Do you sometimes wonder What Do Crows Like to Eat? Crows are fascinating birds known for their intelligence, adaptability, and social behavior. They belong to the Corvidae family, which includes ravens, magpies, and jays. One of the most remarkable aspects of crows is their dietary habits, which are as diverse and opportunistic as their ability to solve problems and use tools. Unlike many other birds, crows are not picky eaters—they are omnivores and will consume a wide variety of foods depending on what is available in their environment.
This article will explore what crows like to eat, how they forage for food, and the various foods they consume across different ecosystems. We will look at the types of foods crows prefer, their feeding behavior, and how their diet is influenced by seasons and their unique intelligence.
1. General Diet of Crows: An Omnivorous Feast
Crows are omnivores, which means they eat both plant and animal-based foods. Their diet is highly varied, and they will eat almost anything they can find, which has earned them a reputation as scavengers. Their ability to eat such a broad range of foods makes them incredibly adaptable to different environments, from urban areas to rural forests.
Some of the main categories of food in a crow’s diet include:
- Fruits and Berries: Crows enjoy eating a wide variety of fruits, including apples, cherries, pears, grapes, and berries like blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. These foods are particularly important during the spring and summer months when fruits are in season. Crows may also feed on seeds and nuts, especially those that are easier to crack open, such as sunflower seeds or acorns.
- Insects and Arthropods: Crows are opportunistic hunters and will eat a wide range of insects. Grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, and ants make up a significant portion of their diet. They are particularly skilled at foraging for small arthropods in the ground or by pecking around tree bark, leaf litter, and soil.
- Small Vertebrates: Crows are known to eat small vertebrates such as rodents (e.g., mice, rats, and squirrels), amphibians (like frogs), and even small birds or eggs. They will often steal eggs from nests or hunt for young, weak animals that they can overpower. This behavior is a testament to their adaptability and problem-solving skills.
- Carrion: Crows are scavengers by nature and will readily eat carcasses of dead animals. This includes roadkill, animal remains left behind by predators, or carrion found in trash or garbage bins. The ability to consume carrion is one of the reasons crows thrive in both urban and rural environments, where food sources are often abundant in the form of waste.
- Grains and Seeds: In addition to fruits and nuts, crows will forage for seeds and grains. They often feed on the seeds of plants such as corn, wheat, and other cereal crops. Farmers may sometimes see crows in their fields, searching for grain during harvest seasons.
- Human Food: Crows are known to be highly opportunistic when it comes to human food. They will steal from picnics, garbage cans, and outdoor eating areas. Common foods they are attracted to include bread, chips, pizza crusts, and fast food scraps. This ability to adapt to urban environments has made them experts in surviving in cities, where food from human sources is abundant.
If you’re curious about ways to deter birds attracted by food remnants around your property, check out our article How to Keep Birds Away from Your House: Top 13 Effective Tips.
2. Feeding Behavior: How Crows Forage and Hunt
Crows are incredibly resourceful when it comes to finding food. They are known for their problem-solving abilities, which they often use to access difficult-to-reach food sources. Here are some of the ways crows forage for food:
- Tool Use: Crows are one of the few animal species that use tools to help them access food. They have been observed using sticks to extract insects from tree bark or cracks in rocks. In urban areas, they have been known to drop nuts onto hard surfaces to crack them open, taking advantage of the surface’s impact to break the shells. They also use sticks to poke into crevices to retrieve food from places that would otherwise be out of reach.
- Social Feeding: Crows often forage in groups, especially in areas where food is abundant. They communicate with each other to alert other members of their group about the location of food. These birds are known to share information about food sources, and they sometimes form “food-sharing” networks to take advantage of an abundant food supply.
- Scavenging: Crows are opportunistic scavengers and will follow other predators to steal food. For example, they may follow larger carnivores like hawks or foxes to snatch any food they leave behind. Crows will also gather around human settlements, where food scraps are readily available in the form of trash, discarded food, or leftovers. Crows frequently rely on scavenged food, especially in urban settings, where they may even visit areas like garages.
For tips on preventing unwanted bird visits to these spaces, see How to Get Birds Out of My Garage: A Complete Actionable Guide. - Memory and Caching: Crows are known to have excellent memories. They will often hide food to eat later, a behavior known as “caching.” Crows will stash food in various locations and then retrieve it when food is scarce. They have been observed hiding food in tree branches, under rocks, or in the ground to protect it from other scavengers. Their ability to remember where they have hidden food is part of their intelligence and helps them survive during times when food is not easily accessible.
