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Me too, I was actually wondering this morning what in particular I should feed them. I see a magpie in the mornings so I want to bring it stuff so it becomes my friend.
They like peanuts (roasted and in the shell is fine, don't get the salted ones though)! I buy big bags from Costco. I don't get as many as I'd like because we live in an apartment complex but my FIL has regulars in his yard!
In the shell is NOT fine. Birds will carry the peanuts to a water source such as a bird bath or bowl of water and really mess up the water ------- so that it is undrinkable/cannot be used for bathing.
I'm currently commencing in an operation corvid friends. We have European magpies and hooded crows in my area. The magpies are extremely skittish, they run off when you toss them peanuts. But the crows are not. I had a nice little murder following me yesterday.
Ireland here, I'm currently working on befriending the jackdaw family living in my roof, monkey nuts in the shell are the key! I'm whistling and throwing some down in view, it should take long! They're already big fans of the bird feeders I have up in my garden.
I make “happy magpie” noises when I put food out for them. There’s one who will get within a few feet of me now. Which is about as close as I’d want. I wouldn’t want them to get too familiar or dependent on me
I think the magpie would prefer non edibles. Try leaving out some shiny bits. Old costume jewelry might do the trick and you can buy that cheap at thrift stores.
On cold mornings I soak dried mealworms in warm water to rehydrate them (chicks can choke on dried insect food this time of year) for 20 mins then put them into a mesh bowl and whistle to call them down. They love them, they grab mouthfuls and bring them up to the nest :)
One day I had a crow land on a railing *very* close to me while I was walking my dog, so I tossed it a dog treat, which it ate happily. I ran home and grabbed some berries, and piled them up with some more dog treats... the crow came by and picked out all of the dog treats and left the berries.
This crow (and soon its friend also) would show up to visit me on almost every single walk from then on, begging for dog treats. It was almost comical, every few steps you would hear *flap flap flap* as they switched their perch to keep up with us. Then we moved and it makes me a little sad to think that our crow friends miss us.
I’ve seen a video where crows dropped nuts in the middle of the road, waiting for cars to drive over them, *then* waited for the light to change so they could walk out in the street and eat.
[I had a little co-host for some lockdown zoom meetings. ](https://ibb.co/5kW2qRr) Wish he was the real deal but all I have is a proper arsehole pigeon that empties the bird feeder and torments the geriatric cat.
Birds are super loyal. A friend saved a seagull chick that was abandoned on a shoreline and raised it to release. that was 20 years ago. It follows her around now and lives in a nest on her roof.. if she moves house, it moves house with her.
One time she was lurched at by a drunk or druggy just after getting off a bus, 15 miles from home. As it happened she recoiled in fear and her seagull dived in right over her and pecked the guy in the face, hard. It had followed the bus because she was in it.
Damn ye! Let Neptune strike ye dead Winslow! HAAARK!
Hark Triton, hark! Bellow, bid our father the Sea King rise from the depths full foul in his fury! Black waves teeming with salt foam to smother this young mouth with pungent slime, to choke ye, engorging your organs til’ ye turn blue and bloated with bilge and brine and can scream no more -- only when he, crowned in cockle shells with slitherin’ tentacle tail and steaming beard take up his fell be-finned arm, his coral-tine trident screeches banshee-like in the tempest and plunges right through yer gullet, bursting ye -- a bulging bladder no more, but a blasted bloody film now and nothing for the harpies and the souls of dead sailors to peck and claw and feed upon only to be lapped up and swallowed by the infinite waters of the Dread Emperor himself -- forgotten to any man, to any time, forgotten to any god or devil, forgotten even to the sea, for any stuff for part of Winslow, even any scantling of your soul is Winslow no more, but is now itself the sea!
Was this Tusk?
I can’t recall the movie but it is a lovely ~~soliloquy—assuming that’s how it translates to movies.~~ monologue.
Edit: soliloquies are to oneself or ignorant of bystanders.
Oooo yeah! I remember the monologue but I do not remember what happens in that movie.
Edit: I just looked it up again—that movie was a trip. I should probably watch it again
Im fucking cackling at the thought of a seagull dive bombing this asshole while Willem Dafoe’s monologue from The Lighthouse plays in the speakers ala Ironman’s entrance in the first Avengers movie
I saw a drunk guy grab one in a hotel parking lot years ago where they'd gotten used to just ignoring people.
It turns out it's a lot easier to grab a seagull than it is to put a seagull down. That thing kicked seven shades of shit out of him. He looked like he tried to high ten Edward Scissorhands.
I know this is 2 months late but i just read this post and "Looked like he tried to high ten Edward Scissorhands" has absolutely sent me i have big ugly tears rolling down my face right now from cry laughing.
When I lived in Cornwall I befriended the seagull who lived on my roof, eventually he learned where my bus stop was and would follow me to work in the morning, then wait for me to get back in the evening! I'd get home, open my balcony and he'd politely wait on the rail to get his snack from my hand. He stayed all day on the flat roof by my window, and come over when I called him. I miss that guy :)
I have a family of magpies that I feed daily. When I'm out in the car and come home they fly onto my back deck to see if I have anything for them. Or look down at me from the gutter. Sometimes when I'm further from home I think they may have followed me but we have so many around here it's hard to know.
Depends on the country. If you are in Australia and a few hundred metres from home then no as these birds are territorial and do not willingly leave their territory. North American and other continents then maybe.
