboring areas because they are well fed.

I have found that the favorite food of crows is sliced hot dogs. When I am reading in my garden, some of the crows will come down and sit with me, 4 or 5 ft away, for a few minutes and then "request" hotdog. There are a couple who I honestly believe I could hand feed. They are remarkable birds. one took a piece of hotdog, hid it in a planter, covered it with a leaf, and came back 5 hours later to eat it!

In Australia crows don't go "caw caw caw" they go "fark fark fark". They love mince.

I live in Naples, Florida, there's a crow that comes once in awhile and sits right next to my car parking spot when he sees me driving home, I then go inside the house gtab a chocolat chip cookie and put it on the floor by the front door. he then takes it and flyes away. I live in a association with lots of other cars but He seems to recognise my car ... It has been going on for more than a year, I think it's pretty cool how smart those birds are!!

So many crows nearby but they don't come in my yard. One day by accident one came to get a piece of bread. It was cool. They're so big!

I only feed the birds during winter and I have three feeders. One is for rather small birds like Robin, sparrows. The other is more suitable for black birds and of course I feed the large birds- on the ground on a plastic tray. It has gotten a hole last winter which is convenient. I place it so that the rainwater can drain. I like to offer to those who do not get the chance to reach the feeders- so a few seeds are scattered around as well. I mix my own foods: Walnuts, hazelnuts and peanuts in whole for crows and magpies Ground nuts for soft food eaters like small birds and blackbirds. For the blackbirds some raisins (without sulfurdioxide!!!) sprinkled in as a treat. And oat flakes in oil for all birds (pigeons love those as well). I let that sit overnight on the counter and it's the most sought out food. And in harsh weather without snow or rain I leave water out for all of them. It freezes over quickly but there is at least a chance to drink for some time.

I lost one of my backyard chickens to a hawk.. I put up a feeder for the local crows and feed peanuts. They do a great job of chasing off any hawk that comes close. Now when I walk the dog crows in a two mile area around my house fly up and ask for peanuts. I guess I'm the crow guy in the area now lol.

I feed my wild crows every day at the same time so they know when to come around. They wait high in the trees until I come out of the house, then fly down to get their snack.

Good video. I like your wooden trays. I need something like that which won't collect rain water. Crows do go nuts for peanuts. I think they prefer them in the shell because they love hammering them open with their beaks. It's soft compared to other nuts so they enjoy the challenge. I think dried cat food is the best of all because it's the right size and contains most or all of what they need.

Thank you for the advice!

Excellent! I am in the process of beginning a relationship with the crows in my neighborhood. I go for a walk every morning at the same time and blow my crow whistle. So far, it's working. I have yet to see them come down and eat any of the food I'm leaving, but I plan on upping the ante and buying some eggs to hard boil. My dream is to have them go on walks with me, and come to my backyard (at first) and then maybe even to my front porch/yard where the rest of the birds hang out. We have quite the little bird family going on and I love it.

Good information. I'm near the Canadian border so crows are seasonal here. My biggest worry was that they would eat my grass seed, but apparently that isn't high on the list. I've only seen a couple since putting out the seed, and they don't seem to be bothering with it. My Machiavellian scheme is to get crows to favor my yard to keep other birds, the ones who do want to eat my lawn, away. Plus I've heard that they may eventually become comfortable with you. Not pets of course, still wild animals, but on the whole better than many of the alternatives like seagulls. We don't get seagulls here, but I used to live on the coast and would really rather not deal with seagulls anymore.

I get cashews from Amazon in 5 lb bags the crows love them

This was very helpful. I need to build a box feeder like you made. Currently my crows eat peanuts both in and out of the shell, probability grab sunflower seeds as well. Thanks.

Hello from NE OH! Great video! Thank you for sharing it! I 'liked ' and subscribed! 😊

Thanks for the information.

I live in the red area and we've always had crows coming year round. And not just to our feeders, they're all over the city. We have some ravens stop by as well. I have been feeding a murder of them for years and still am learning. There are some I recognize and some that are difficult to tell apart. They love dog kibble. They also get unsalted peanuts and occasionally eggs and other nuts.

On my daily walks I carry small vitamin bottles of suit balls. The crows will come to the low wires or tree limbs. I put out a small amount. they will often come to the food before I'm 50 feet away. Sometimes to let me know of their presence they do a low "fly by" and swoop up to the phone lines. Often they are very quiet... other times... very loud.

been feeding crows costco cat food for 2 years and they still don't trust me. I think they communicate between each other that humans aren't to be trusted and that consensus kind of sticks for a certain community of crows. wish I could get closer but I'm glad to have the relationship we've established

Very helpful, thank you.

