American Crow in Ontario, Canada. Photo by J.P. Moczulski © 2009 A Murder of Crows, Inc.
Crows are members of the Corvidae family, which also includes ravens, magpies, and blue jays. Loud, rambunctious, and very intelligent, crows are most often associated with a long history of fear and loathing. They are considered pests by farmers trying to protect their crops and seedlings. Many people fear them simply because of their black feathers, which are often associating them with death. But research demonstrated in A Murder of Crows proves crows are actually very social and caring creatures, and also among the smartest animals on the planet.
Where do crows live?
Crows live all over the world, except for Antarctica.
What do they eat?
Crows are predators and scavengers, which means that they will eat practically anything. Their diet consists of various road-kill, insects, frogs, snakes, mice, corn, human fast food, even eggs and nestlings of other birds. An adult crow needs about 11 ounces of food daily.
How many species are there?
There are about 40 or so species in the Corvus genus. These range from pigeon-sized birds to ravens, which can be as much as 24-27 inches long.
Social Environment
Crows are very social and have a tight-knit family. They roost in huge numbers (in the thousands) to protect themselves from enemies like red-tailed hawks, horned-owls, and raccoons. Crows also use at least 250 different calls. The distress call brings other crows to their aid, as crows will defend unrelated crows. Crows mate for life.
Close Relatives
The Corvus genus includes the common American crow, ravens, rooks, and other variations, and the wider family (Corvidae) includes jays, magpies, nutcrackers, and other birds.
Crows and West Nile Virus
Crows are susceptible to West Nile virus, and their deaths are used as early indicators of potential human disease in an area. West Nile Virus has killed 45% of American crows since 1999, though they’re still listed as Least Concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
What’s a murder of crows?
A group of crows is called a “murder.” There are several different explanations for the origin of this term, mostly based on old folk tales and superstitions.
For instance, there is a folktale that crows will gather and decide the capital fate of another crow.
Many view the appearance of crows as an omen of death because ravens and crows are scavengers and are generally associated with dead bodies, battlefields, and cemeteries, and they’re thought to circle in large numbers above sites where animals or people are expected to soon die.
But the term “murder of crows” mostly reflects a time when groupings of many animals had colorful and poetic names. Other fun examples of “group” names include: an ostentation of peacocks, a parliament of owls, a knot frogs, and a skulk of foxes.
About 6 wks ago, the neighbor kids were walking around with a baby crow that had failed it’s first flying lesson. I took it to my home to show my husband. He said it would be cool to have a pet bird (like a pirate) I told him NO WAY!
WELL….we kept it with the intentions of getting it strong enough to fly & letting it go.
Who knew that ”BLUE” (bc of the bright blue eyes) would win my heart over! I started looking up to see if crows or ravens had blue eyes, to see what kind of bird it was for sure. The next day the neighbor girl came by to tell me another crow had fallen out of the 100ft pinetree. I went to see…& it was the nest mate. The parents, plus one, were yelling@me as I tried to rescue the baby from under a shed & get it up away from any cats. (a cat had grabbed it earlier) I decided 2 baby crows would be too much to handle & put it on a low branch.
Back at home, we were enjoying feeding Blue with a medicine dispenser full of pb, tuna, baby rice cereal & apple juice. Blue ate everything I have it, except sweet potatoes.
We called it a HIM, until recently when I decided we have enough males in our home & need to balance it out with another female. So Blue is now a SHE.
She learned to fly in the house & her favorite spot is the kitchen curtain rod.
Cont…
Blue would come outside with me each morning while I searched for bugs & grub. She played in the ferns & bathed in the dew. She ignored her parents in the tree nearby that called out to her as well. One day she flew into the tree & came back when we called her. Then she flew off to a tree further away after being startled by my cat. Her family went to her to talk & she freaked out & flew away to another tree & they followed. She didn’t like it & flew to my chest. Then she hopped down & walked behind me, hopping up each step to the door.