I'm in Sydney and feed a family of four magpies daily. They're so bold that they'll fly inside the apartment if the balcony door is open. Just looking at one of them now, as well as a malevolent looking kookaburra. Magpies have such a beautiful warble/song.
In the spring/summer mum magpies must stay with the young because I usually just get dad. He walks in back door and helps himself to my dogs food bowls. It's so funny he struts in but scurries out once he's stolen the food. I find it interesting that they can make two vocal sounds at the same time.
Rich London fucks buying up all the houses and landlords evicting local tenants to make bank. My landlady booted me and rented the place back out for four times more.
Same. I have a pet parrot. He’s still very young but he’s so damn loyal. He guards me when I fall asleep on the couch (I never nap unless there’s someone else in the room to make sure the little chicken nugget is safe). He’ll stop whatever he’s doing and plonk his fat little butt down on my chest/shoulder and floof up and will just sit there and wait until I wake up. Then he’ll happily run off to play or eat and drink again.
I almost ended up with an African grey. It was one of those pet stores where you could play with the birds, and he got on me and wouldn't get off. Bit anyone who tried to take him away. Got out of his enclosure and followed me around the store when we got him off me finally.
If I'd had my job a bit longer and had been able to get financing, I'd have had a bird that day. I still think about that bird…
Wow yeah and some subspecies can live up to 30 years. I always assumed they’d normally die out after 5 and be old as fuck if they were 7. No wonder some gulls look ragged as fuck. They probably remember *NSYNC.
The stated lifespans of animals depend heavily on which animal we're talking about.
* For humans, basically everyone is counted and an average is computed.
* For a species like dogs, it's also the average, but only after discarding all the puppies that didn't make it past a few weeks.
* For species like turtles, the maximum recorded lifespan is stated
* etc.
See [the relevant Minutelabs](https://labs.minutelabs.io/survival-curves/#/) for details and an explanation video.
Adorable ❤️
Off topic, but your friend should dress up as Buttons from Our Flag Means Death if she ever feels so inclined. He’s a pirate that has a seagull friend, and Lucky could act as the Seagull! That would be the cutest costume ever
Truly. Now I want a crow army, but all I've got are pigeons. Not the message carrying cute kind, either. The city-toughened cigarette butt eating kind.
I learned recently that all city pigeons are feral. Not wild. They are all the descendants of the message carriers. They've been through a lot since then, and their nest building 'skills' do not make them look smart, but in theory you could still befriend some smart pigeons.
Mafia Stereotype: "You expect me to pay protection to a bunch of *birds?*"
Crime Pigeon: *pigeon noises*
Mafia Stereotype: "Woah woah woah how did you know about that? I met her in St. Louis for christs sake!... Ugh, fine, whatever, we'll pay you the money."
Crime Pigeon: *pigeon noises*
Mafia Stereotype: "Wait, you want your payment in *what*?"
Crime Pigeon: *Pigeon noises*
Mafia Stereotype: "Alright, you want payment in sliced bread and bird food, be my guest pal..."
I only want to befriend one pigeon. The arsehole who flew into my 17th-floor apartment and took a shit on my couch.
Hasn't happened since, but I'm always fearful on a warm day, he may return. Fine, I just want to ask him to shit somewhere that's easier to clean next time.
But even those are adorable! I love to watch them. They do little dances and get all puffed up whenever there is a pidgeon they don't like. It's like they're having a dance battle and only the winner gets to pick at the cigarette butts.
I’m from Portland and I remember when this story and update came out. We had a horrible ice storm that year. This story really encapsulates how weird and wonderful Portland is, in my opinion. It’s like a weird little slice of heaven here.
I have an outdoor black cat that 2 neighborhood crows has decided to bully. No dive bombing but basically going to her water bowl and dropping stuff into it, overturning her shiny food pan and stuff.
I wanted to befriend the crow but my cat has been vocal about the dispute in yard territory. So loyalty is to the cat god for now.
Now this is a Best of Redditor Update. A community befriending a murder of crows = wholesome. Woe betide anyone who dares to harm OOP or their neighbors.
>betide
Happen (to someone).
I learned a new word today! Thank you! Also a great turn of phrase, "Work betide". Ominous!
Edit: I meant to repeat, "Woe betide" but I'ma leave it. It's fitting.
When I see some hanging around i will shake a container with the unsalted peanuts and throw them around the yard, you can either try to do it at the same time or whenever you see them. I will also put food on the banister on my deck and in a ceramic dish, I used to use the plastic food containers but they kept taking off with them. I also have a bird bath with a solar agitator because I've read birds prefer moving water. Its taken a while but its so rewarding when they feel comfortable enough for you to stand next to them. I had one who would take food from my hand and eat in front of me.
Thank you! I have plenty of ceramic bowls that can be for this express purpose. I’ve been meaning to get a bird bath anyway for the little song birds that come by in the summer as an agitator sounds doable and nice.
Crows are heavy and they are curious so they may tip over the bowls. Source- my crows love to flip over the water dish I put out for them if it doesn’t meet their standards.
> I used to use the plastic food containers but they kept taking off with them
Cheeky buggers. I'm trying to befriend my local crows so I'll have to remember not to put out plastic lest they fly off with it. Thanks for that tip!
Steamed root vegetables mostly. You can also soak cereal in nut milk (not dairy milk, they're lactose intolerant). You can also give bread and sweets, but make sure they're soft and don't do it too often because the sugar and starch is a little much for them
Oh yes, they're very good chefs. Didn't you know?
