I have recently seen crows, doves, and pigeons eat corn together without interfering with each other. Given that meat from other animals makes part of a crow’s diet. I did some digging into whether they can hunt and eat other birds. Below I share what I found after watching videos on youtube and researching further into the topic.
Do crows eat other birds?
Crows do hunt, kill and eat other birds, especially baby birds, nestlings, eggs, and even some small adult birds. Small birds that fall prey to crows include chicks, pigeons, doves, and sparrows among others. Crows are afraid of owls and hawks since these birds of prey will hunt and eat crows plus their eggs and nestlings.
Crows are opportunistic feeders which means that they will rarely involve themselves in active hunting for other birds if they can get enough food.
However, while they may not hunt other birds they are notorious for hunting in other birds’ nests looking for eggs and nestlings whether for small birds or big birds including their predators.
Do crows attack and eat smaller birds?
When there is a scarcity of food for the crows they will go hunting, attacking, and eating smaller birds that they can hunt easily.
As mentioned earlier small birds such as songbirds, sparrows, chicks, pigeons, and doves are some of the small birds that fall prey to crows.
While it can be rare to see crows chasing these small birds when they are foraging in these birds’ nests and happen to find them protecting their nests.
These birds together with their eggs and nestlings will turn into a crow’s meal.
Birds that are injured or sick are easy prey for the crows, since they may not be able to fly away as fast as healthy birds. Some may not even be able to fly away at all making it easy for crows to catch and eat them.
Crows can devour the nest of small birds within a very short time especially when they are in large numbers. I have seen crows destroy the nests of thousands of quelea birds within a few hours.
Do crows eat other birds’ eggs or babies? Other birds’ eggs and nestlings are an easy meal for crows since they do not face any resistance since most of the time the breeding birds chose to fly away or they are not around when crows are eating their eggs and babies.
However, small birds can deter crows from eating their eggs and nest when they attack the crow in large numbers, these small birds will chase and mob the crow keeping it away from the nesting grounds.
They can even chase the crow away for miles to make sure that their nests are safe.
Are crows aggressive to other birds?
Crows can be very aggressive to other birds especially when these birds are invading a crow’s territory, being a threat to their nests, competing for food, and protecting mates.
Crows leave in large groups made of several crows, this is one of the techniques that they use to remain safe and forage for food easily.
Since in large numbers they can increase the chances of getting food by increasing the area covered.
At night crows will sleep in large numbers forming what we call a roost. They will normally choose a well-lighted area so that they can deter one of their vicious predator the owl.
That is why you will find crows roosting in urban areas, especially where there are large and tall trees.
That said, if another bird tries to attack a crow’s nest, crows will not shy away from attacking these birds to protect their eggs or nestlings.
Apart from protecting their nests and territory crows will also attack other birds when protecting their mates and feeding grounds such as cornfields which they like eating.
Together, crows can mob a predator such as hawks and deter them from devouring their nests.
Crows have even been known to attack and even kill and eat squirrels especially when they are competing for food.
Are crows bad for other birds?
Crows can be good and bad for other birds. In the sense that when they locate other birds’ nesting locations they can really cause damage by eating their eggs and nestlings.
However, research shows that crows alone cannot be in a position to cause a decline in the population of other birds as most people would fear.
The research involved removing crows from the ecosystem to see whether the population of the prey birds would reduce.
Results of the research showed that while crows have a negative effect on the population of the birds they prey on, it is not significant enough to warrant the removal of crows from the ecosystem.
Do crows eat chickens?
Crows can kill and eat chickens especially when they are in large numbers. In large numbers crows can be very dangerous to chickens since they will eat chickens’ eggs and chicks which can cause heavy losses to the owner.
To keep crows away from a chicken’s coop, use a crow deterrent such as a hawk or owl decor.
Do crows eat ducks and goslings?
Crows will hunt, kill and eat ducks, ducklings, and goslings. Crows will also eat duck eggs and even kill adult ducks leaving them and coming to eat the dead duck later.
For ducklings, a crow will fly with their corpse and eat it elsewhere.
Do crows eat pigeons?
Absolutely, crows will hunt, chase, kill and eat pigeons, their eggs and nestlings. However, when pigeons gang up against a crow they can protect themselves and their eggs and nestlings.
How do you protect a bird’s nest from crows?
Use a mesh
If it is a birdhouse that you want to protect from crows you can build a small mesh box around the bird’s house using mesh wire with holes big enough to allow the bird to access its nest and small enough to keep crows away.
Get rid of anything that attracts crows to the nest
If you happen to notice that there is a nest where you have placed a bird feeder. You should move the bird feeder immediately to avoid crows from noticing the nest.
Scare them away
Alternatively, you can scare crows away from the nest. This method can be tiring and time-consuming. Which makes the mesh technique better and time-saving.
What birds prey on crows?
While crows will chase, hunt, kill and eat small birds. There are also some birds that actually prey on crows.
Hawks, eagles, and owls are some of the birds that prey on crows. These crow predators will chase, hunt, kill and eat crows. Owls are notorious for hunting crows at night when crows are roosting.
However, crows have learned that there is strength in numbers and can chase away a hawk that is attempting to eat their eggs and nestlings.
Crows will attack the hawk in large numbers mobbing it from all directions, consequently chasing it away.
Summary
While crows will eat other birds, their eggs, and nestlings they are not serious enough to cause a decline in the prey birds population as research has already established. In large numbers, small birds can deter crows from eating their nestlings and eggs. Surprisingly enough, while crows will eat small birds, crows themselves have their own predators such as owls and hawks among others.
94% of pet owners say their animal pal makes them smile more than once a day. In 2007, I realized that I was made for saving Animals. My father is a Vet, and I think every pet deserves one. I started this blog, “InPetCare”, in 2019 with my father to enlighten a wider audience.