Ravens and crows thrive on a remarkably wide diet in the wild, so feeding them well is less about finding some specialty food and more about mimicking what they already eat while steering clear of a handful of genuinely harmful items. These birds are omnivores that naturally consume everything from insects and small rodents to grains, fruits, and carrion. That flexibility makes them easy to feed, but it also means people sometimes assume anything edible is fair game. It isn’t. A few common human foods can cause real harm, and even safe foods offered the wrong way can create problems for the birds and their neighbors.
What Ravens and Crows Eat in the Wild
Understanding what corvids eat on their own is the simplest guide to what you should offer. The Common Raven, the largest of all songbirds, is well documented as a scavenger on animal carcasses and human garbage, a predator that hunts rodents and raids other birds’ nests, and a consumer of large numbers of arthropods like grasshoppers and scorpions, along with seeds and grains when available.1Birds of the World (Cornell Lab of Ornithology). Common Raven (Corvus corax) American Crows eat an equally broad diet that shifts with the seasons: more animal protein in spring and summer when they are raising young, and more plant material like nuts, corn, and fruit through fall and winter.
In cities and suburbs, corvids have adapted to take advantage of whatever humans leave behind. A systematic review of corvids in urban environments found that at least fourteen corvid species use artificial food resources in urban habitats, with ten species regularly feeding from garbage cans and dumps, five species using bird feeders, and four species scavenging roadkill and other carrion.2PubMed Central. Corvids in Urban Environments: A Systematic Global Literature Review The takeaway is that corvids are generalists. They will eat almost anything calorie-dense they can find. Your job, if you choose to feed them, is to offer foods that actually benefit their health rather than just fill their stomachs.
The Best Foods to Offer
If you want to put out food for crows or ravens, a few categories consistently work well because they closely match what the birds seek out naturally. Unsalted peanuts are probably the single most popular choice among people who feed corvids, and for good reason. They are calorie-dense, rich in protein and fat, and corvids love them. You can offer them in the shell or already shelled. In-shell peanuts have the added benefit of giving the birds something to manipulate, which suits their intelligence and natural foraging behavior.
Hard-boiled eggs are another excellent option. Corvids are nest raiders in the wild, so eggs are a natural part of their diet. You can offer them whole with the shell on, which provides calcium, or peeled. Raw eggs work too, though they are messier. Dog or cat kibble, particularly the unseasoned varieties, provides a decent balance of protein and fat. Many wildlife rehabilitators use kibble as a staple when caring for injured crows and ravens, which speaks to its nutritional adequacy. Soaking it in water for a few minutes softens it, making it easier for younger birds to eat.
Beyond those staples, corvids readily eat unsalted sunflower seeds, fresh fruit like grapes, blueberries, and apple slices, and cooked meat scraps that have not been heavily seasoned. Mealworms, either live or dried, are a high-protein treat that mimics the insects corvids naturally hunt. Corn, both dried kernels and fresh pieces cut from the cob, is another food crows in particular eat enthusiastically. Shelled walnuts and pecans round out the list. Corvids are strong enough to crack many nuts themselves, but offering shelled nuts reduces the effort and ensures they actually get the food rather than losing it.
Foods to Avoid
The list of truly dangerous foods is shorter than many people expect, but the items on it matter. Chocolate contains theobromine, which birds metabolize far more slowly than humans do. Even small amounts can cause vomiting, seizures, and death in birds. Avocado is another serious risk. The compound persin, found in the fruit’s flesh, skin, and pit, is toxic to many bird species and can cause respiratory distress and cardiac damage.
Onions and garlic, whether raw or cooked, contain sulfur compounds that can damage red blood cells in birds, leading to anemia. Caffeine is similarly dangerous, causing cardiac arrhythmias and hyperactivity that can be fatal. These are not foods most people would think to offer a crow, but they show up in kitchen scraps that get tossed outside without much thought.
Salty foods deserve special attention because they are the most common mistake people make. Salted peanuts, chips, pretzels, and processed snacks can cause sodium toxicity in birds relatively quickly. Birds lack the kidney capacity to process large sodium loads the way mammals do, and excessive salt can lead to dehydration, kidney failure, and death. Always choose unsalted versions of any nut or seed you offer.
