Crows often fail to get the love and admiration that most other creatures in the bird category receive. One of the main reasons behind this negligence is the dietary habit. The dietary habits of crows are considered to be very dirty, and so, most people try to keep these birds away from their home. Here, we will learn correctly what do crows eat in the wild & in cities.
Though they are known to have a very bad diet, we must not ignore the other impressive features showcased by these birds. For example, they are considered as extremely intelligent when compared to the other birds. They have the inherent ability to make hard choices and decisions. Sometimes, they also reveal the ability to use different kinds of tools.
Thus, these birds have excellent brain power, and it definitely has given them the capacity to bring forth a lot of variations in their diet. Along with that, they also possess the intelligence to recognize a food package from the other discarded litter quite easily. So, without wasting further time, let us learn more about the foods consumed by crows in the wild & in cities.
See What do Crows Eat in the Wild
As we have discussed, these birds have the capacity to modify their diet as per the particular situation and ambience in which they are living. For instance, crows have a specific kind of diet when they are in the wild. On the other hand, when these birds are residing in the cities, they will have a different kind of food habit. Here, we will look at the foods taken by the crows when they are out in the wild.
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Eggs
Crows are known to consume a lot of unhatched eggs when they are in the wild. Sometimes, they are also known to eat the young hatchlings from the nest. They are known to raid the nests of different birds, like pigeons, songbirds, grouse, ducks, gulls, etc. Eating eggs can be considered as extremely beneficial for these crows. It gives them a lot of protein to satiate their hunger.
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Insects & Small Animals
Crows like eating insects and other small animals, both in the wild, as well as the cities. These include snails, earthworms, beetles, larvae, caterpillars, small rodents, lizards, toads, frogs, etc. Sometimes, they can be seen eating baby birds too. During certain instances, the crows might also feed on the larger birds.
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Carrion
Crows can be seen eating from the carcasses of other birds, foxes, rabbits, etc. It is correct to say that they love eating from the dead body of any kinds of birds or animals that they come across. These include dead livestock and dead bodies of small mammals, birds, etc.
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Fruits & Vegetables
Sometimes, crows also eat grains, seeds, wild fruit, bulbs, vegetables, flowers, etc. However, these substances form a very small percentage of the total diet of these birds. Some of the favorite fruits and veggies of the crows include apples, berries, grapes, corn, and peas.
Find Out What Do Crows Eat in the Cities
We all know that there exists a great amount of variation between the lifestyle and choices of people living in the villages and the cities. In the same manner, the crows of the wild are quite different from the ones that are seen in the cities. So, let's gather a proper knowledge about the foods taken by the crows living in the cities.
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Pet Food
The Pet food items that are normally discarded in the back garden often attracts the focus of the urban crows. Other than crows, jackdaws and magpies also come to eat these pet food items. When speaking of pet foods, we are indicating the meaty food stuffs of cats and dogs. Dried biscuits of pets are also a favorite of the crows. These highly nutritious snacks are easy to spot, and convenient to carry to the desired location. Some people even moisten the pet food, so that birds like crows are able to swallow it easily.
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Garbage & Human Food
Crows can often be seen flying around and landing on Garbage bins in the search of food items. Over time, they have gained the ability to understand that waste bins kept in parks and picnic spots are a great source of food for them. Hence, they take out different food packages and look for any leftover food items inside them by flicking them onto the ground. This activity of the crows actually makes the area around the waste bins extremely dirty. Sometimes, we blame the humans for this mess, but it is actually the work of the crows.
Some Important Points
Now that we saw, what do crows eat in the wild & in cities, let us go through some important points regarding the feeding habits of the crows.
- An interesting and important behavior of crows is that they have the capacity to take food from a place and then bury it in secret areas. They show this behavior in order to hide their food from other birds.
- However, in most cases, when a crow spots some kind of food source, they will try to give out three loud caws. They do this to alert a mate that they have found food and there is plenty to share with other birds.
- If they are not able to break through a food item, they will try to drop it from a height. Thereby, they get the capacity to break through the tough outer shells of the food.
Conclusion
We have understood correctly what do crows eat in the wild & in cities. As we can see, the crows have the inherent capacity to adjust to the specific surroundings in which they are present. So, no matter where they are, they will always be able to find some kind of food source for themselves. The diet that the crows follow in the wild can be regarded as their natural diet. The urban crows are forced to change their normal food habits because of the food scarcity that they experience in the cities. In the cities, the crows are exposed to a wide variety of junk foods that can cause different kinds of illnesses in these birds.
