Serious Question! I live about 10 minutes outside of town, and I want to befriend my local crows. However, I’m not sure how to go about it because any attempt to feed them would just open the buffet to our a*hole blue jay cousins and bully squirrels. So how do I feed my future friends but not the neighborhood riffraff?
Pic of our local flock of turkeys for visibility!
Since crows are pretty smart maybe you could try placing treats in one of those puzzle pet toys (or make your own)? They’d probably enjoy the challenge and it might deter invaders, although the Jays (being corvids themselves) might figure it out, too.
Otherwise, you’re limited to putting out treats to when they’re nearby and can see you doing so. They’re quite skittish though, so avoid looking at or towards them while doing so. Eventually they should acclimate to your putting food out and get more comfortable with you.
Ideally you should find a resident couple. That way you know you’re always interacting with the same birds. Then you just wait and offer them food and let them come get it instead of taking it to them. They observe you closely and they will remember and recognize you. The intention is to teach to them that you’re not a threat and that you reliably produce food.
Yeah, that’s a tricky one! My local murder has to contend with seagulls that have wised up to the sounds they make when I drop by to feed them. I try to scare off the seagulls but then I scare off the crows too of course; only the crows that have a bit more trust with me come back.
I was thinking of feeding them smaller amounts, like about three peanuts here and there so the amount doesn’t attract the attention of the ash’ole birds. Have yet to try it out tho.