# Crow issue



## LV426 (May 13, 2008)

So, the past 2-3 weeks or so I've noticed a crow hanging around my ducks. He doesn't walk on the ground with them but he does perch on their night pen and walks along the sides of it. Occassionally I see him eating out of their bowl when I put food out. My neighbor says he was beat up by other crows and can't get back in with them. At night he sleeps over on my neighbor's lawnmower under an overhang of his shed. He's tried to go with the other crows when they come around but the other crows beat him up and he ends up back with my ducks. He doesn't bother the ducks but he's starting to look pretty pathetic. I've placed some food out for him that has a higher protein content that I use on my layers and he eats it but he just looks depressed. I can't get near him as he doesn't trust me and will fly up in the tree but where the other crows usually yell at me for bothering them he just sits there and watches me. I feel kind of bad for him. He doesn't look sick, just sad. Is there anything I can do to make the other crows like him again?


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Maybe there's something about him that the other crows recognize that we would not pick up readily? Wonder if he might be somehow unhealthy, or have been kept by a human and let loose, and is treated as an outsider by the others.

Be good if you can just take it easy with him and get his trust, maybe then be able to find out more about him.

John


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

John_D said:


> Maybe there's something about him that the other crows recognize that we would not pick up readily? Wonder if he might be somehow unhealthy, or have been kept by a human and let loose, and is treated as an outsider by the others.
> 
> *Be good if you can just take it easy with him and get his trust, maybe then be able to find out more about him.*
> 
> John


I agree. A murder (flock) of crows has a very serious pecking order, though in some cases they have been known to provide food for a weak/ill member of the group, that doesn't sound like the case with this poor guy. It's nice of you to help feed him, it sounds like he needs all the help he can get. I think that over time you will be able to gain his trust. They are extremely intelligent birds, second after large parrots in the "intelligence list" of birds. It only took me a few days to train the ones at my old work building to come to the window for food. Good luck, I hope he is accepted back with the other crows, but if not at least he has you.


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

*CROWS are a very intresting bird for the most part they flock in family groups. If a crow from an other family comes into their area they will for the most part reject this bird. That may be the case here. ..GEORGE*


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## Margarret (May 3, 2007)

He must have broken some really serious crow taboos or as George suggested he is from another family.

I'm glad you are feeding him. Dog food soaked in water is a favorite and pretty high in protein. He will eventually trust you more and more. They like to dip their food in a bowl of water, so if you put a water bowl out for him, he will probably use it. 

Margaret


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*Seems very odd that he would be shunned*

I would be concerned that he may have an illness that the other crows are afraid of. They are known to carry West Nile Virus but if they are intelligent enough to recognize it in one another, I have no idea. They are highly intelligent and gregarious birds.

I had a pair of baby crows that were just beginning to fly. They were given to me by a friend who rescued them when they fell out of a nest a few weeks earlier. They had been fed dog food and I continued with the same feed. I noticed that they were not putting on weight and that their developement seemed to have slowed so I began to get concerned.

I took them to a park where I knew that there were crows and brought them to a wooded area. Their calls made contact with the wild population immediately and several crows approached before I even released them. I let them go and the wild crows came down to greet them and fed them within minutes. I watched for awhile and once I was certain that they were going to be cared for, I left them to their new family. It was a pretty amazing experience.

Whether crows will shun a bird from another colony or just throw one out of their own colony, I can't say but they are quite the amazing birds. I would keep a close eye on this one to see if his health is declining or if he is merely an outcast, which I find rather hard to imagine.

Bill


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

jbangelfish said:


> I would be concerned that he may have an illness that the other crows are afraid of. They are known to carry West Nile Virus but if they are intelligent enough to recognize it in one another, I have no idea. They are highly intelligent and gregarious birds.
> 
> I had a pair of baby crows that were just beginning to fly. They were given to me by a friend who rescued them when they fell out of a nest a few weeks earlier. They had been fed dog food and I continued with the same feed. I noticed that they were not putting on weight and that their developement seemed to have slowed so I began to get concerned.
> 
> ...


Crows don't abandon their family in illness, they will stay by them and guard them even while they are dying.
Crow parents are extremely protective and are very diligent when it comes to taking care of their young. My former husband once had a baby crow fall in his lap while he was driving through a treed neighborhood in his convertible. On impact, the Crow broke a leg. He brought the crow home and the parents followed, buzzing and pecking his head as he made his way to the house. He left, with the bird, to take it to the vet and they followed. The baby had to be euthanized but those parents hung around for a week always attacking Dan whenever he left the house. They didn't go after my son of myself, only him. For a baby Crow to be unsupervised by either family member or parent is very unusual.
Another time, I saw one much too young on the ground. I could see no other crows around. I went to pick it up and the call went out from a crow unseen. Within seconds, I was being buzzed by half a dozen Crows.


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

* Here is a web site on crows www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/crowfaq.htm This is long but well worth the time reading. The site is still under construction as new information is added it is a on going reserch project .* ...GEORGE


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Great link, George. I think it should be a sticky.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

I have been told by a rehabber that is a crow imprints on a human, they will not be accepted in a flock.

I'm sure the babies that found a home with that flock had not been human imprinted as yet.

Sure wish the best for this crow...please keep us updated!

Shi


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*Hi Charis*



Charis said:


> Crows don't abandon their family in illness, they will stay by them and guard them even while they are dying.
> Crow parents are extremely protective and are very diligent when it comes to taking care of their young. My former husband once had a baby crow fall in his lap while he was driving through a treed neighborhood in his convertible. On impact, the Crow broke a leg. He brought the crow home and the parents followed, buzzing and pecking his head as he made his way to the house. He left, with the bird, to take it to the vet and they followed. The baby had to be euthanized but those parents hung around for a week always attacking Dan whenever he left the house. They didn't go after my son of myself, only him. For a baby Crow to be unsupervised by either family member or parent is very unusual.
> Another time, I saw one much too young on the ground. I could see no other crows around. I went to pick it up and the call went out from a crow unseen. Within seconds, I was being buzzed by half a dozen Crows.


