# What else to crows love to eat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197 "2006-05-18T00:10:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/1 "2006-05-18T00:10:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/2 "2006-05-18T00:17:46Z")
Would dry dog or cat food be good? What about cereal, like plain Cheerios or something? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/3 "2006-05-18T00:34:40Z")
**Carrion.** Crows, like Ravens, are **scavengers** , & strip carcasses. If there is a corpse in your neighborhood, the cute little crows will rip the eyeballs out of it, & eat them. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/4 "2006-05-18T00:46:52Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > ``` > Carrion. > > ``` > > Crows, like Ravens, are scavengers, & strip carcasses. > > If there is a corpse in your neighborhood, the cute little crows will rip the eyeballs out of it, & eat them. So, what would be a good choice to fulfill their cravings for carrion? Something that won’t be too messy or stink too quickly in the hot sun? What about moist cat or dog food? A lot of that smells and looks like death 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/5 "2006-05-18T00:50:21Z")
Crows like chocolate milk. I’m serious. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/6 "2006-05-18T00:53:35Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > So, what would be a good choice to fulfill their cravings for carrion? Something that won’t be too messy or stink too quickly in the hot sun? > > What about moist cat or dog food? A lot of that smells and looks like death 😃 I dunno. Do the Girl Scouts go door-to-door selling cookies in your area? How about missionaries? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/7 "2006-05-18T01:16:15Z")
Crows are [omnivores](http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Corvus_brachyrhynchos.html), so they will feed on practically anything edible (from the link): > [@](#): > > Food Habits > > American crows are omnivores and will eat almost anything. During the breeding season, American crows consume insects and their larvae, worms, fruits, grains, and nuts. They actively hunt and prey on small animals such as frogs, mice, and young rabbits, though they more likely to scavenge carrion such as roadkill. They also are significant nest predators, preying on the eggs and nestlings of smaller songbirds. In the fall and winter they eat more nuts, such as walnuts and acorns. On rare occasions, American crows will eat from bird feeders put out by humans. Crows often take advantage of human garbage. > > American crows store food items such as meat and nuts in short-term caches. Caches are hiding places that are scattered around, rather than in one place. They may be in tree crevices or on the ground, where they are often covered with leaves or other material. > > Crows forage primarily by walking on the ground and picking up the item, or by walking along tree branches. Foraging is usually done by a few individuals in a small area, but can also occur in groups over a larger area. > > Crows will hold a nut under one foot and strike it with the bill to open it. To open a particularly heavy-shelled food item such as a walnut or clam, a crow will fly high with it and drop it on a hard surface. 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. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/8 "2006-05-18T01:36:49Z")
Feed corn. If you can buy it in small enough quantities for your purposes. A fifty pound bag of the stuff may be a bit more than you want. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/9 "2006-05-18T02:52:26Z")
I might try some cheap chicken or pig parts that I’ve seen in the grocery store. I am assuming they would prefer them raw, is this correct? I am also going to give the cat food a try. I will m ake sure to get a good-quality one because I wouldn’t want to make my friends sick! ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/10 "2006-05-18T03:14:18Z")
On our farm crows eat the eyes and arseholes out of little lambs. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/11 "2006-05-18T07:28:00Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > On our farm crows eat the eyes and arseholes out of little lambs. Out of LIVE lambs? Or out of lamb carcasses? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/12 "2006-05-18T09:16:00Z")
The best bangs for your buck for feeding birds in general are;-[black oil sunflower seeds](http://www.duncraft.com/birdseed.ihtml#pureseed) (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](http://www.duncraft.com/merchant.ihtml?id=6&step=2) (attracts woodpeckers, mockingbirds, orioles, chickadees, nuthatches, wrens and warblers)both in [mounted/hanging](http://www.duncraft.com/merchant.ihtml?id=18&step=2) [suet feeders](http://www.birdsforever.com/suetfeed.html) and on the ground (or even better on a raised, small animal proof, [pole mounted platform](http://www.backyardnatureproducts.com/platforms/platforms1.html), 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! You could try [mealworms](http://www.duncraft.com/birdseed.ihtml#worms) :eek: . CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/13 "2006-05-18T16:46:35Z")
They will also eat cat kibble very readily, and will wait around for you to put it out if you do this in a regular pattern. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/14 "2006-05-18T17:00:54Z")
**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. ---
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/15 "2006-05-18T18:20:37Z")
As an aside, I once witnessed a crow fly under the eave of a building to grab a bat. It seems they are more than just scavengers. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-else-to-crows-love-to-eat/357197/16 "2006-05-18T18:40:14Z")
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.