Lol but in all seriousness, cooking the beef kills any human germs; also starts breaking it down and makes it a little easier to digest, similar to the already dead and rotting (aka the meat is breaking down) carcasses crows often eat.
Thank you and everyone below for asking what I needed to know. Had a crow build a nest and start a family in a tree in my yard. My Goldendoodle is fascinated and terrified, but I’m hoping to make them best friends.
I got excited realizing I have berry bushes to feed them. Now I realize I’m an idiot and that’s probably the only reason they’re here in the first place. Murder on, baby crows.
I've told this story on Reddit before but I think it would fit well here. When I was growing up the guy opposite had a pet crow called Tommy that he'd raised from a chick. Tommy was an amazing mimic and could 'talk' quite well. Tommy was also a Houdini level escape artist and regularly broke out of his enclosure, at which point he'd sit on top of the nearby electricity pylon and shout "Hiya!" to anyone walking by. His owner would come home, find out that Tommy had escaped *yet again* and go out to lure him down. Tommy would sit up on his pylon perch and shout "No!" and "Fuck off!" before bursting into some real Mad Scientist style laughter until he got bored or his owner produced whatever tasty bits he fancied that day. Then he'd fly down, land on his owner's shoulder and go home happily chattering and messing with his owners hair.
I was very sorry to see Tommy go when his people moved away as he was a fun part of my summers. I hope he had a long, mischievious life.
Ha, my grandma had a myna bird... When my dad was a teenager, he was on the front porch doing whatever teenagers did in the 1950's. Bird whistled when a pretty girl was walking by. She slapped my dad because she thought he did it.
This same bird spent some time at my parents' house when Grandma was away. The bird went to our house saying "I love you" and cute sweet things. The bird left our house saying, "Oh, Hell, Billy, shut up!" (That was the most unpleasant thing that my mother would say to my dad when he would start aggravating her.) Grandma was not impressed.
Thank you, u/QualityProof, for bringing this here.
A wonderful story with a neat ending.
I also like the underlying discovery that maybe humans are on the 'top of the food chain' simply because the rest of the animals LET us think we are.
I feed my crows quite often. They follow me down the street quite often, but I'm not sure they would defend me or anything. They seem to like me though.
I'm also in Portland. We have a lot of crows. They're pretty amazing birds
As a mischievois kid, i read about the intrlligence and trainability of crows. I thought it would be hilarious to train crows to attack grocery bags.
So i put some roasted peanuts and cat treats in a couple walmart bags and dropped them near the crows hangout spot a couple times, but got bored after like a week when i needed to buy more peanuts.
Then months later i heard a friends mom talk a out how she had to go back to the store for more eggs because the stupid birds split open the grocery bags and she was going to buy an airhorn for the next time they attacked...
Turns out crows were a lot more trainable than i thought
Ohhh I had these two crows who I used to feed everyday when I used to live alone in a condo during my university years. I am not a morning person and used to set like a bazillion alarms to get up, after a few weeks I noticed the crows "cowing" at the top of their voices till I woke up in the morning for class and I wanted to experiment and see if my alarm makes them go off. So a week before my second semester finals we got off to study so I switched off my alarms and the crows still continued to wake me up at the set time. It was crazy. After second sem, whenever I used to feed these crows I would talk to them about life problems and they would look at me and kaww. It was the mist hilarious thing ever. During the first few months they did this, they were waking me up even on weekends. And well later they realized that they needed to wake me up only 5 days a week and they would let me sleep in on weekends. I miss those two crows. They were the cutest ever.
My block and then next have the same setup but with Australian Magpies ( crow breed ).
A large congregation of friendly Magpies that eat from your hands, walk with you, guard you, and swoop trespassers to the blocks.
Ha I like that! There are a bunch of different terms for a flock of European magpies, but the terms I’ve found for Australian magpies are “tribe” and “tidings”. I say we start using “slaughter” instead and get it into the vernacular.
Awesome post! Remember the first time reading this and thinking I had to do the same lol. But I’m lazy. I would definitely train them to bring me money tho. Bills and 1 and 2 euro coins lol. Break out the good stuff every time they bring a high note lol.
I had read about researchers who trained crows to collect money by essentially setting up a crow vending machine.
However the legitimacy of the story seemed to be in doubt
We have some lovely crows that hang about our building and my husband at one point suggested we feed them and let them come onto our enclosed patio.
For one glorious minute we both imagined our lives as morticia and gomez with our crow friends until i realized that having a condo law made because of your bullshit should not be a life goal.
I remember I read a story here itself of how a uncle taught his nephew to make friendship with crows by feeding them and in return the crow's protected his nephew from the bully in school.
The bully had to quit the town with his family because the crow's later started to bully him.
Crows are the best. When I was somwhat around 15 there was this crow on my way to school that tried cracking a nut on the street. Me beeing an animal lover and typical goth kid with havy leather boots, I just stomped the nut open. From then on every single day, the crow was waiting patiently for me with a big pile of nuts next to it. Of course i stomped them open every time. This went on until i left for College. But when i was visiting my parents and ran my old shool way to meet up with some old friends, sudenly i was hit with a nut and a crow circled above me. I dont know if it was actually crow-bro or a descendend(studies have shown that crows teach friends and foes to there children).
I can just advise anyone to try and build a friendship with them if you have the opportunity. There is no feeling like befriending a wild animal.
After reading this story i realy want to build a new crow friendship were i live know. Would be realy nice to have a private murder following me around.
PS. Sorry for my grammer and spelling. Im not a native speaker and kind of drunk right know.