Bread is not toxic, but it is nutritionally empty for corvids. It fills their stomachs without providing the protein, fat, or micronutrients they need, and in young birds, a bread-heavy diet can cause developmental problems. The same goes for other starchy processed foods like crackers and cereal. A crow that fills up on bread is a crow that stops foraging for the insects, seeds, and protein sources it actually needs. If you have been putting out bread, switching to peanuts or kibble is a straightforward upgrade.
Moldy or spoiled food is worth mentioning separately. Aspergillus mold, which grows readily on damp grain, bread, and fruit, produces toxins that cause a serious respiratory infection in birds called aspergillosis. Corvids are hardy, but chronic exposure to moldy food can wear down even a healthy bird’s defenses. If food you have put out has sat in rain or heat long enough to visibly deteriorate, remove it rather than leaving it for the birds.
How You Feed Matters as Much as What You Feed
Even safe foods can create problems if you ignore feeding hygiene. Research on urban bird feeding stations has found that the structures used for feeding can become contaminated with pathogens. One study testing feeding stations found that they tested positive for Salmonella enterica Typhimurium on roughly seven percent of sampling occasions, confirming that feeding setups serve as a potential transmission pathway for disease.3Journal of Avian Biology. Experimental feeding regime influences urban bird disease dynamics Salmonella can spread between birds congregating at a single food source, and the risk increases when food sits out for long periods or when the feeding area is never cleaned.
The broader pattern is supported by evidence that supplementary feeding can increase parasite transmission frequency within and between common bird species.4PubMed Central. Influences severe disease-mediated population declines in two of the most common garden bird species in Great Britain This does not mean you should never feed wild birds, but it does mean that how you set up and maintain a feeding area has real consequences for bird health.
A few practical steps reduce the risk considerably:
- Scatter food: Spreading food across a wider area rather than piling it in one spot reduces the crowding that facilitates disease transmission. Crows and ravens are ground feeders by preference, so scattering peanuts or kibble across a lawn or flat surface works well.
- Remove leftovers: Take away any uneaten food within a few hours, especially in warm or wet weather. Food that sits overnight attracts rats and raccoons and becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and mold.
- Rotate locations: If you feed regularly, move the feeding spot around your yard or area every week or so. This prevents pathogen buildup in the soil and reduces the concentration of droppings in one place.
- Clean surfaces: If you use a platform feeder or tray, scrub it with a dilute bleach solution (one part bleach to nine parts water) and rinse thoroughly at least once a week.
Feeding Frequency and Dependence
One concern people raise is whether regular feeding will make corvids dependent on handouts and less able to forage on their own. With corvids specifically, this worry is probably overstated. Crows and ravens are among the most adaptable and intelligent birds on the planet, and studies of urban corvid populations consistently show that they exploit multiple food sources simultaneously rather than relying on a single one.2PubMed Central. Corvids in Urban Environments: A Systematic Global Literature Review A crow that visits your yard for peanuts in the morning is still foraging in parking lots, fields, and garbage bins the rest of the day.
That said, moderation is still sensible. Offering food once a day or a few times a week, rather than maintaining an all-day buffet, keeps the birds engaged in their normal foraging routines. It also reduces the disease-transmission risks associated with high-traffic feeding stations. If you are feeding primarily to build a relationship with the birds in your yard, consistency of timing matters more than quantity. Putting out a small handful of peanuts at roughly the same time each day will bring crows back reliably without overfeeding them.
Seasonal Considerations
Corvid nutritional needs shift across the year, and adjusting what you offer can make your supplementary feeding more useful. In winter, when natural food sources thin out and energy demands increase, high-fat foods like peanuts, suet, and sunflower seeds are the most beneficial. Fat is the most calorie-dense macronutrient, and it helps birds maintain body temperature during cold nights. Winter is the season when supplementary feeding does the most unambiguous good, because it fills a genuine gap in the food supply.
In spring and early summer, breeding adults and growing chicks need more protein. Mealworms, hard-boiled eggs, and unseasoned meat scraps become more valuable during this period. Calcium is also in higher demand for egg-laying females, so crushed eggshells or whole hard-boiled eggs with the shell left on are a thoughtful addition. By late summer and fall, fruits and grains become a larger part of the natural diet as crops ripen and insects start to decline. Offering cut fruit, corn, or berries during this season aligns well with what the birds are already seeking.
