Do Crows Eat Other Birds?

Do Crows Eat Other Birds? Does Anyone Eat Them?

Crows can eat just about anything, but what about other birds? Do crows eat other birds too? Do they eat ravens? Let’s find out.

To put it simply, the answer is yes; crows might eat other birds.

Crows are naturally aggressive birds. They tend to pick up fights even with ravens from the same Corvid family as crows and are considerably larger.

Crows can attack and eat nestlings, eggs, and even adult birds (if they can subdue adult ones). That said, crows killing and devouring other birds are not very common.

What Kind Of Birds Do Crows Eat?

There are no specific kinds of bird species that crows like to eat. They kill if they see an easy opportunity for a feast.

That’s why crows are predators of baby birds and nestlings when their parents are not around. They become an easy lunch for crows. 

Crows can occasionally prey on smaller birds like songbirds, pigeons, doves, sparrows, canaries, and finches. Once in a while, they can kill and eat larger birds such as chickens as well. 

Do Crows Eat Dead Birds?

Yes, they can eat dead birds. Crows are famous for being scavengers. They can detect carrion and carcasses through sight and smell. 

Do Crows Kill Ravens?

Crows are more aggressive than ravens. Even though crows are smaller, they are almost always the aggressors in a raven vs. crow fight. 

This is surprising since ravens are bigger than crows, and in a raven-crow fight, the odds are against the crow.

A raven can fight a single crow and even two crows at a time. However, the competition can intensify if many crows join to mob a raven.

According to a study, most American crow attacks on common ravens happened when they were in their breeding season (March-May). However, crows can attack ravens at any time.

Do Crows Kill Other Crows?

Yes, crows do kill each other sometimes. Crows fight with each other a lot. There are two main reasons why crows would attack each other. 

The first one is when one crow invades a boundary that they shouldn’t have and gets attacked by that territory’s owners. 

If a male tries to enter a territory to mate with a female living there, it can lead to a nasty brawl between the male crows of that area. If two crows fight, one can get killed since they are evenly matched.

The second, and there is not a lot of clarity behind this, is that a murder of crows would go after and kill already injured crows. Possibly it is just an easy lunch for them.

It sounds grisly and hard to stomach, but they do this irrespective of whether the injured crow is an adult or a baby crow. 

What Else Do Crows Eat?

Crows are omnivores and eat almost anything they can get their hands (or claws) on. 

In fact, a study conducted in rural, urban, and suburban areas of Davis, California, proved that American crows would even eat cheeseburgers (and increase their cholesterol levels!) if you give them to them.

Northwestern crows have a preference for Japanese littleneck clams. These clams are edible species of saltwater clams. They require enormous energy to dig them up and open them to extract the edible portion. 

Crows have a varied appetite for seeds, nuts, amphibians, snails, fruits and berries, frogs, lizards, salamanders, and dead animals and birds.

How To Keep Crows Away From Bird Nests?

As this article discussed, crows like to raid other birds’ nests to feed on bird eggs, nestlings, fledglings, and baby birds.

However, there are a few ways by which you can prevent crows from raiding the nests in your garden.

Dead Crow Decoys

Crows do not like to interact with dead crows. They do it because approaching the dead body has a risk of infections or attacks by ants or other creatures already eating it.

One way to prevent crows from attacking nests is to install such dead crow decoys.

Place these decoys upside down, giving the impression of dead crows. This should prevent a majority of the crows from entering the area.

Nest Boxes with a Small Opening

You can also build crow-proof nest boxes for baby birds. Baby birds are small, so a six-inch deep nest box will be safe enough for a baby bird.

Crows can’t squeeze into a space this small. 

Meshed Bird Feeders

If your garden is a good food source, it will attract crows. You can exclude them by placing food in bird feeders with wire mesh installed to prevent large birds from entering.

Crows can’t get inside, but smaller birds will be able to feed through the mesh. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Wrap Up

Crows are fascinating and complex creatures. Seeing them engage with other birds in their environment is quite interesting. 

They use their cunning and instinct for opportunism in many imaginative ways to survive and thrive.