She now gluts out on her own, pecking my neighbors skylight, begging, with her mouth open, squaking. She sometimes dive bombs me & the neighbors if she recognizes them. I can call for her & she comes home. She recognizes my husbands truck & flies circles around him, lands on the roof & peers in the door. She lands on our heeds (pooping sometimes) When she stays out@ night, she is always back@ the door in the early morning waiting for her gourmet breakfast. I understand her distinctive calls & find it hilarious that she talks in her sleep. Like a gargling, purring, cooing, love talk. I can tell when she is full & wants water, by her change in vocals. She loves to take shiny stuff, tuck it under the blankets & she has even brought me things. I was wearing a hat one day & she screamed@me until she was sure it was really me. She has stuck her beak in my mouth to take spit out of my mouth, which was strange, but hey, if my dog can kiss me, why not my crow?
Her feathers on her head look to be molting, or her family pulled them out…? Looks like she has ‘hat head’ in the back.
Each day with her I treasure…bc I never know when/if she might not come back. But since her parents nest is right here, I think she will not leave. I think she must think of me as her mom. She is 6wks, plus the time she was in her nest, maybe 2wks? So that makes her 2months old. I can listen in the mornings to other newborns calling for food, followed by the distinctive noise of their gullets being filled. AAHW AAHW GUGUGUH…lol I never noticed all these calls b4 I got Blue Berry….:) (we live in Auburn, Wa where crows are alive & thriving. Not far from UW where the study on crows was done)
Wow, what a great place to share my experience of my favorite bird of all, Crows. I have rescued my fourth this year. He fell off the nest too early, and hopped a block to only land in my courtyard. the parents started screaming and yelling at us, and would cut branches and threw at us. We tried to put him on the tree twice, but every time he would try to fly, and fell. I think he had a balance issue by this time. I finally picked him up and made sure the loud parents watch me going into my backyard. I covered my backyard with mesh for him. After two days he learned how to eat from my hand. He had small tail, and balance issue, and generally a paranoid baby. A sloppy one indeed. And kind of skinny. In a week time I fed him about 20 crickets and superworms, and my food, fish, chicken and anything I could, and lots of water. All the time, everyday parents watched me quietly feeding the baby, with no eye contact. He grew so fast I was shocked. Tail grew bigger, wings wide, and he started exercising and in a week time one day he sneaked out and when I got home I heard his cry on my tree, I learned he’s with his parents. Though they did not feed him for two days, and it was breaking my heart, hearing him cry every day, but that was part of their plan. After 2 days he finally dared to fly to the tree parents were on. And then they fed him. They wanted him to try to fly, and it worked. I was stunned by their technique of training. They were around my area for the first week, now they just pass by me and their all together, though 2 months have passed, the baby still cry for food. Parents leave him alone for a long time, many hours, but they visit him once a day, to make sure he’s not hungry, This was a very successful story which I am proud to share.
In August 2011 I was working in my garden and heard a large flock of crows overhead. When I looked up there were hundreds flying in a circle and making a lot of noise. More and more crows kept joining them and they kept this up for over a half hour. Finally it was like they had a signal from somewhere and they all flew of in every direction. I was amazed and thrilled to see this. I have asked several people about this an no one has seen this or heard of it. Can anyone tell me why they do this? This happened in Winnipeg,Manitoba Canada.
I noticed sparrows and other birds are missing. Blackbirds are feeding on the young. I see birds chasing birds away from there nests. Blackbirds are a nightmare. Something has to be done to reduce their population or they will destroy the other bird populations.
Thank everyone for wonderful stories about crows. I read every post and eyes even filled with tears about the passing of the pet crow. Just wanted you to know your efforts of sharing are appreciated.
There are several crows “probably ravens” that come regularly to our yard to eat scraps of food that we throw out for the birds A few times I have evn picked up a dead roadkill on our street and put it out back for them. About “murder of Crows” one day we were several blocks from home & heard & saw a bunch in a vacant lot attacking another. We ran at them and they flew but still all in pursuit of one. I feel sure they killed it and probably ate it. We immediatly thought of “a murder of crows”. I hope I do not see this again.
I have a crow that is about 6 years old. He was given to me by a man who had rescued him when he was a baby. I keep him in a large cage outside and feed him dog food and an scrambled egg every other day. Does anyone know what might happen to him if I let him go? He really does not seem all that happy in this cage, even though it is plenty big. I would love to let him go as long as I knew he would not be harmed by the other crows in our neighborhood. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I work as a security guard at a naval base in California and I work at many different areas repeatedly and I have found that if you feed a crow once they will return daily !!!!! I have found that peanuts and dog food are favorites!!!