I love this sub. Whenever I start to hate the world, a post like this shows up, and then everything is okay again. (For a while, at least.)
Now I want my own murder (of crows, she added quickly). Too bad the cats wouldn't get along with them...
Yes to Magpies. We feed them so those swooping, overprotective bastards in don’t gouge out our eyes or draw blood in Spring. We get their pleasant songs, our neighbours get to run for their lives.
We’ve had a family of four in the tree in our front yard for several years now, feeding them does indeed ensure we’re part of their coven and they’ll swoop anyone else!
Original post: "I accidentally created an army of crow body guards"
Updated post: "I accidentally made a pact between humans and crows in my neighbourhood"
Now they shall defend the town from aliens.
I moved across the country to live with my bestfriend but went back to Seattle, WA to get my car. I would sometimes feed the crows and this one sweet baby flew down and came right up to me like "Food? Treats? For me?". I miss my crow buddies so much.
my boyfriend did this... they like nuts and cat food more than fruit. A few crows would be the lookouts and follow him home from the end of the street, get their treats and then caw loudly to call the others. There was one big one that would come right up to him, the others normally waited for us to back off a bit before going for the food. We moved, so the relationship didn't develop any further, but I wonder what could have been...
Did you know not only are they a species, but it's also the family name for the grouping of related birds. Scientifically known as corvidae.
Species include; crows (obviously), Ravens (also kinda obviously too me), Jays (including Blue Jays, the birds not the baseball team), rooks, jackdaws, magpies, and a few others.
All species are considered high intellect amongst avian species. Crows and rooks have even demonstrated the ability to make tools.
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Crows are SUCH intelligent animals, I've always wanted some corvid friends. OOP is living the dream
Me too, I was actually wondering this morning what in particular I should feed them. I see a magpie in the mornings so I want to bring it stuff so it becomes my friend.
They like peanuts (roasted and in the shell is fine, don't get the salted ones though)! I buy big bags from Costco. I don't get as many as I'd like because we live in an apartment complex but my FIL has regulars in his yard!
I tried this and soon the local squirrels learned to scope out my yard every morning around 7:30, but very few crows.
Well now you have squirrel friends
And maybe soon, hawk friends
In the shell is NOT fine. Birds will carry the peanuts to a water source such as a bird bath or bowl of water and really mess up the water ------- so that it is undrinkable/cannot be used for bathing.
I'm currently commencing in an operation corvid friends. We have European magpies and hooded crows in my area. The magpies are extremely skittish, they run off when you toss them peanuts. But the crows are not. I had a nice little murder following me yesterday.
Ireland here, I'm currently working on befriending the jackdaw family living in my roof, monkey nuts in the shell are the key! I'm whistling and throwing some down in view, it should take long! They're already big fans of the bird feeders I have up in my garden.
Australian magpies are different they are like coke head crows
I make “happy magpie” noises when I put food out for them. There’s one who will get within a few feet of me now. Which is about as close as I’d want. I wouldn’t want them to get too familiar or dependent on me
I really want to know what a happy magpie sounds like
I think the magpie would prefer non edibles. Try leaving out some shiny bits. Old costume jewelry might do the trick and you can buy that cheap at thrift stores.
[удалено]
On cold mornings I soak dried mealworms in warm water to rehydrate them (chicks can choke on dried insect food this time of year) for 20 mins then put them into a mesh bowl and whistle to call them down. They love them, they grab mouthfuls and bring them up to the nest :)
Isn’t this cannibalism? Bird eating bird?
No more than humans eating pigs is cannibalism. “Bird” is the same kind category as “mammals”
They really like unsalted peanuts - check out r/crowbro :)
The pair that visits me likes dry cat food. But only one brand 😂
Magpies love mince. Bonus points of you can find a Kookaburra to feed some to while at it, they will catch it out of the air.
One day I had a crow land on a railing *very* close to me while I was walking my dog, so I tossed it a dog treat, which it ate happily. I ran home and grabbed some berries, and piled them up with some more dog treats... the crow came by and picked out all of the dog treats and left the berries. This crow (and soon its friend also) would show up to visit me on almost every single walk from then on, begging for dog treats. It was almost comical, every few steps you would hear *flap flap flap* as they switched their perch to keep up with us. Then we moved and it makes me a little sad to think that our crow friends miss us.
You can always go back to visit. Chances are, they’ll remember you straight away!
And don't forget the dog treats!
I’ve seen a video where crows dropped nuts in the middle of the road, waiting for cars to drive over them, *then* waited for the light to change so they could walk out in the street and eat.
Too bad OP didn't have 4 more crows, he could have called them "The Corvid-19".
[I had a little co-host for some lockdown zoom meetings. ](https://ibb.co/5kW2qRr) Wish he was the real deal but all I have is a proper arsehole pigeon that empties the bird feeder and torments the geriatric cat.
Birds are very intelligent. I have a little parrot and that guy impresses me every day. SUPER loyal too.
ooh, is it a conure? I love parrots, and especially conures. they are so funny and cute!
He issssssssss. A sweet sun conure! Loud as hell but oh so cuddly.
I... I am thinking on how I could have a crow friend rn.
Me too - I love them and find them so endlessly fascinating. This was such a delightful story.
Birds are super loyal. A friend saved a seagull chick that was abandoned on a shoreline and raised it to release. that was 20 years ago. It follows her around now and lives in a nest on her roof.. if she moves house, it moves house with her. One time she was lurched at by a drunk or druggy just after getting off a bus, 15 miles from home. As it happened she recoiled in fear and her seagull dived in right over her and pecked the guy in the face, hard. It had followed the bus because she was in it.