3. Seasonal Diet Variations of Crows
Crows’ diets can vary depending on the time of year and the food that is available in their environment. In colder months, for example, they may rely more heavily on nuts, seeds, and scavenged food, as fruits and insects are less abundant. They may also feed more on carrion during winter, when other food sources are in short supply.
- Spring and Summer: During the warmer months, crows have access to a wide variety of fresh fruits, berries, and insects. This is the time when crows are particularly active in hunting insects and small animals to feed themselves and their young. Fruits like cherries, apples, and berries are a favorite treat.
- Autumn: In the fall, crows begin to focus on storing food for the winter. They may collect acorns, walnuts, and other seeds, hiding them in safe spots to eat later. This is also the time when they can often be found in agricultural areas, feasting on leftover crops like corn and wheat.
- Winter: Winter months force crows to rely more on their scavenging abilities. As food from natural sources becomes scarce, crows will turn to roadkill, carrion, and human waste for sustenance. In addition, the bird’s winter diet may be supplemented by any food it has cached during the warmer months.
4. Crows and Food Sensitivity
Crows are not only opportunistic feeders, but they also have an exceptional sense of taste and smell. While their taste buds are not as developed as humans’, crows can discern food based on its quality and ripeness. They are also known to prefer fresh, high-quality food. This is why crows often avoid spoiled or rotten food, preferring fresh scraps or live prey.
Additionally, crows have the ability to recognize dangerous food. They have been observed avoiding food that has been tainted or laced with poison. This shows that crows have an incredible level of awareness and can learn from past experiences to avoid harmful substances.
5. What Crows Should Not Eat
While crows are not picky eaters, there are some foods that should be avoided in their diet, especially when they are being fed by humans. Here are some foods that should not be fed to crows:
- Processed Foods: Junk food, chips, and other processed human snacks can be harmful to crows. These foods lack the nutritional content that crows need to thrive and can lead to health problems.
- Chocolate: Like many animals, crows should not be given chocolate, as it contains substances that are toxic to them, such as theobromine.
- Salted Food: Excessive salt can lead to dehydration and kidney problems in crows. It’s best to avoid feeding them salty snacks or processed meats.
- Avocados: While avocados are delicious for humans, they contain a substance called persin, which can be toxic to birds, including crows.
- Onions and Garlic: Both onions and garlic are toxic to birds and should be avoided.
6. Crows’ Remarkable Intelligence and Their Impact on Their Diet
Crows’ intelligence is not only reflected in their ability to solve problems but also in how they interact with their food sources. Their cognitive abilities have a direct impact on how they search for and consume food.
a) Tool Use and Problem Solving
Crows are known to be one of the few non-human animals that use tools in their feeding habits. Research has shown that crows are capable of using sticks, leaves, and even human-made items to extract food from hard-to-reach places. This ability is particularly evident in their interaction with inaccessible food sources such as insects hidden within tree bark, or even nuts inside hard shells.
One famous experiment involved New Caledonian crows, who used tools like sticks to fish out worms from hollow logs or to create hooks to grab food. In urban areas, crows have even adapted to using objects like traffic cones or car windows to crack open nuts or seeds. Their problem-solving skills are often seen when they employ multi-step processes to obtain food, showing the extent of their cognitive abilities. This behavior is one reason why crows thrive in environments with abundant human-made objects—they’ve adapted their tool-use techniques to fit these surroundings.
b) Observation and Social Learning
Crows are highly social birds and are known for their capacity to learn from observing others. If one crow finds a good food source, it can inform others of its discovery. The act of watching another crow solve a problem or find food helps other crows improve their own foraging techniques. This social learning is key to how crows adapt to different environments and find new food sources.
Studies have shown that crows can recognize other individual crows and may even share food with family members or close companions. They might also “trade” food with each other, demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of social interactions. In some cases, crows have been observed passing down knowledge of food sources across generations, with younger crows learning what to eat based on the experiences of older ones.