I also feed them at home and if I forget to feed them they will remind me by sitting on the telephone wire and goin caw,caw
Don’t know if your American/Canadian crows are as noisy as our Aussie ones, but their call of “ark,ark,ark” can get very annoying. Twenty years ago you would have to travel out to a farm somewhere to see crows. Now they are in the cities and towns in large numbers, and they love to raid overflowing garbage cans. No, I’m afraid I can’t give them top billing on my favourite birds list.
55 years ago in a small field beside my father’s home in Dodson, Tx the trees bordering the field swarmed with crows screaming at a single crow standing atop furrow along perhaps 50 yards clear on every side. I do not remember how long this continued but I managed to walk around one edge. Then the other crows descended on that individual and torn him/her to pieces. When I asked this 80 year old negro man who worked with me hoeing the field of weeds, he said I had seen a “crow court” which I suppose now was the vernacular in that community for “a murder of crows”. I’ve simply never heard the phrase “crow court” since and no one I’ve asked over years from that community seemed to recognize the event or the term. I lived there one year.
I have always been very fond of crows, but I have noticed that it seems way more socially acceptable to like ravens. I find this rather odd because they are very closely related and ravens are also noisy and territorial and eat other birds eggs and nestlings (which is what most people say they dislike about crows)
Eagles kill other birds and steal their nestlings too and everyone goes on about how beautiful and noble they are. Eagles also scavenge and will happily eat things like roadkill too. Lots of other birds and animals will go through your garbage given half a chance, so why so much hate for crows?
There are a number of other birds that are way more harmful to crops as well, and crows also eat insects which can harm crops.
A suitably large population of anything can have negative impacts on it’s environment, I think it’s important to remember that.
Crows are just adaptable and successful at living with humans. I think there is likely more of a problem with deforestation rather than crows contributing to the decline of small birds.
I think crows are treated rather unfairly, so it’s nice to see some people who like them as well. They are so funny, I always love watching them play games and be silly. The last town I lived in, I used to feed them on my way to work and usually wound up escorted by a big chatty flock.
I have been feeding crows in my driveway every morning (unsalted peanuts in the shell). Sometimes there is a small flock waiting for me, but most days there is just this one fellow who has one feather sticking out on his right side (that is how I recognize him). When he is there alone, as soon as I put out the peanuts, he starts making loud calls as he looks around for his friends; obviously, he is telling his friends that the food is here. Crows do like to share! One day I looked out my front door and counted 51 crows sitting on the telephone lines in front of my house waiting for peanuts. Sorry guys; I can’t afford to feed 51 crows! That only happened one day, though . . . good thing, because my neighbors would probably complain to the government if they thought I was responsible for the presence of 51 crows. I live in the city; too many people crowded into small spaces. But I love those crows!
One of the best shows I have ever seen. Is it going to be on aSeattle Network station again soon. I know it’s on in areas of PA again tomorrow night. 2/21/2113. Any news about a repeat in Seattle area. Must watch & tape….so amazing. Any info would be welcomed.
I feed many animals and birds in my yard and are able to watch their daily interactions. Having a crows nest in one of my pine trees permitted me to watch young crows with their mother. On one occation, the mother was on a branch between her two young ones and was preening one of them. The other young crow moved a little closer to his mom and placed the side of his head on his mothers back and stayed there while mother was preening the other. Was so touching to watch. I too have a sentry crow that calls the family and friends over whenever i put out the food. They are very smart and interesting birds.
I have a 18 years old cat and she looked entire one hour at the program about the crows. It was amazing to see her sitting such a long time and looking at the TV so intensively. I can say that we both liked the program, very interesting.
Sure, your cat looked intensely at the crows on TV, except to her it was a cooking show.