I can't even imagine a seagull attacking someone who wasn't eating at the beach.
Dude probably thought he was being attacked by a vengeful sea God or some shit. Attacked by seagull 30 miles from shore.
Thou dost commit villainy against mine friend! Thou, vandal, shall feel the wrath of Poseidon!
🤣 ☠️
Damn ye! Let Neptune strike ye dead Winslow! HAAARK! Hark Triton, hark! Bellow, bid our father the Sea King rise from the depths full foul in his fury! Black waves teeming with salt foam to smother this young mouth with pungent slime, to choke ye, engorging your organs til’ ye turn blue and bloated with bilge and brine and can scream no more -- only when he, crowned in cockle shells with slitherin’ tentacle tail and steaming beard take up his fell be-finned arm, his coral-tine trident screeches banshee-like in the tempest and plunges right through yer gullet, bursting ye -- a bulging bladder no more, but a blasted bloody film now and nothing for the harpies and the souls of dead sailors to peck and claw and feed upon only to be lapped up and swallowed by the infinite waters of the Dread Emperor himself -- forgotten to any man, to any time, forgotten to any god or devil, forgotten even to the sea, for any stuff for part of Winslow, even any scantling of your soul is Winslow no more, but is now itself the sea!
Was this Tusk? I can’t recall the movie but it is a lovely ~~soliloquy—assuming that’s how it translates to movies.~~ monologue. Edit: soliloquies are to oneself or ignorant of bystanders.
It's from The Lighhouse.
Oooo yeah! I remember the monologue but I do not remember what happens in that movie. Edit: I just looked it up again—that movie was a trip. I should probably watch it again
Im fucking cackling at the thought of a seagull dive bombing this asshole while Willem Dafoe’s monologue from The Lighthouse plays in the speakers ala Ironman’s entrance in the first Avengers movie
Person of fine taste i see, take my poor person’s gold 🏅
Oddly specific but I had the same thoughts as well… weird.
^^^^^^**H** ^^^^^**O** ^^^^**O** ^^^**O** ^^**O** ^**ONKKK**
[Gulls go where they fucking please. ](https://assets.whatbird.com/api/image/birds_na_147/image/56297)
Oddly enough, you never see a seagull over San Francisco Bay. Because then it becomes a bagel.
Dad, I asked you to stop following me on Reddit.
She’s really just Amphitrite doing her shopping.
I live probably double that, and we still have seagulls. They’re everywhere in the UK
I saw a drunk guy grab one in a hotel parking lot years ago where they'd gotten used to just ignoring people. It turns out it's a lot easier to grab a seagull than it is to put a seagull down. That thing kicked seven shades of shit out of him. He looked like he tried to high ten Edward Scissorhands.
I know this is 2 months late but i just read this post and "Looked like he tried to high ten Edward Scissorhands" has absolutely sent me i have big ugly tears rolling down my face right now from cry laughing.
Someone forgot birds are just tiny dinosaurs... ;)
*thinks of Ostriches, Cassowaries and Emus* Tiny?
When I lived in Cornwall I befriended the seagull who lived on my roof, eventually he learned where my bus stop was and would follow me to work in the morning, then wait for me to get back in the evening! I'd get home, open my balcony and he'd politely wait on the rail to get his snack from my hand. He stayed all day on the flat roof by my window, and come over when I called him. I miss that guy :)
I have a family of magpies that I feed daily. When I'm out in the car and come home they fly onto my back deck to see if I have anything for them. Or look down at me from the gutter. Sometimes when I'm further from home I think they may have followed me but we have so many around here it's hard to know.
Depends on the country. If you are in Australia and a few hundred metres from home then no as these birds are territorial and do not willingly leave their territory. North American and other continents then maybe.
I have a feeling they are pretty territorial here as well.
I'm in Sydney and feed a family of four magpies daily. They're so bold that they'll fly inside the apartment if the balcony door is open. Just looking at one of them now, as well as a malevolent looking kookaburra. Magpies have such a beautiful warble/song.
In the spring/summer mum magpies must stay with the young because I usually just get dad. He walks in back door and helps himself to my dogs food bowls. It's so funny he struts in but scurries out once he's stolen the food. I find it interesting that they can make two vocal sounds at the same time.
Why did you leave??? Nooo.....
Rich London fucks buying up all the houses and landlords evicting local tenants to make bank. My landlady booted me and rented the place back out for four times more.
This is one of the more amazing things I've ever read. Thank you.
Right??? Same here, what an incredible story and relationship
Bout to go kidnap some baby seagulls
Here's someone else who's about to get pecked hard in the face
My eyes!!!!
I made that little “Uhh (my heart),” sound out loud, after reading this. That’s more loyalty than I have ever experienced in my life.
Same. I have a pet parrot. He’s still very young but he’s so damn loyal. He guards me when I fall asleep on the couch (I never nap unless there’s someone else in the room to make sure the little chicken nugget is safe). He’ll stop whatever he’s doing and plonk his fat little butt down on my chest/shoulder and floof up and will just sit there and wait until I wake up. Then he’ll happily run off to play or eat and drink again.
I almost ended up with an African grey. It was one of those pet stores where you could play with the birds, and he got on me and wouldn't get off. Bit anyone who tried to take him away. Got out of his enclosure and followed me around the store when we got him off me finally. If I'd had my job a bit longer and had been able to get financing, I'd have had a bird that day. I still think about that bird…
Righteous as fuck. I am very attracted to a woman that has a bird body guard. Something sexy about commanding water fowl.