7. Crows’ Dietary Preferences and Their Ability to Adapt
While crows eat a wide variety of foods, their specific preferences can depend on several factors, including season, geographic location, availability of food, and personal taste. In addition to the general foods mentioned earlier, crows will also seek out certain food types based on what they can most easily access and what provides the best nutritional value at any given time.
a) Food Preferences by Season
- Spring and Summer: During the warmer months, when insect populations are abundant, crows are particularly fond of eating insects like caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, and crickets. These provide high protein content, which is essential for breeding and raising their young. Additionally, fruits and berries such as mulberries, cherries, and blackberries become more accessible. Crows will often be seen picking fruit directly from trees or shrubs, and they will also go after the seeds of wildflowers.
- Autumn: In the fall, crows begin to shift their focus toward food sources that will sustain them through the upcoming winter. This includes acorns, walnuts, and other nuts that they can store for later. Crows will frequently visit oak trees to collect acorns, which are rich in fats and proteins. Acorns are especially important during winter when fresh food sources like fruits and insects are less available. Many crows will hide or “cache” acorns in the ground or tree bark, much like squirrels, to ensure they have a steady food supply during the colder months.
- Winter: As cold weather sets in, crows become more reliant on scavenging. Urban crows are particularly adept at finding food in garbage, dumpsters, and trash cans. The abundance of human waste in cities provides a reliable food source, especially when natural sources like insects and fruits are not readily available. In rural areas, crows may rely more on carrion, such as roadkill or dead animals, or seek out food scraps from hunting or other predators.
b) Geographic and Environmental Adaptability
The diet of crows also varies depending on the environment they inhabit. For example, in coastal regions, crows will often feed on marine life such as crabs, fish, and shellfish. In agricultural areas, they might target grains like corn, wheat, and oats. Urban crows, especially those living in cities or towns, have adapted to human-made environments and have learned to exploit food sources that are not typically available to crows in the wild.
In coastal areas, crows may also scavenge fish remains from fishing boats or fishermen, and they have been known to hunt small marine animals like snails or crustaceans. Additionally, some crows living in temperate or tropical rainforests will forage for fruits like figs and consume a range of small reptiles, amphibians, and even small mammals like rats or lizards.
8. Crows’ Feeding Behavior and Interaction with Other Species
Crows are not only skilled foragers, but they also have interesting relationships with other species when it comes to food. As mentioned earlier, they are known to follow larger predators to steal food, but they can also form mutualistic relationships with other animals in certain situations.
a) Feeding Relationships with Other Birds and Animals
Crows have been observed interacting with other species in ways that benefit both parties. For instance, in some environments, crows have a mutually beneficial relationship with vultures. Vultures are excellent at finding and feeding on carrion, and crows will often swoop in after vultures have finished feeding to clean up the leftovers. While vultures will eat the larger portions of meat, crows can feed on smaller scraps that are left behind.
Similarly, crows have been observed in cities stealing food from humans, but they are also known to share information with other animals. For example, a crow may use its sharp eyes to spot a food source, and once the food is identified, it may alert nearby pigeons or other birds, letting them know where to find the bounty.
b) Conflict and Competition for Food
While crows often cooperate with other species in sharing food, they are also quite territorial and competitive, especially when food is scarce. They will defend their food sources aggressively, both from other crows and from other animals. This is especially true when a crow is feeding on a rare or high-value food source, such as a large piece of meat or a fresh carcass. If other birds or animals approach, crows may use loud vocalizations, physical aggression, or chase them away.
One interesting aspect of crow behavior is their ability to remember which animals or individuals are threats to their food sources. Crows can recognize the faces of other birds and animals that have previously stolen from them, and they will take precautions to avoid those animals in the future. This ability to remember and identify potential threats has led to studies showing that crows have both a strong sense of self-preservation and an understanding of social dynamics.
Conclusion
Crows are extraordinary in their ability to adapt to various environments and food sources. Their omnivorous diet, intelligence, and social structures make them highly effective at finding, accessing, and exploiting a wide variety of foods. From scavenging human waste in urban areas to hunting insects and small animals in rural environments, crows are opportunistic feeders that use their problem-solving abilities to survive and thrive.
What makes crows truly remarkable is not just their ability to eat almost anything but also how their intelligence shapes the way they find and consume food. Whether using tools, learning from each other, or navigating complex environments, crows have earned their place as some of the most resourceful and adaptable creatures on Earth. Their varied diet, their ability to form social bonds over food, and their strategic feeding behavior all contribute to their status as one of the most remarkable avian species on the planet.