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Crows are birds that belong to the Corvidae family and Corvus genus. They are the most intelligent birds in the world. Crows use their intelligence to find food.
The fascinating thing about these birds is that they can craft their tools, remember human’s faces, and hold grudges. All these things are rare to find in other birds.
Here you will learn what do crows eat? And how to get rid of crows.
Crows Diet
Crows are omnivores, meaning they can eat meat and plants just like humans. Crows can consume a wide variety of food.
Occasionally, these birds scavenge, and this time they mainly feed on decayed carcasses.
What Do Crows Eat?
The following are some crows’ favorite foods:
- Vegetables
Crows eat different vegetable types such as pumpkin, peppers, beans, potatoes, peas, potatoes, cucumbers, and other leafy greens. Therefore, other than feeding crows with only meat, you can substitute their diet with vegetables.
- Seeds
If you are keen enough, I am sure you have spotted crows eating various seeds. Some of the seeds that crows eat include pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
However, it is good to note that crows are only willing to eat the seeds when there are no kitchen leftovers or meat scraps. To ensure they eat these seeds, spread them all over your yard.
- Fruits
Most crow species eat different fruit types. Some of these include oranges, bananas, apples, grapes, raisins, among other fruits.
Crows also consume various wild fruits such as figs, wild cherries, dogwoods, poison-oaks, and wild grapes. But crows don’t like fruits more than other food types.
- Nuts
Just like any other bird, crows love to eat nuts such as walnuts, peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans. They also feed on both shelled and unshelled peanuts. However, do not add sugar or salt to these peanuts.
- Berries
Berries are among the favorite treats that can give crows. They like eating varieties of wild berries such as cranberries, juniper berries, bayberries, blueberries, and pokeberries. Crows eat berries when other food types are not plentiful.
- Grains
Many people ask, what do crows eat? Craws mainly depend on grains when they can’t get carcasses. They consume various grains like wheat, rice, corn, oats, millet, barley, sorghum, and buckwheat.
- Insects
Crows eat various insects, helping to stabilize the ecosystem. Some insects that crows consume include locusts, spiders, beetles, mealworms, grasshoppers, grubs, caterpillars, and earthworms.
- Eggs
Contrary to other birds, crows enjoy consuming duck and chicken eggs. They usually steal ducks and chicken eggs when they are not in their nests. Therefore, if you see crows eating eggs, don’t be surprised.
If you want to give your crows some eggs, provide them with hard-boiled eggs instead of raw eggs. You can then peel the eggs and cut them into small pieces for easy consumption by your crows.
- Meat & Fat
Since crows are omnivorous scavengers, they usually eat discarded meat and fat, more so from ducks and chickens. In addition, you can also feed crows with raw suet right from your local butcher.
- Junk Food
If there are some junk food leftovers, you can observe crows eating them. Some of the junk food that crows feed on includes crackers, chips, popcorns, pasta, and scallops.
You can also provide crows with some cookies. However, ensure all these junk foods are not salted since crows don’t like salted food.
How to Get Rid of Crows
Sometimes, crows can be a nuisance, especially when they are in flocks. They make a lot of noise, which is extremely irritating. These birds can also damage your structures by dropping their feces excessively.
Besides, their feces have bacteria, which can spread parasites. But you don’t have to worry. Here are some tips you can use to get rid of crows.
- Make Your Yard Less Attractive to Crows
Crows will always come to your yard if there are some food bits off the garbage they can eat. Ensure you clean your compound properly. If crows don’t get something to eat, they won’t invade your home.
- Scare the Crows Away
This is the most common method people use to chase away the crows. You will have to make a scarecrow using old clothes and a pole that will flip in the wind and scare off the crows.
- Hang Up Anything Shining in Your Yard
Crows don’t like shiny things. If you hang shining things such as CDs, crows will not come into your home.
- Play CDs’ of Predators’ Sounds
You can scare the crows by playing CDs of their predators’ sounds. This will frighten them and escape from your yard.
Conclusion
So, what do crows eat? You can see that crows can eat almost everything, ranging from meat, vegetables, grains, seeds, nuts, fruits, insects, eggs, berries to junk food.
After crows eat these foods, ensure you provide them with clean water, especially on hot days. Besides, you now know some effective ways to get rid of crows if they become a nuisance or disturbing.