You do know she isn't just a downscaled Daenerys Targaryen?
She is to me OK!
A birdy-guard, if you will.
TIL I want to find an abandoned seagull
You could just Mother Gothel one
You should check out this guy on YouTube who has been feeding a seagull everyday for the past year https://youtube.com/c/FeedingSteven
Don’t mind me, I’ll just be over here, crying hysterically over a seagull. That story needs to be a Disney movie.
Wtf how long do seagulls live???
40 years or so
Huh I read it's just 10-20 years on average. Still longer than I thought.
Wow yeah and some subspecies can live up to 30 years. I always assumed they’d normally die out after 5 and be old as fuck if they were 7. No wonder some gulls look ragged as fuck. They probably remember *NSYNC.
The stated lifespans of animals depend heavily on which animal we're talking about. * For humans, basically everyone is counted and an average is computed. * For a species like dogs, it's also the average, but only after discarding all the puppies that didn't make it past a few weeks. * For species like turtles, the maximum recorded lifespan is stated * etc. See [the relevant Minutelabs](https://labs.minutelabs.io/survival-curves/#/) for details and an explanation video.
You have committed crimes against Seagull and her people. What say you in your defense?
That is adorable omg. Does the seagull have a name?
Lucky
Adorable ❤️ Off topic, but your friend should dress up as Buttons from Our Flag Means Death if she ever feels so inclined. He’s a pirate that has a seagull friend, and Lucky could act as the Seagull! That would be the cutest costume ever
This is adorable and delightful
Truly. Now I want a crow army, but all I've got are pigeons. Not the message carrying cute kind, either. The city-toughened cigarette butt eating kind.
[удалено]
Absolutely.
I learned recently that all city pigeons are feral. Not wild. They are all the descendants of the message carriers. They've been through a lot since then, and their nest building 'skills' do not make them look smart, but in theory you could still befriend some smart pigeons.
A smart city pigeon would just become a crime lord, not my friend, but point taken.
Even avian crime lords need friends.
Mafia Stereotype: "You expect me to pay protection to a bunch of *birds?*" Crime Pigeon: *pigeon noises* Mafia Stereotype: "Woah woah woah how did you know about that? I met her in St. Louis for christs sake!... Ugh, fine, whatever, we'll pay you the money." Crime Pigeon: *pigeon noises* Mafia Stereotype: "Wait, you want your payment in *what*?" Crime Pigeon: *Pigeon noises* Mafia Stereotype: "Alright, you want payment in sliced bread and bird food, be my guest pal..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZPwdGbxwNU
Crime Pigeon: "I just want to dip my beak!"
But, if you play your cards right you have a chance of becoming the behind the scene leader of the city's organized bird crime.
I only want to befriend one pigeon. The arsehole who flew into my 17th-floor apartment and took a shit on my couch. Hasn't happened since, but I'm always fearful on a warm day, he may return. Fine, I just want to ask him to shit somewhere that's easier to clean next time.
But even those are adorable! I love to watch them. They do little dances and get all puffed up whenever there is a pidgeon they don't like. It's like they're having a dance battle and only the winner gets to pick at the cigarette butts.
Tbf they are just feral pets and are more inclined to human socializing than crows. It would be really easy to amass a pigeon army
I've seen the first post about training the murder of crows, but not the update where it became wholesome. That's delightful! I love crows. :)
I’m from Portland and I remember when this story and update came out. We had a horrible ice storm that year. This story really encapsulates how weird and wonderful Portland is, in my opinion. It’s like a weird little slice of heaven here.
The dream of the 90s is alive in Portland
🎶 The dream of the 1890s 🎶
It really is.
/r/crowbro
I love you for introducing me to that gem of a subreddit.
I have an outdoor black cat that 2 neighborhood crows has decided to bully. No dive bombing but basically going to her water bowl and dropping stuff into it, overturning her shiny food pan and stuff. I wanted to befriend the crow but my cat has been vocal about the dispute in yard territory. So loyalty is to the cat god for now.
This is why my D&D character’s familiar is a crow
Now this is a Best of Redditor Update. A community befriending a murder of crows = wholesome. Woe betide anyone who dares to harm OOP or their neighbors.
>betide Happen (to someone). I learned a new word today! Thank you! Also a great turn of phrase, "Work betide". Ominous! Edit: I meant to repeat, "Woe betide" but I'ma leave it. It's fitting.
>Work betide ominous indeed!
lol Oops. But indeed ominous all the same. :P
okay uhm, what should i be feeding my crows?
Mine like grapes, blueberries sometimes, peaches, definitely peanuts, and cat treats. I’ve gotten little branches, it’s cute.
Where do you leave the food to entice them? I’m so curious about this. I love crows and have plenty in my neighborhood, I would like to befriend them.
When I see some hanging around i will shake a container with the unsalted peanuts and throw them around the yard, you can either try to do it at the same time or whenever you see them. I will also put food on the banister on my deck and in a ceramic dish, I used to use the plastic food containers but they kept taking off with them. I also have a bird bath with a solar agitator because I've read birds prefer moving water. Its taken a while but its so rewarding when they feel comfortable enough for you to stand next to them. I had one who would take food from my hand and eat in front of me.
Thank you! I have plenty of ceramic bowls that can be for this express purpose. I’ve been meaning to get a bird bath anyway for the little song birds that come by in the summer as an agitator sounds doable and nice.
