There might be no specific reason to attract crows to your yard, except for the love you have for these birds. As a bird lover, you may not want to discriminate the birds based on their color and size. While many birders consider crows a nuisance, you may regard them as benefits.
So, what are the benefits? Crows are basically omnivorous scavengers. They can keep your surroundings clean by consuming all the food waste you discard. If you really want the presence of these birds in your yard, you’ll need to know how to attract crows.
Here are some easy techniques you can follow:
- Tempt with the right treats.
- Create a regular feeding schedule.
- Feed in the right spot.
- Install a birdbath.
- Provide plenty of places to roost.
- Place some decoy crows.
- Lure them with crow calls.
- Eliminate all noise.
- Make a compost bin.
- Keep predators away…….And more.
Apart from that, we have gathered a few frequently asked questions for you later in the article. Hopefully, this BirdsAdvice article will let you know all about the best but cost-effective ways to attract crows to your yard.
So, without further ado, let’s get started!
To Read More About Birds:
How to Attract Blue Jays? [Read here]
What Do Cardinals Eat? [Read here]
How To Attract Cardinals? [Read here]
What Do Woodpeckers Eat? [Read here]
How to Make Friends with a Crow: Step-by-Step
If you want to build a good friendship with crows, you’ll need to follow some easy but effective techniques. The best way to attract them is by providing a variety of foods, water, shelter, nesting materials, and safety from predators.
#1. Tempt with the Right Treats
Although crows are known to eat roadkills, they eat almost anything, including carrion, garbage, and even last night’s leftovers. To attract crows to your yard, you need to tempt them with the right treats, like seeds, nuts, fruits, berries, and more.
At first, provide them some noticeable foods, like shelled peanuts to pick their interest. Once they have found your yard comfortable to eat and regularly come to your yard, introduce other foods, including meat scraps and cat/dog kibble.
The foods crows are attracted to include:
- Seeds, like black oil sunflower seeds, pumpkin, hemp, flax, and chia
- Nuts, like unsalted peanuts, walnuts, and pecans
- Fruits, such as apples, oranges, grapes, cherries, and bananas
- Any kind of tree or bush berries
- Vegetables, like peppers, beans, peas
- Grains, such as rice, wheat, oats, barley, millet, corn
- Insects, like beetles, grubs, and worms
- Eggs, like boiled chicken and duck eggs
- Junk foods, including popcorn, crackers, chips, and pasta
- Kibbled dog/cat food, and water-soaked bread
- Meat and fat (chicken meat, fat, and meat scraps)
When you’re going to offer these foods, make sure to place them in a simple feeder like this one from Amazon. However, you don’t need to place a feeder for crows. They are accustomed to eating on the ground. If needed, simply use an old pet bowl.
Related blog: You can read about “how to get rid of crows?” [Full blog here], “How To Attract Finches?” [Full blog here] and “What Do Crows Eat?” [Full blog here]
#2. Create a Regular Feeding Schedule
If you want crows to come to your yard regularly, you will need to create a feeding schedule by putting food out at the same time each day. Crows are quite intelligent to memorize the feeding schedule after they have taken food from your yard once or twice.
Consequently, crows won’t need to work hard to fulfill their voracious appetite. And you can create a rhythm to build a connection with the crows. In other words, these blackbirds should know when they are going to get food from you.
#3. Feed in the Right Spot
Even though crows usually feed on the ground, they eat food from bird feeders. Whether you offer crows their right treats in a feeder or on the ground, make sure to feed them in the right spot so that they can find your food source easily.
Select a place in your yard, which crows can easily see from the sky. Besides, put food out on a tray or bench. An empty concrete birdbath could be the best crow feeder due to its structure. Once they found your yard suitable for eating food, they will call their friends over.
Related blog: Crows Vs Ravens: What’s The Difference? [Read more]
#4. Install a Birdbath
Water is absolutely essential for crows to drink, bathe, and maintain their feathers. Crows also use water to moisten hard bread. If you install a birdbath in your yard, they will descent to make their body cool during the warm summer months.
Thanks to their large size, crows prefer larger, darker, longer, and slightly deeper birdbaths. Considering these features, the Vivohome Bird Bath and Solar Powered Fountain Combo Set (on Amazon) could be what you’re looking for. Don’t use traditional concrete birdbaths.
If you’re not willing to place a birdbath for crows, ensure water at least in small, shallow containers to drink. Always try to keep the water liquid during the winter by using any of these heaters (the link takes you to Amazon). Change the water every day if possible.
#5. Provide Plenty of Places to Roost
Crows are social birds. They prefer plenty of places to roost and observe their surroundings. If you want to attract crows to your backyard, you need to provide them with a suitable roosting ground, such as tree branches and fences.
If there are no trees in your yard, set a few high wooden shelves against the wall. Experts recommend building an artificial nesting place as crows prefer horizontal roosting poles with crossbars. You can set this one in your yard (the link takes you to Amazon).
Not only will this roosting pole give the crows a nice place to sit, roost, and commune with mates, but it will also enable you to watch them better from your house. Since crows are large birds, make sure to set a sturdy roosting pole.