Helpful and informative video. I live in the Pacific Northwest of the US, and am lucky enough to be graced by crows year round. When they see me leave my home or start my car, they land on the neighbor's roof and make their presence known by vocalizing. I've been feeding them dog kibble--they appear to like the salmon and lamb best. Sometimes they'll drop safety pins, paper clips, or small twigs with berries on it at my feet. I'm in love.

Thank you, I recently found an injured young crow. Not sure if boy or girl. Its been eating dry cat food best. Ignored earth worms and black berries so far. Excited to try different things, while helping it to recover.

Been feeding some for awhile love meat and unsalted French fries

Thanks, I’ll build a platform feeder. The foxes and bear get much of our handouts, but our cats like to watch the crows, ravens and jays.

I live in California and I like to scatter a couple handfuls of peanut suet nuggets every few days. I also like to scatter a fruit and nut mix in the front and backyard for the smaller birds.

I buy the large bags of unsalted peanuts for my Magpies they love them.

My crows that come will sometimes Karate Kick the hanging bird seed feeder. The others learn from this and stand by for the dropped food!

I live in EU, I gave my crows near work some mixed nuts, and they loved cashews. Now I give crows cashews usually. They like it as those are big and not many birds will eat such big nuts.

Love the Crow's!!❤ The crows in So Cal like fast food. They all eat a little different, but they love a nice burger from Jack in the Box.😅

While sitting on my deck watching a humming bird feed on a flowering shrub a few feet away a dark shadow flashed over my shoulder and grabbed the hummer without any noticeable pause. The crow disappeared into the trees to enjoy the snack. They eat anything that moves and fits their size requirements.

Thanks for the informative video. Great info.! ✌🏻😉🙏🏼🎉🎉

Yep crows prefer meat all right. My neighbor tree was filled with these brown birds with yellow in their belly. There were about 5 nests in it. The crows started raiding the tree and taking the mostly grown chicks right out the nest to eat. Some chicks managed to fly away but most were caught mid flight by the crows to be eaten. The parents birds where making a loud ruckus but they where only about 1/3 the sized of the crows and were mostly ignored by them.

I've never been able to get my American Crows to come in to the feeder, but in the Spring the Fish Crows come to our area, and they come to the feeder for raisins 🤗

Ours like captain crunch cereal. They left a quarter one time.

My crow family loves to eat ... salted peanuts. They also love popcorn chicken ... again ... salted is fine.

I feel excellent video.

I wanted to be nice and tried giving them fresh berries once. They looked at me as if I'd thrown a turd at them. Back to peanuts I guess 😬

I live in Oregon and the crows by my house enjoy eating, rotten meat, cooked steak, unsalted peanuts, suet, birdseed of all different kinds. But every time I put a plate out with all the different items the first thing they go for is either the rotten meat or the steak. It’s hilarious. They will dump the plate before taking any food.

The crows that visit my backyard love dried mealworms and walnuts.

Nice video. Upvoted, subscription turned on. 4 crows here on the outskirts of Tokyo have trained me to feed them dry cat-food (nut sized and crunchy). But I also throw in a handful of larger stick-shaped pieces of meat-based cat/dog food because the sparrows, wagtails, and starlings will often leave the veranda clean before the crows come a-calling. I toss out the food at night before I go to bed because they come at the crack of dawn. I'll throw out a bit more at lunch time if the veranda has been stripped clean, and just before sundown, the crows start hanging close (as close as a couple of meters if I don't make sudden moves) for a light evening snack. It's a toss-up between which I like better, those nearly domesticated wag-tails or smart-as-a-whip crows. Meh ... they're all good.

I feed mine a variety of nuts. And leftovers. They LOVE French fries. (They were the ones responsible for ripping our garbage bags open, which why I started putting out a little of our leftovers from time to time.)

I use boot trays with holes drilled in them to drain water. The ravens will eat from them along with chipmunks and squirrels. The little birds will come to the trays too.

I found out they like our home when they started coming down to eat the cat food!

I feed squirrels and birds peanuts. Some birds love raisins. Crows,catbirds,starlings and mockingbirds.

We have mostly Carrion Crows, and they seem to prefer meat, and harassing the birds and squirrels at the neighbor's feeder. They also warn about Hawks in the neighborhood. Great neighbors, imo, especially if you have a small dog.

Love a crow

Thank you. I feed the squirels peanuts. There is one crow who follows me around when Im in the yard. I throw him a few peanuts on the shed roof. He seems to chase other crows away. I saw him chase a vulcher off a pole to back next door where he belonged. I did see my crow grab a piece of banana peel I throw into my staghorn fern.

I feed the crows at my work walnuts. They love em.. Didn’t know the peanuts had to be unsalted. I bought salted ones and they don’t take to them right away. Now I know

I was feeding crows table scraps when i visited my daughter. And also meat trimmings. When i came back home my faughter decided to throw out some meat trimmings one day and 5 minutes later she was surprised to find the back yard full of viltures. They came so fast the crows didnt even get s chance to get a nibble. Since my daughter was expecting crowd she was very surprised. Those vultures ate huge!

