I feed the downtown Crows usually each day. They like to perch on my bicycle handlebars. I hand feed these Crows. Others like to perch on a nearby metal container. I call these Crows “Jumpers” as they like to play a jumping game with me!
I toss a piece of bread up into the air and they all jump to grab it! They are very agile flyers! Sometimes one will miss it but swoop back down to catch it on the second try! Several dozen Crows like this game and so the competition can be fierce at times and yes the feathers do fly!
When they see me riding down the street many join to escort me to our gaming “spot”!
There is one Crow who will take a piece of bread from my hand as I am riding. I call this one “Bandit”!
Crows are very intelligent creatures. One of their greatest strengths is in their numbers! Sometimes a Crow will foolishly grab Robbie or Rita’s treat! That’s when a Crow gets beat up and a cacophony of screaming Crows ensues! They don’t call this a “murder” for nothing! It does raise the hair on the back of your neck!
Tofino Photography 
Crows are quite amazing and even more so by your pics and descriptions as they play with you, Wayne!
I love interacting with them! Some are so keen I see them watching me so intently! All crouched down all ready to spring up first so they can get that tossed piece of bread!
There’s always a crow family around here–three or four that hang out together. Maybe several generations over the 30 years I’ve lived in this house. I like having them around.
Glad to hear you have a family living with you Audrey!
I love the rapport you have with these birds!
thank you,they are worth every minute!
I bet!
What fun! I’ve never seen anyone feed crows.
they are very smart creatures Anne! You could do it easily!
I see crows flying here, but they’ve never come to our deck where the bird feeder is. What is your favorite thing to feed them?
They are very smart Anne. They won’t come close to your deck because of Sadie.
How do I tell the crows that Sadie is now 2,000 miles away — closer to you than to me?
by tossing out old bread on the front lawn. They’ll figure it our when Sadie isn’t seen.
Go to a bakery and ask If they have old bread they are giving out? You need to keep a routine with them. A few will come to the veranda railing for hand feed treats~
I have put stale bread on the railing before, but I didn’t do it every day. Thanks for the advice.
get them time/location conditioned
Have John make a feeding platform. Do you have cats?
We don’t have cats, but the neighbors have one. I’ve never seen that cat anywhere near our deck. We have squirrels, though, and that’s why we don’t use a platform feeder any more.
just see If they come around after throwing some old bread out?
I will try it. Thank you.
Your description paints quite a picture of you and the crows at play!
many people walking past smile!
And the occasional giggling youngster as well?
kids are fascinated when they see the Crows perching on my bike!
I’ll bet they want to try it!
and you would be 100% correct Liz! Sometimes I go over and give them a small piece of bread and tell them to throw it! Of course they throw terribly but the Crows still swoop in to grab in! Much to the child’s amusement!
I love those intelligent creatures. Sometimes they besiege the bird feeding places in the nearby park and scare away the little tits, nuthatches and goldfinches, but they don’t do any harm to them, and leave the place when they have satisfied their hunger.
Crows are smart enough not to harm unnecessarily.
Wonderful photos, Wayne. You have such a relationship with your furred and feathered friends!
thank you Lynette, It’s a matter of time and caring
Crows do make quite the racket in a group when they are in a disagreement or see a potential meal. I read a good book that talks about studies of Crows and their intelligence.
A Murder is a scary event!
Wonderful close-ups. Crows around here are always on the lookout for food. They are through an entire pillar of suet in one day until we learned to put a mess netting around it. We had a single solitary ‘house’ crow at our lake house. He came each time we visited.
how odd? Usually when you see one Crow many soon follow?…….If food is around.
Here, they’re like the bad boys in the ‘hood and keep the beautiful hawks away. Sigh!
basically they are a flying gang……strength in numbers!
Exactly!
Alfred Hitchcock featured a murder of crows in his film “The Birds”. Did you know that was based on a real attack on humans by sea birds?
I do recall reading about that a long time ago. Many types of birds were used in that film If I recall.
I like that first picture – it’s a stern look like your teacher might have given you for doing something wrong. Pretty amazing close-ups Wayne … so close up that on a black background, you can clearly distinguish the crow with its feathers and the last one, the long beak with just a bit of bread crumb caught in it.
thanks Linda! Because they are so use to me I can get really close! Too close as a matter of fact! I cannot get closer then 5 feet or my big lens cannot focus!
Well you had some great looks of the stern look and the crazy eyebrows, but the contrast of black feathers and dark background is incredible.
I’ve learned so much more about crows these days🤓and your photography is just so expressive I love these as well ~ hugs hedy🕊
my pleasure Hedy! My Crow friends are beautiful!
How wonderful and I would love to see the jumping game and them perching on your bike! Great photos and I had no idea it was possible to hand feed crows.🙂
sending you a short video.
Love the video and I’m already trying to convince my niece that we need to go biking for birds in the spring after our walks at the park feeding the birds!!!😁
Glad you enjoyed it and good luck with your biking quest!