None of this means you need to run a seasonal menu. Peanuts and kibble are solid year-round staples. But if you want to be intentional about it, leaning toward fat in winter and protein in spring gets you closer to what the birds actually need at any given time.
Ecological Effects of Feeding Corvids
There is a less comfortable side to feeding crows and ravens that is worth knowing about. Corvids are not just charming, intelligent birds. They are also effective nest predators that eat the eggs and chicks of smaller songbirds. Research on corvid populations and habitat has found that corvid density and their predation rate on other birds’ nests both increase as the proportion of agricultural and fragmented land in a landscape increases.5Ecology. Corvid Density and Nest Predation in Relation to Forest Fragmentation: A Landscape Perspective Urban and suburban environments, with their mix of open spaces, food waste, and supplementary feeding, create conditions that support higher corvid densities than more natural landscapes would.
Supplementary feeding probably contributes to this dynamic at some level, though no study has isolated backyard feeding as a primary driver of corvid population growth. The more significant factors are likely garbage access, agricultural land use, and habitat fragmentation. Still, if you live in an area where songbird populations are under pressure, it is worth being aware that feeding corvids in large quantities could contribute to an already skewed predator-prey balance. This is not a reason to stop feeding entirely, but it is a reason to feed in moderation and avoid creating a corvid magnet that draws dozens of birds to one spot daily.
Building a Relationship With Yard Corvids
Many people who search for what to feed crows are really asking how to befriend them. Corvids are famously capable of recognizing individual human faces, remembering which people are threats and which are food providers, and even bringing small “gifts” to people who feed them regularly. If this is your goal, the feeding strategy matters less than the behavioral approach.
Start by placing food in the same spot at roughly the same time, then stepping well back. Crows are cautious around new situations, and they will watch you from a distance before approaching. Over time, you can gradually reduce the distance, but let the birds set the pace. Making direct eye contact or moving toward them will slow the process. Standing at an angle, appearing busy with something else, and letting them approach the food on their own terms works faster than trying to lure them closer.
Peanuts in the shell are ideal for relationship-building because they are visible, distinctive, and make noise when you toss them. The birds quickly learn to associate the sight and sound of peanuts with your presence. Some people report crows bringing them shiny objects, buttons, or small trinkets in apparent reciprocity, though this behavior is anecdotal and varies widely between individual birds and populations. Whether or not you get gifts in return, most people who feed crows consistently for a few weeks find that the birds begin greeting them with calls and following them around the yard, which is its own reward.
Legal and Neighborly Considerations
Before you set up a regular feeding routine, check local regulations. In some municipalities, feeding wildlife, including birds, is restricted or outright prohibited, particularly in areas where large congregations of birds cause noise complaints, property damage, or public health concerns. Corvids are loud, and a flock of crows descending on your yard at dawn every morning may not endear you to your neighbors.
Crows in particular roost communally, sometimes in groups of hundreds or thousands. If your feeding creates a reliable food source in a residential area, you may inadvertently shift roosting patterns closer to your neighborhood, bringing noise, droppings, and territorial behavior with them. Keeping feeding modest, scattered, and varied in location helps prevent this. If neighbors express concern, reducing the frequency of feeding or shifting to less visible methods, like scattering food under a tree rather than on an open platform, can help maintain the peace without abandoning your corvid friends entirely.
In the United States, crows and ravens are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which means you cannot trap, harm, or possess them, but feeding them is legal in most jurisdictions as long as it does not create a public nuisance. Some states have additional regulations. In the UK, feeding wild birds is generally unrestricted, though local councils can issue orders against it in specific areas where it causes documented problems. Australia has stricter rules in some states about feeding native wildlife, including corvids, so checking your state’s wildlife authority website before starting is prudent.
Water Matters Too
People focus on food, but crows and ravens also benefit from a reliable water source, especially in hot or dry climates. A shallow birdbath or even a large plant saucer filled with clean water serves double duty: the birds drink from it and use it to soak dry food like kibble before eating. Corvids have been observed dunking hard food items in water to soften them, a behavior that highlights their problem-solving abilities. Change the water daily to prevent mosquito breeding and bacterial buildup. In freezing weather, a heated birdbath or simply refreshing the water each morning keeps it available when natural water sources are iced over.