I've had a family come by every year for 3 yrs now. I'd agree but my local spoiled brats love breads more than anything else.

Crows will eat many things, but I have not had much luck with fruit or even nuts. Not corn, either. Very, very tepid enthusiasm. They do like bread okay. What they really REALLY like is raw meat and fat. When I put meat scraps in the yard, they descend on it like vultures!

On peanuts for wildlife: use only raw peanuts, not roasted. The oils in nuts that birds crave will go rancid once they have been heated. Raw nuts are always best because both crows and jays store nuts for later.

I don't know who you consulted with but I'm well up in the center of Canada's north and our crows stay with us all year round...always have and always will (I hope!!!).

I feed them peanuts on my concrete driveway apron. In the U.P., some folks build platforms up in trees and put road kill on it.

I have been feeding the crows unsalted roasted peanuts for years no problem. It’s their favorite. They love it. They don’t last very long in the yard. They take them away real fast.

I live in Canada and I have crows year round which I feed. There’s four that come to my back yard but difficult getting them to eat fruit! They love dog kibble, milk bones and nuts! It’s a special day when I have a chicken carcass, a meaty ham bone or beef fat.

I live in Canada & the crows live here all winter.

I live in Western Australia and have been feeding a pair of our crows (and their offspring) for years. Mine love peanuts in the shell, cashews and meal worms. I have tried giving them chicken fat and skin, but they have a a terrible habit of hiding it in my gutters!

Here in northern New Mexico crows are ever-present year round. Yes to the food you mention, though I've seen crows reject fruit most of the time. No problem, though, cuz the deer will finish it off. Thanks.

Cheese, my friends love it ☀️

I hear my crows all day everyday in the woodline, and have absolutely spoiled every other bird in the area with food that was meant to.draw the crows! They never let me see them, it's very rare I actually get a glimpse of one, but they live in the woods. I try cawing at them and the other day I heard them losing their minds in the woods so I followed the sound until I saw 2 crows confronting a massive horned owl roosting in a tree, I hooted at him and he looked me in the eye and flew away. I'm hoping scaring the owl off for them might have gotten them to finally notice me. I used to throw peanuts on my roof thnking that was the best way to pique their interest but I never had any luck so I set up 2 tables closer to the woodline with some tree cover. I haven't seen them every coming to the tables so far but sometimes I hear them seemingly cawing from that area of the yard. Hard to say.

good vid. one problem, if you let them see you, they then get to know and sort of trust you.

I live in the red area and all Corvidae lives here year round.

My crows doesn't like peanuts, they do love Cashew however

Very interesting. Thank you. I live in rural central France. Looking to feed crows. They’re often around. I noticed that it’s typically early morning or evening. If ground feeding, is the surface important? For instance, there’s a disused tennis court next to our backyard. I noticed you use woodchip. Thanks for any help.

🐦‍⬛ 👍🏻

I did not know about the feeder part of crows I'll put a ground feeder for them out ASAP

I live in the red area and crows and ravens are here all year round. They don't turn around at the border.

For about 2 months now, I've been tossing a handful of peanuts onto my roof every morning. The crows always clear them away by nightfall. My concern with putting them in feeders or on the ground was that squirrels might steal them first. OTOH there is no easy access to my roof for squirrels, so crows get them all.

I live in the South Western part of Ontario. I early on had a big feeder on attached to a wooden fence. That's fine but attracts too many squirrels who push the crows out. I have had to resort to live trapping these varmints and drive them several kilometers away. The crows seem to remain quite skittish even though I remain mostly behind the drapes. I have read where they will eat chopped chicken liver. Any thoughts? Much appreciate your channel. Cheers.

I have a small group of 3 or 4 crows that come to my deck for the peanuts, walnuts, cranberries, etc. I put out for them. At first I was giving them raw peanuts in the shell but then I read that raw peanuts can contain a fungus (?) that can be harmful to them. Is that true? Since then, to be safe, I have been giving them only unsalted roasted peanuts in the shell along with the other items I mentioned. I have named them Braveheart, Upstart, Heckle, and Jeckle but honestly I can't yet tell them apart. It's great fun to watch them!

Rows are omnivores and not too fussy about what they eat. In the wild they love to eat bugs and will search under fallen leaves. They love carrion. Good luck getting them to eat apple or cracked corn.

I want to attract crows while repelling pigeons. Most of these foods will end up attracting those rats with wings than crows. The mess on balconies pigeons leave is horrible. I don't know what happened to the pair of crows that used to frequent my place but I loved their company

FEEDD THE CROWSS!!!!!!!!