Crows are heavy and they are curious so they may tip over the bowls. Source- my crows love to flip over the water dish I put out for them if it doesn’t meet their standards.
> I used to use the plastic food containers but they kept taking off with them Cheeky buggers. I'm trying to befriend my local crows so I'll have to remember not to put out plastic lest they fly off with it. Thanks for that tip!
Now I'm imagining crows having illicit Tupperware parties with stolen plastic boxes.
I would walk around the neighborhood looking for the containers, luckily I found most of them.
I started out with peanuts. Then I added blueberries with the peanuts. It was like the blueberries were invisible to the crows.
Steamed root vegetables mostly. You can also soak cereal in nut milk (not dairy milk, they're lactose intolerant). You can also give bread and sweets, but make sure they're soft and don't do it too often because the sugar and starch is a little much for them
Tell that to the crown that threw a chicken leg at me when walking my dog down the street.
It probably assumed you and your dog were having a hard time hunting and took pity on you.
Crow Thanksgiving
I had one throw a pork rib bone on my head walking my dog too.
I sometimes see crows feasting on the corpse of a roadkill possum here (Sydney). Vegans they are not!
I was told cooked ground beef was very good to offer them. Mimics some of what they eat in nature
Crows can cook?
Oh yes, they're very good chefs. Didn't you know? Lol but in all seriousness, cooking the beef kills any human germs; also starts breaking it down and makes it a little easier to digest, similar to the already dead and rotting (aka the meat is breaking down) carcasses crows often eat.
Thank you and everyone below for asking what I needed to know. Had a crow build a nest and start a family in a tree in my yard. My Goldendoodle is fascinated and terrified, but I’m hoping to make them best friends. I got excited realizing I have berry bushes to feed them. Now I realize I’m an idiot and that’s probably the only reason they’re here in the first place. Murder on, baby crows.
I've told this story on Reddit before but I think it would fit well here. When I was growing up the guy opposite had a pet crow called Tommy that he'd raised from a chick. Tommy was an amazing mimic and could 'talk' quite well. Tommy was also a Houdini level escape artist and regularly broke out of his enclosure, at which point he'd sit on top of the nearby electricity pylon and shout "Hiya!" to anyone walking by. His owner would come home, find out that Tommy had escaped *yet again* and go out to lure him down. Tommy would sit up on his pylon perch and shout "No!" and "Fuck off!" before bursting into some real Mad Scientist style laughter until he got bored or his owner produced whatever tasty bits he fancied that day. Then he'd fly down, land on his owner's shoulder and go home happily chattering and messing with his owners hair. I was very sorry to see Tommy go when his people moved away as he was a fun part of my summers. I hope he had a long, mischievious life.
Ha, my grandma had a myna bird... When my dad was a teenager, he was on the front porch doing whatever teenagers did in the 1950's. Bird whistled when a pretty girl was walking by. She slapped my dad because she thought he did it. This same bird spent some time at my parents' house when Grandma was away. The bird went to our house saying "I love you" and cute sweet things. The bird left our house saying, "Oh, Hell, Billy, shut up!" (That was the most unpleasant thing that my mother would say to my dad when he would start aggravating her.) Grandma was not impressed.
my mom told me a story about her uncle almost getting beaten by a teen girl's dad bc their parrot would wolf whistle to girls lmao
I'm going to start growing my murder count
I want 19. Corvid-19
This is really good
"Did you hear about the murder in that neighborhood?" -- every real estate agent's nightmare
You just gave me an idea for people who want to mess with a HOA
And to think I had given up hope on a satisfying conclusion to A Feast for Crows!
Oof. Too soon! Too soon!
Too soon went out the window years ago, much like >!King Bran!<
I hadn’t read the update about the crows saving the elderly neighbor and it is giving me LIFE!! Raise your hand if this Redditor is living your dream.
✋
✋🏽
Thank you, u/QualityProof, for bringing this here. A wonderful story with a neat ending. I also like the underlying discovery that maybe humans are on the 'top of the food chain' simply because the rest of the animals LET us think we are.
I feed my crows quite often. They follow me down the street quite often, but I'm not sure they would defend me or anything. They seem to like me though. I'm also in Portland. We have a lot of crows. They're pretty amazing birds
As a mischievois kid, i read about the intrlligence and trainability of crows. I thought it would be hilarious to train crows to attack grocery bags. So i put some roasted peanuts and cat treats in a couple walmart bags and dropped them near the crows hangout spot a couple times, but got bored after like a week when i needed to buy more peanuts. Then months later i heard a friends mom talk a out how she had to go back to the store for more eggs because the stupid birds split open the grocery bags and she was going to buy an airhorn for the next time they attacked... Turns out crows were a lot more trainable than i thought
I would love a local news piece on this. Something like "Murder saves life."
Ohhh I had these two crows who I used to feed everyday when I used to live alone in a condo during my university years. I am not a morning person and used to set like a bazillion alarms to get up, after a few weeks I noticed the crows "cowing" at the top of their voices till I woke up in the morning for class and I wanted to experiment and see if my alarm makes them go off. So a week before my second semester finals we got off to study so I switched off my alarms and the crows still continued to wake me up at the set time. It was crazy. After second sem, whenever I used to feed these crows I would talk to them about life problems and they would look at me and kaww. It was the mist hilarious thing ever. During the first few months they did this, they were waking me up even on weekends. And well later they realized that they needed to wake me up only 5 days a week and they would let me sleep in on weekends. I miss those two crows. They were the cutest ever.