;-D
I have worked at an apartment complex in Ky for 16 years, when I fist started working here I noticed the crows every morning and evening coming to the dumpster, and me being a huge animal lover, I started bringing scraps and putting them out, well not long after I noticed a lot more crows coming by, but especially 4 certain ones everyday, and if there wasn’t anything around the dumpster they would sit in the tree across from my office door and would kawl until I took crackers or something out. about 7 years ago there was a cat that came and took up here at the apartments, and the tenants loved it so much that I made it a bed outside and it’s on little area, I would feed him dry cat food everymorning when I came in and every evening before going home, one day after feeding him I decided to take him some of my breakfast, and when I went around the building there was the 4 crows eating his food with him, yea with him, so I started watching them, and every morning I would take his food around the building, and I would call him, you know, ” kitty, kitty, kitty” and I heard a sound in the trees, well the crows had noticed that when they heard me yell those words that soon the cat would have food, ha ha ha… so now when I want the crows to know I have cat food for them, I just holler, kitty, kitty, kitty, and here they come, everyone gets a kick out it, but you know, others have tried this, tried calling them and feeding them and they will not come, I guess they have got to know me and know that I mean them no harm, I think they are beautiful creatures…
how can i order a copy of this brilliant film?
I’ve always had a fondness for crows. I also like black cats…Am I a witch you may ask? No, I just root for the underdog. Crows are fascinating birds. My father liked them too and told of an experiment he was part of when he lived at home in Vermont. There was a field of dried corn that was harvested and cut down, all but a square patch about 30′ x 30 left standing about mid field’. A blind was created in the middle of the patch of corn left standing. The crows were left to scavenge the field and square patch without being disturbed for 24 hours. The experiment began the next day when two men walked into the square patch and into the blind where they stayed still and out of site for about an hour. The crows stayed away from the patch in the middle of the field but did feed on the outer edges of the harvested field. One man then came out of the blind while one stayed in. Still the birds avoided the standing patch of corn. It wasn’t until the second man came out of the blind and patch that the crows resumed feeding in the standing patch of corn. Then 3 men went into the corn patch and two came out after a time, all the while the crows avoided the patch, until the third man came out. Then the crows again resumed feeding in the standing patch of corn. The experiment was continued in this fashion up until 11 men had gone into the corn. While the 11 were in the blind the crows avoided the square patch. One by one ten men exited the corn until there was 1 left in the blind in the standing patch of corn. As the 11th man was still in the blind before he could exit, the crows began to fly to the standing square patch of corn and feed undisturbed. The crows were acting as they had when all the men had exited the standing corn patch before. The 11th man did not frighten the birds and remained in the blind still and silent until dusk when the crows returned to their nests. The experiment was repeated a few more times in the next few days and it was concluded that crows can apparently count to 10. To the best of my knowledge this experiment was conducted by a group of bored teenage boys who had done all their harvesting chores and had nothing better to do. They were fascinated by the intelligence of the crows and they were of the same mind that unlike their father’s, farmers all they didn’t hate the crows. My Dad grew up to be a city slicker working in a bar sweet talking some fine fancy customers. Even working in the most prestigious club in Philadelphia until he was discovered by the owners of a big company that saw his smarts with numbers and hired him into their company in a management position. Since he hadn’t quite completed high school they helped fudge him a “resume” of sorts for the HR department and for the “record” indicating he had graduated with honors from the University of Vermont. I guess they just didn’t check into things like that back in the day…there is no University of Vermont. Dad retired and had a conglomeration of bird feeders in the yard and always included something special for the crows…
TOO BAD THAT THE CROWS DO NOT ATTACK THR FERAL CATS INSTEAD OF THE OTHER WAY AROUND !! CATS EAT MANY AND MOST SPECIES OF SONG AND SPORTING BIRDS AS WELL AS BREED LIKE MICE . FERAL CATS ARE HUNTERS BY LINEAGE . THEY WILL RAID BIRD NESTS. THEY ALSO DO GREAT HARM TO SMALLER CREATURES LIKE CHIPMUNKS AND RABBITS . THEY ARE THE ONES THAT SHOULD BE HUNTED AS THEY HAVE NO REDEEMING QUALITIES . LONG LIVE THE CROW .STRAY DOGS ARE A PROBLEM ALSO BUT NO WHERE NEAR CATS . AT LEAST A DOG CAN BE TRAINED TO OBEY AND LOVE YOU LIKE NO OTHER IN THE WORLD. I HAVE NEVER SEEN A CAT THAT WOULD ! I KNOW I WILL HEAR PLENTY ABOUT THIS BUT I COULD CARE LESS AS I WILL NOT GO TO THIS ARTICLE AGAIN. SB
Hi Rita,
You can purchase a copy of “A Murder of Crows” at ShopPBS.