No, they certainly won't abandon an injured baby and are extremely protective of it as you have witnessed. I just wondered if they are smart enough to recognize and fear disease.

Bill


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Charis said:


> Another time, I saw one much too young on the ground. I could see no other crows around. I went to pick it up and the call went out from a crow unseen. Within seconds, I was being buzzed by half a dozen Crows.



Guess it wasn't much fun for you, but it would make for a good laugh now if it was on a video...........


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> Guess it wasn't much fun for you, but it would make for a good laugh now if it was on a video...........


It was ok. I was just happy the baby would be well taken care of.
The funny sight [and sad too because of the circumstances] was those Crows following Dan around for days. I took to wearing a hat whenever he left the house.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

jbangelfish said:


> No, they certainly won't abandon an injured baby and are extremely protective of it as you have witnessed. I just wondered if they are smart enough to recognize and fear disease.
> 
> Bill


They will stay with an ill family member until it takes it's final breath.
There was a Crow in my neighborhood that slept on a neighbor's back porch, with her mate at night. She was unable to fly. Her mate supported her for several years and at times brought her food. Finally, something took her during the night.


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*That's interesting*



Charis said:


> They will stay with an ill family member until it takes it's final breath.
> There was a Crow in my neighborhood that slept on a neighbor's back porch, with her mate at night. She was unable to fly. Her mate supported her for several years and at times brought her food. Finally, something took her during the night.


And I don't doubt it. Old age is not a disease and I'm sure that they will care for each other to the end. I still wonder if they sense a communicable disease or what would make them shun a fellow crow. They seem to be as intelligent as any bird from what I've seen as are other members such as Magpies.

I remember seeing a video of Crows (in the UK if I remember correctly) that had learned to drop nuts onto a road and wait for cars to run over them so they could eat what was inside. Pretty smart birds.

It is extremely rare for them to be struck by a car, even though they eat roadkills all the time. I don't know that I've ever seen one that has been hit by a car. I'm sure it's happened but it would seem to be an extreme rarity and would probably only happen to a very young or very weak crow.

Bill


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

I write often about our family of crows that we love dearly. One of the most haunting things that ever happened to me involved one of their babies.

I have observed that the parents keep the babies close in the nest until they are large enough that we often can only tell who is a baby by an increase in their numbers and also seeing the babies beg food from a parent.

About 2-3 years ago, we noticed one crow kept staying in our yard. (Usually, they show up for breakfast and then go about their business, coming back or doing flyovers to see if we have put anything else out for them to eat.) This crow would go down to feed and then fly back up on top of an aviary. He stayed in the yard several days this way. None of the other crows tried to hurt him and would frequently go to him. After about 4 days of this, I looked out the kitchen window and saw him at the foot of our back steps. He actually climbed the steps and stood at the kitchen door like he wanted in. I told Lewis that something was wrong and we began trying to catch him. It was only until he got so weak that we could. I made an appointment with the vet for the next day, kept him warm and tried to feed him. He was dead the next morning.

The only conclusion I came to was the adult crows knew he was sick and brought him to us. He took matters into his own hands by coming to the back door which, even though they all know us, had never happened before or since. I will always feel we let that little baby down but we simply didn't know he needed help until it was too late.

I also think that after the babies are grown and able to fend for themselves, they move on to another area. I don't know if the parents run them off to keep their territory down in numbers.

This could be a very young crow who left his parent's territory and is trying to move into another and is not being accepted. It could also be sick like ours was and needs to be seen by a vet. If you can, try to catch him at night when he is on the lawnmower and get him to a vet.

They are very smart and very family oriented.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Lady Tarheel said:


> I write often about our family of crows that we love dearly. One of the most haunting things that ever happened to me involved one of their babies.
> 
> I have observed that the parents keep the babies close in the nest until they are large enough that we often can only tell who is a baby by an increase in their numbers and also seeing the babies beg food from a parent.
> 
> ...


The Crow parents actually keep their young with them until they are 3 years old and find their own mate. For the next couple of season, they are taught how to rear young by helping with their parents with new nestlings. When they choose a mate, females will join her mate's flock. If her mate dies, she may go back to her parents.
Read the article from the NPR link I provided earlier in this thread. It's really fascinating.


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## jbangelfish (Mar 22, 2008)

*Good stuff Charis*



Charis said:


> The Crow parents actually keep their young with them until they are 3 years old and find their own mate. For the next couple of season, they are taught how to rear young by helping with their parents with new nestlings. When they choose a mate, females will join her mate's flock. If her mate dies, she may go back to her parents.
> Read the article from the NPR link I provided earlier in this thread. It's really fascinating.


I knew that the family bond was a big thing to them but not as long and involved as what you found. Quite the bird, aren't they?

Bill


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Charis, I didn't see the one you're talking about but would love to read it. I enjoyed reading the Cornell site George posted but was sad to read most only live a year. I know for a fact that ours live several years because I can recognize some of them. Maybe because we feed them helps them survive. I hope so anyhow.

About the babies staying with the parents for 3 years - I only base what I said on my own observations from the kitchen window  but their numbers will increase anywhere from 3-5 for a period of time in late spring/early summer and then go back to the usual 5-7. Sometimes we have seen as many as 10 but not often. In the fall, crows migrate and we can see hundreds flying overhead and even nesting in trees. It is an awesome sight.


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