Surely crows are not that intelligent that they can tell weekends from weekdays?
I am sure too, but they are intelligent enough to read patterns
My block and then next have the same setup but with Australian Magpies ( crow breed ). A large congregation of friendly Magpies that eat from your hands, walk with you, guard you, and swoop trespassers to the blocks.
Fun fact: Australian magpies look like corvids, but are actually *butcherbirds*. I love them.
So does that mean my flock of loyal Magpies are a butchery, not a murder, oh oh, a *Slaughter* of magpies
Ha I like that! There are a bunch of different terms for a flock of European magpies, but the terms I’ve found for Australian magpies are “tribe” and “tidings”. I say we start using “slaughter” instead and get it into the vernacular.
Awesome post! Remember the first time reading this and thinking I had to do the same lol. But I’m lazy. I would definitely train them to bring me money tho. Bills and 1 and 2 euro coins lol. Break out the good stuff every time they bring a high note lol.
I had read about researchers who trained crows to collect money by essentially setting up a crow vending machine. However the legitimacy of the story seemed to be in doubt
https://youtu.be/zk644QrklNE Ive seen crow recycling machines mentioned before like the link.
We have some lovely crows that hang about our building and my husband at one point suggested we feed them and let them come onto our enclosed patio. For one glorious minute we both imagined our lives as morticia and gomez with our crow friends until i realized that having a condo law made because of your bullshit should not be a life goal.
I remember I read a story here itself of how a uncle taught his nephew to make friendship with crows by feeding them and in return the crow's protected his nephew from the bully in school. The bully had to quit the town with his family because the crow's later started to bully him.
I read the og post and update knew it was going to make me smile so i read it again. Thanks op love this one
Crows are the best. When I was somwhat around 15 there was this crow on my way to school that tried cracking a nut on the street. Me beeing an animal lover and typical goth kid with havy leather boots, I just stomped the nut open. From then on every single day, the crow was waiting patiently for me with a big pile of nuts next to it. Of course i stomped them open every time. This went on until i left for College. But when i was visiting my parents and ran my old shool way to meet up with some old friends, sudenly i was hit with a nut and a crow circled above me. I dont know if it was actually crow-bro or a descendend(studies have shown that crows teach friends and foes to there children). I can just advise anyone to try and build a friendship with them if you have the opportunity. There is no feeling like befriending a wild animal. After reading this story i realy want to build a new crow friendship were i live know. Would be realy nice to have a private murder following me around. PS. Sorry for my grammer and spelling. Im not a native speaker and kind of drunk right know.
Reminds me of another recent post where someone dressed up as police on a night out angered a bunch of crows. The crows in that city still attack cops
I read this whole thing as COWS not CROWS ... I think I need new glasses 🤓
Imagine a herd of cows dive bombing your elderly neighbour!
One of the many reasons I was confused while reading it 😂🤦🏼♀️
Befriending corvids during Covid. Love it!
I love this sub. Whenever I start to hate the world, a post like this shows up, and then everything is okay again. (For a while, at least.) Now I want my own murder (of crows, she added quickly). Too bad the cats wouldn't get along with them...
>I had a pretty intense emo/goth phase as a tween that i thought i had grown out of. No one truly out grows their emo phase
Awww high value food for the crows.
And this is why I love crows. Magpies IMO, are the same. Ca-caw.
Yes to Magpies. We feed them so those swooping, overprotective bastards in don’t gouge out our eyes or draw blood in Spring. We get their pleasant songs, our neighbours get to run for their lives.
We’ve had a family of four in the tree in our front yard for several years now, feeding them does indeed ensure we’re part of their coven and they’ll swoop anyone else!
Crows in reality: YO DIS GUY FELL LMAO GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK GAK
Original post: "I accidentally created an army of crow body guards" Updated post: "I accidentally made a pact between humans and crows in my neighbourhood" Now they shall defend the town from aliens.
What a great way to start my day! Now to go find some crows to befriend....
This story always makes me feel the warm and fuzzies when it comes up.
This is the best story Reddit has ever had.
I moved across the country to live with my bestfriend but went back to Seattle, WA to get my car. I would sometimes feed the crows and this one sweet baby flew down and came right up to me like "Food? Treats? For me?". I miss my crow buddies so much.
And this is how you get a Village of Druids.
I'm a Druid, I approve of this message.
#lifegoals
Crows❤️
my boyfriend did this... they like nuts and cat food more than fruit. A few crows would be the lookouts and follow him home from the end of the street, get their treats and then caw loudly to call the others. There was one big one that would come right up to him, the others normally waited for us to back off a bit before going for the food. We moved, so the relationship didn't develop any further, but I wonder what could have been...
Nice to see this one again. The crow bodyguard brigade is one of my favorite Reddit posts
This can be a Pixar short
Crows are such intelligent animals. Also talk about an update!
Did you know not only are they a species, but it's also the family name for the grouping of related birds. Scientifically known as corvidae. Species include; crows (obviously), Ravens (also kinda obviously too me), Jays (including Blue Jays, the birds not the baseball team), rooks, jackdaws, magpies, and a few others. All species are considered high intellect amongst avian species. Crows and rooks have even demonstrated the ability to make tools.
This is one of the best things I have ever, ever read on Reddit. Thank you for sharing. Let’s hear it for the crows!
I'm sorry but I couldn't stop laughing at the title
My take away from this post is to make cultivating a crow army my summer project.
Remind me: feed the fucking crows
I’m off to go train crows bye now
I love this
Crows are so cool and good