r/crows

TLDR we found a fledgling American Crow that was spotted by cats after dark. Put him in a nearby tree. He grew up and learned to fly after 12 days.

The crows have recently accepted me (and my cashews) so I hope this story is okay to share.

I thought some photos of a healthy, awkward fledgling might be helpful for people to see when they, like me, might discover a fledgling on their doorstep at 10pm and are wonder if they're okay, and posts from this sub come up on their search.

They might not have all their feathers opened up yet, they might not always stand up straight and might droop their wings a bit or even hold one wing slightly lower than the other. They might seem to 'melt' into a branch in the summer heat, and close their eyes to rest. They look a bit fluffy and disheveled.

This fledgling had thought our front step was a great hiding spot to sleep for the night. We watched from a distance until it was fully dark (this was on the solstice so we waited until about 11pm) but we had already chased our neighbors cat away 3 times. Unfortunately our yard gets a lot of cats wandering around. We gently put him in a carrier and made sure the cats weren't watching, then put 'baby bird' on a lower, hidden branch of the apple tree in our back yard. The parents often hang out on the power lines near the tree so we knew they would be able to find him, and we have a 6ft fence so cats generally stay out of our back yard. We reinforced some gaps in the fence to deter cats more. In the morning, we could hear him call for his parents and they found him.

He hopped down from the tree during the day and hopped around our yard a bit. We watched from a distance from our deck and bribed the parents with peanuts and cashews so we could walk in our yard when needed.

We left him alone, and gave the parents some unsalted nuts/trailmix as they were working very hard to keep their babies safe. They hate raisins. They love cashews. They accept peanuts.

There was another night during this where this baby needed help hiding at night. Just sleeping out in the open in our yard. We observed from a distance, waited till parents went to sleep and we knew he wasn't going to find a safer place himself, and put him back up in our tree. He climbed up higher on his own. We don't have any bushes so this was the best we could do. Shortly after we did this, I went inside and saw a new cat walking up the steps to my back deck. Thid was eerie, he would have walked right into where baby bird initially settled in the the night. I ran outside and chased the cat far away. Made sure birdy was still in the tree.

After that, he mostly just stayed in the tree. We were a bit worried because he didn't always seem to move much up there (and, we had put him there). It was getting close to the 2 week mark and everything I read said it takes them 1-2 weeks. It's a massive old apple tree, huge canopy, branches go low within 3 ft of the ground and up almost to the power lines. We couldn't always see him but could hear him flapping around up there, calling his parents, garbling while they fed him.

Yesterday, 12 days after he arrived at our doorstep, I looked up and saw a strangly fluffy crow standing on the power lines in our back yard near the tree. Heard his creaky baby voice and watched as he awkwardly got his balance and flew 3 yards away to a bigger tree, roosting with his parents. I'm so proud of that little guy.

Our tree/yard might not have been the perfect spot, but neither was our doorstep that faces a house with outdoor cats. It was close to where we found him, provided cover and safety from cats while he learned to fly. We did our best with minimal intervention and only moved him if he was in clear danger or being hunted by invasive predators. Cats shouldn't be outside. Baby crows have no survival skills and they didn't evolve needing to evade domestic cats. I think we did okay. Please don't yell at me. 🥺

I work at Trader Joe’s, and we have a few crows that will join us on outside breaks for snacks. The other day when I took my break outside to feed them, the fledgling came down and was oh so cute!

Bonus Mid Air Kibble Snatch On The Last Shot

I’ve been noticing this murder of about 4-5 crows that seem to hang out in the same area. What should I start with feeding them? They fly away if I get near them.

:D adorable

And my camera thinks it's a person?

Today on a random walk got the pleasure of seeing hooded crows, jackdaws and rooks all doing their business in one area.

That's not all of them, constant take offs as they are wild AF, if I go near the back door they all take off. Feeding them for nearly 6 years but my father used to shoot and hang them up (an old fashioned view in my country, well I'm sure it's still around but not as much), and they have long memories, so slowly getting to know I mean no harm.

Beating the TX heat:
I wish we had more shade, but I have put giant blocks of ice in the white large bin on the left with a solar fountain that splashes cool water down into the concrete bird bath.
Finally I caught one of them splashing in the cool water.
Makes me happy. 💦🐦‍⬛ 💦
I put 2 large mixing bowls full of water in the deep freezer and drop the ice into both water sources. The solar fountain was $10 on Amazon.

At 4 pm the water was still cold!

I found this crow on the side of the road really close to the cars and he couldnt really move at all my dog was with me and i wouldve expected him to fly away once my dog got close but he didnt move at all. I even picked him up and he didnt bother trying to fly away. I figured since its 4th of july the fireworks might scare it because it looks pretty small so i assume its a baby. I just dont know what to do to help it, i put it in a box in a cage to keep it from my pets and i gave it some water, grapes, and chia seeds but im not sure if its eating.

edit: okay im seeing a lot of people say that its parents are looking for him so id like to add that i asked someone who lived right in the house infront of it and they said the crow had been sitting there for many days and that the parents hadnt showed up. But ill listen to everyone and put him back. Thanks for the advice.

Today marks my 2 years of friendship with crows. ❤️🐦‍⬛

Started with one crow, Bob, who eventually bought her baby and they used to rest on the mango tree outside my window. Bob is long gone, moved to a different area and now her baby must've grown up and maybe having their own family.

Now I have a murder of 35-45 crows. Evolution over these two years: 1>2>5>10>15>25>30>40>45-50.

I love each and every one of them. Listening to them caw, preen, feed each other, hop around, fly and just be always makes my heart warm and full with genuine joy.

Bob, Petunia, George, Russell Crow, Chippy, Pirate, Pointy, Ms. Charming, Ms. Plump are just of them in my murder, they all have special and unique personalities and quirks but the common thread binding all of them: soft caws, whispering caws, eye blinks, head tilts, puffing up their feathers, leaving "gifts", enjoying and trusting my company, warm boiled eggs.

Thank you for reading. 😊❤️🐦‍⬛

When I found him, it was 38°C (100°F) outside. The poor little guy could barely stay upright and was using his beak to keep himself from falling over. His eyes were closed, and he looked completely exhausted.

I gave him some water. At first he wasn’t really sure what to do with the container, but after a second he figured it out. Literally within minutes he was doing so much better and even started walking around, although he was still pretty wobbly.

I decided to hang around until his parents came back. I bought him some food at the bakery (not the best food I know so I chose something with fruits on top), but he had no idea what to do with it. He’d just open his beak like a baby bird waiting to be fed.

His parents were probably watching me from a nearby tree, and once the little guy was feeling better, they started squawking at me, so I took that as my cue to leave and gave them some space.

Since that day I fell in love with crows ❤️

I was taking a walk this morning and luckily brought my camera so I was able to take this picture of a crow watching the whole neighborhood.