Found a Baby Crow?
Crows are very intelligent and live in family units where all members of the extended
family care for all the babies born within the unit. They are also protective of all the othercrows in the family pod. They readily accept other adult and baby crows into the group.
Crows visit their aging parents many years after they have left the nest.
Baby crows hop out of their nest as they become feathered, and before they can fly. At
that point, they can hop and flutter to get up to short landings and use their feet to "climb"
to higher roosts. They spend a lot of time in low branches and on the ground during thisstage of development (known as the fledgling stage), and the family members come down
to feed the young ones when they cry. Likewise, crows also respond to "grounded"
adults; they try to coax them to return to their higher lofts by cawing and diving at thegrounded bird. This activity is frequently misinterpreted by humans as attacks on the
helpless bird.
The babies have blue eyes that turn to brown as they become juveniles. Both have yellow
corners at their bill and are bright red inside the mouths, while adult mouths are black
inside and outside. Juveniles are fully feathered and they are clumsy walkers (they lookintoxicated!). They often fall from side to side when they try to walk around. They havewing feathers that are grown in but may still have some quill shafts on them near thepoint where the feathers attach to the wing. Well-meaning humans commonly "rescue"these birds thinking that they are injured.
The proper course of action in this case is to leave the baby in the family. It is importantthat they are with the family unit to learn foraging and predator avoidance behaviors.
Their socialization within the crow family is also critical to their survival. As olderfledglings (juveniles), they will frequently refuse food from humans and will actually
starve themselves to death as they reject even the most aggressive feeding techniques.
Good News: Crows are so social and protective of their species, that they will accept ababy not even related to their family. Healthy crow fledglings can be introduced to ANY
crow family pod and will be accepted, fed, and protected as one of their own (we should
be so lucky).
Ideally, you should return the baby to the family of origin. Alternately, you can findanother established pod of crows. To return a baby to its family or to "foster" it into a
new family, follow these procedures: The best arrival time at the scene is early or latemorning. The birds are active then, and you will want the baby to have the full day to getestablished and to get the number of feedings that it should have before dark. When youarrive at the site, hold the bird’s body gently in your hands leaving the wings free. Raiseand lower the bird in your hands to encourage it to flap the wings. This will usually cause
the baby to vocalize and will attract the attention of resident crows. The resident crows

will respond right away to the bird's cries and come down to investigate. When you havethe attention of the family, toss the baby into a tall thicket or into a tree. They usually
land sideways and hang by one leg as if they are stranded. Don't panic. They rightthemselves in a few minutes and will shortly communicate with the other crows. The
family will adopt the baby and all will be well.
This reintroduction should be done as soon as possible to avoid long periods of food
fasting and to avoid bonding to humans (deadly to wild bird survival).
If there is an obvious injury present, i.e. bloody wounds, leg or wing that are not in theright position (hanging wings and wobbly legs are normal) or there is a known injury(dogs, cars, etc.) then a rescue should be done. If the baby is naked, with no feathers or
has very sparse feathers, it should be rescued.
Note: It is very rare for a cat to attack a crow.

Pacific Wildlife Project
PO Box 7673
Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-7673
http://www.pacificwildlife.org
help@pacificwildlife.org