Hi, I happen to be watching your program tonight title: “The murder of Crows”, I really like the observations you’ve gotten through your studies, as I watched your program it brought me back to my own observation of Crows that I found fascinating : a couple years ago one day around noon I was sitting in my car at sea side park in Bridgeport Ct just observing the surroundings when I notice an Eagle that appear to be weak and unable to fly, periodically a black Crow would swarm down towards the Eagle as if it was about to attack the Eagle, the Eagle would lower it’s head moving out of harms way obviously the Eagle could’nt defend itself and the Crows knew it, and didn’t care. Your program ‘The murder of Crows’ shed light on this observation of mine- The Eagle is an enemy to the Crow, in this situation they had the upper hand and was ready to take him out. Thank You
Over 9 years ago I observed a large raven walking down the sidewalk in our city. Thought that unusual….as I watched others flew over and called to him/her. The one on the ground replied. The flying birds dropped food to the one walking! Turns out s/he had an injured left wing and could not fly. We started calling him “lefty’. Lefty hung around all Fall and into the Winter months. I called a number of places trying to figure out how to capture him…with the goal of rehabbing. However, Lefty had other ideas…he started hanging around in our back yard. Every time we’d come out he’d hop up the branches of our scrub trees until he was not reachable. His family continued to feed him. Then one day in Feb. he disappeared. His family did not return. We’ve not seen any of them since. What a joy to watch them care for their injured one. I LOVED the Murder of Crows….brought back fond memories!
Years ago I rescued a fallen raven from cats in Los Angeles. I named him Ronald Raven. I walked with him on my shoulder around feeding him/her until he could fly. I asked fish & game where I should take him to return. I was told it was a protected species and I had broken a law, and should “try” to return it but would probably fail. I drove to Palmdale and dumped Ronny and drove home but he followed the car. back. 25 miles. I drove to Solvang and left Ronny successfully. Two years later I was in Palmdale and Ronny landed on my shoulder. He was huge by then, and very heavy. He/she didn’t stay long but I cried when he flew away.
I love my crows! I say mine because it seems to be one family that shows up on a daily basis to eat the dog kibble, peanuts, chicken and cheese I put out for them. My signal to them is my whistling, loudly, “Empire State of Mind” by Alicia Keyes. It carries really well and then the signal gets sent out to the others. The matriarch I call Crooked Wing because of her droopy right wing. I think she’s the mom because the youngsters squawked at her and followed her around to eat with their mouths open. Her mate, always nearby, has recently showed up with a missing foot. He seemed to hang back away from the others right after this happened and it was kind of heartbreaking to see this big guy suddenly listless and just sitting in the backyard. I’ve moved the feeding ground to my front yard now where I can see them better and watch his progress. He’s managing better, using the stump as a kind of balancing cane, but he does still avoid any confrontation with the others and squirrels. Too bad you can’t post a video here because yesterday I got the greatest little film footage of Crooked Wing taking on a ravenous Turkey Vulture. He was chowing down on all their goodies and she jumped him over and over again, pulling his back tail feathers. I’ve heard they do that so the bird has to release the food to fight back. He was getting a bit miffed at her and eventually had enough and flew away. I can’t wait to see Crooked Wings new babies this year. I’m so flattered when I get super close fly bys when I go outside or they sit in the tree while I’m gardening and gurgle at me. As soon as I wake up and turn on the kitchen or bathroom lights, they fly close to let me know they’re waiting. My love affair with crows began in Rome when I watched an all out attack on a seagull that must have gone too close to a nest. The calls were wild and then crows came from everywhere to protect something I couldn’t see. The crows there are Hooded Crows but were also willing to land on our balcony for tasty Italian food. They were incredibly shy and I struggled to get some pictures, but I did. I also watched them dive bomb a pigeon right off my balcony who wanted to share their prosciutto! They are so brilliant!!
I’d like the reference for “at least 250 different calls”. Is there a study or a listing? How do we know that?
Thank you!
We have ravens, they are some big birds and are so funny. Silly ole birds, I love them!