What to Feed a Black Crow

While most baby birds that are abandoned by their parents or fall from the nest will die in human care, many rescuers have seen success when attempting to raise orphaned black crows. These birds are willing eaters and can be cared for easily. Do not feed adult crows as this may upset the local ecosystem, and only feed a baby crow if you are certain that its parents are dead. Release baby crows after caring for them for eight weeks.

  1. Feeding Facts

    • Crows are omnivores, meaning they eat meat and plants. Since crows are scavengers, they will eat almost anything you present to them. In the wild, a large part of a crow's diet consists of insects. Adult crows will even scavenge from garbage cans in urban settings. If you want to attract crows to your area, you can scatter unshelled peanuts in your lawn, upon which crows will readily feed.

    Diet

    • Feed oatmeal to a baby crow that you are trying to rescue to provide fiber and carbohydrates. Give the bird cooked ground beef heart for protein, as this lean meat is a good substitute for insects. Boil an egg and remove the yolk, as this will give the bird additional protein and nutrients. Purchase from a pet store a powder vitamin supplement that is high in protein and designed for birds. Combine the oatmeal, beef, egg yolk and a sprinkle of vitamin powder to make a mash and feed it to the crow.

    Feedings

    • Baby birds need to be fed manually, as they will not pick up food from the ground. When the birds are hungry, they will sit with their heads up and their mouths open. In the wild, their parents regurgitate food from their foraging into the babies' mouths. Reproduce this process by placing gobs of the food mixture on your finger and placing it in the crows' mouths. Gently push the food all the way down into the birds' throats to encourage them to swallow. At 5 to 6 weeks of age, crows will begin to eat by themselves.

    Age

    • Whether or not you can successfully feed and raise a crow depends on the age of the bird when you first encounter it. Usually, only baby crows that are younger than 3 to 4 weeks can be fed and cared for by humans. Prior to a month of age, baby birds have not yet imprinted on a caregiver and can still become tame and taught to embrace human care.