#6. Place Some Decoy Crows
As you know, crows are social birds. They investigate and follow other crows when roosting and feeding on the ground. If you place a decoy or a couple of decoy crows in your yard, they will consider the decoys real crows and be attracted to your yard.
To get the best results, set 3 to 4 stationary decoys with a movable one. Looking for high-quality decoy crows? The freneci Realistic Flying Crow Decoy from Amazon is recommended. You can also check This Realistic Decoy from Amazon if you want to buy a 3pcs set.
If you place all the stationary decoys, incredibly intelligent crows will get it. Consequently, they won’t come to your yard. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t buy a fake crow toy that looks like a Raven. Crows are smart, and you cannot make them fool.
#7. Lure Them with Crow Calls
Typically, crows call to summon other family members or alert them about predators. They have various calls, including attention calls, distress calls, and rally calls. If you want to grab their attention, you have to mimic their calls.
Now, the question is how to mimic crow calls. You have to buy devices that can emit various crow calls, such as an electronic caller or a traditional reed caller that’s like a duck whistle. The Woodhaven Custom Calls from Amazon are recommended.
If you’re willing to invest a little more money in an electric caller, we recommend you buy the Icotec Electronic Predator Call from Amazon. Regardless of calling crows, you can attract a wide variety of birds and animals to your yard.
There is a way you don’t have to spend any money: attempting to use a hand caller by yourself. This is really difficult, but regular practice can help you do that. On the website of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, you’ll find several crow calls that help you call like real crows.
#8. Eliminate All Noise
Although crows always keep calling loudly, random noises can easily spook them. So, if you want to attract crows to your yard, make sure that no noise disturbs them. The best idea is that you stand in your yard and examine what may spook crows.
If you have a loose gate, shepherd’s hooks, wind chimes, squeaky fences, or big clattering old windmills, swinging in the breeze, you should remove them as soon as possible. Don’t make a loud noise to scare them away.
#9. Make a Compost Bin
Crows are omnivorous scavengers, foraging compost bins for kitchen leftovers and other food wastes. As they eat anything from fruit and vegetable scraps to eggshells, if you make a compost bin in the corner of your yard, you can easily attract them.
Once you have made one, crows will visit it to search for their treats. By using their strong bills, they will pick kitchen scraps, fruits, and vegetable leftovers, or anything else they find in your compost bin. This way, the crows help to keep your surroundings clean.
#10. Keep Predators Away
Do you want to attract crows to your yard? Then, keep their predators, like dogs and cats away or inside your house, particularly in their feeding time. However, smaller pets, like rabbits and hamsters are safe for crows.
If your cats and dogs are roaming your yard, crows will find your yard risky to descent. Not only will these animals scare the crows away, but they can also contaminate the food source of the crows. Keep in mind that crows prefer relatively large places.
#11. Remove Scary Objects
If your yard has reflective surfaces moving in the breeze and creating random flashes, they can easily frighten crows. As a result, crows might not be willing to come to your yard, although you provide them plenty of food and kitchen scraps.
Not only reflective surfaces, but figures like owl decoys and scarecrows can easily frighten crows. If you want to ensure that crows are coming and coming to your yard, remove these scary figures as soon as possible.
#12. Provide Nesting Materials to Create a Habitat
Crows prefer creating their nests in trees. They use pine needles, twigs, soft bark, animal hair, and many other things to make their habitat. If you want to attract crows to your yard, provide these nesting materials to them so that they can make a nest in your yard.
Regardless of providing nesting materials, you can plant trees and small shrubs to allow crows to make their nests. If the crows find the plants comfortable to build their house, they will make one and come again and again to your yard.
Related blog: What Do Crows Eat? [Details here]
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
01. Will the presence of crows be a deterrent to other smaller birds?
As crows are omnivorous scavengers, if crows are present in your yard, they might be deterrents to other smaller birds, particularly songbirds. These blackbirds can attack other smaller birds.
02. What is the best time of day to feed crows?
Any time of day is good to feed crows. However, we suggest you feed them in the early morning (between 7 to 9 am). Make sure to feed them dry cat kibble, whole peanuts, and cashews. Rats may eat the foods for crows if you provide them at night.
03. What Are the Benefits of Having Crows in Your Yard?
Although crows are noisy and annoying, they can do some good for us. First of all, crows are natural pest controllers, consuming thousands of annoying insects and bugs. They help to keep our environment clean by feeding on roadkills, kitchen scraps, and fruit and veggie leftovers.
04. Do Crows Attack Humans?
Crows are territorial birds but don’t usually attack humans unless you attempt to mess with their nests. If you do that, they will fly at you to beat with their wings. When they’re coming to you, move far away. They will invite their other friends to attack you.
05. Will a crow be a good substitute for a friend?
This entirely depends on what people you have accepted as friends. We can only say that a crow might be much friendlier than an awful friend.
Final Verdict
Now that you know how to attract crows, you will be able to see crows in your yard every day. Not only will they be your good friends, but they will also keep your surroundings neat and clean. We suggest you follow the best ways to attract them.
However, we hope you’ve already learned about attracting crows. If you have any other query regarding today’s topic or any experience to share, we encourage you to write down below in the comment section. We’ll be very happy to talk to you!
