I have been leaving unsalted peanuts out for the birds in my neighborhood, and the scrub jays and crows LOVE them. You should see what pigs they are! They stuff themselves full then come back and fill up their beaks with as many as they can hold and fly away to stash them for later.
So, besides peanuts, what else do crows go NUTS over?? I want the crows to keep coming back! I love them!
I tried raisins once but they didn’t seem as fond of them.
I was riding to work one day, through the back end of the Uni carpark. This part of the uni is nearly deserted at most times of the day, and on this particular morning someone had dropped a chocolate milk carton and left it there. It had spilt on the asphalt. A crow was dipping its beak in the spilt milk.
As I approached, it looked at me, back at the milk then picked up the carton and flew off over the trees.
Crows are omnivores, so they will feed on practically anything edible (from the link):
I was lucky enough several years ago to live in a place where feeding birds was practical, and I had crows (which I also dig seriously) as regular visitors.
They can (and will) eat just about anything, but meat-oriented stuffs seem to be particular favorites. If I put up a suet feeder, they would practically demolish it, and on the days that I would crockpot a ham/bean soup and chuck the remnants (bones/skin/other inedible stuff) of the smoked hamhocks into the yard, the corvids would soon be seen winging off with chunks of smoked pig scrap that must have doubled their flying weight.
They seem to LOVE dead meat, but they’ll eat practically anything, though. They are also extremely smart. They are also illegal to take out of the wild for pets (although I’m told they make very good ones).
I’ve always wanted a pet crow, so the latter makes me a bit sad. Bosda is partly right: they are partially scavangers, but they aren’t exclusively. Still, put some animal products out there, and you’ll probably get their interest.
Meaty pet food might work, but Og knows what’s in that stuff. Don’t poison them. Good, honest roadkill would be better.
The best bangs for your buck for feeding birds in general are;-black oil sunflower seeds (not the larger striped variety)
-cracked corn
mixed in hanging feeders (smaller birds are messy eaters and will knock seed to the ground for the ground feeders)
-suet (attracts woodpeckers, mockingbirds, orioles, chickadees, nuthatches, wrens and warblers)both in mounted/hangingsuet feeders and on the ground (or even better on a raised, small animal proof, pole mounted platform, straight on the ground and you’ll feed more raccoons and cats than birds!)
Make friends with your local butcher and you might be able to get suet & meat scraps for free/cheap!
Popcorn. In my previous house, I fed popped popcorn to the birds, purely for amusement. The local Boy Scout troop sold popcorn every year, and I had a relative that gave it to me for Christmas. Using a hot air popper, I’d pop a coupla batches and put it out for the birds in the winter. Only two kinds could really handle it. Starlings would stuff themselves, gagging down the big morsels frantically.
When the crows came, though, all other birds would leave. I put out the popcorn in a wire basket to keep it from blowing away. The crows really desired the corn, but they were suspicious of the basket. They would cautiously hop near it, then leap in, grab a kernel, and leap out. I don’t usually think of crows as comedians, but they sure are funny eating popcorn.
I live next to the woods in NC and like to put out food for the animals. Yesterday I put out half a leftover meatloaf and the crows had a field day! Usually I put out a handfull of dried catfood that crows, and of course ferral cats, seem to enjoy.
I really enjoy feeding wild animals.
OH, and I have a feeder hanging on a tree that the cardinals love. I use commercial feed for them and it’s worth the cost to see those bright red birds.