Can Crows Talk? (And 5 Other Things You Didn’t Know About Crows)

Crows are not quiet birds. You’ve probably heard their loud “caws” echoing around your neighborhood. But what are crows trying to say? Humans may never be able to fully translate their vocalizations.

But what if crows could communicate with humans — by talking like one? Let’s take a look at whether or not crows can talk with people, and other cool facts about these chatty birds.

1. Can Crows Talk? Sort of!

Crows, like other corvids such as magpies and ravens, can imitate human speech and other noises if they are exposed to them enough. In addition to repeating words, they can also mimic specific voices.

Although crows can say words, they do not understand their meaning and are not actually “speaking” with people. However, it’s pretty strange to hear a crow greeting a human with a friendly “hello!”

2. A Crow’s Call Can Mean Many Different Things

While crows may not understand what they are saying to people, they do have a wide range of vocalizations to communicate with one another. Crows don’t make noise just to annoy the neighborhood; instead, they are vocalizing to chat with other crows. In addition to their loud caw, crows also use clicks, rattles, screeches, and different vocalization patterns to get messages across.

Crow calls are divided into two categories: contextual and non-contextual. Contextual calls are vocalizations that the crow makes in response to an environmental factor. For example, a crow caws loudly and more rapidly when they detect a predator or threat. The bigger the threat, the louder the crow gets.

Non-contextual calls are calls that aren’t triggered by something else. A crow may emit a rattling noise to self-soothe, or to communicate intimately with another familiar crow. The American crows also vocalize when they find food, or to scold other crows when they are displeased. Separate groups of crows have different “dialects,” and may use similar sounds to mean different things.

3. Crows Like to Play Pranks

Corvids are nature’s pranksters, and they enjoy teasing other animals and one another. Crows have been known to lock people into structures, provoke cats into fighting one another, or yank on people’s hair or dog’s tails just for fun. Crows also just enjoy having a good time and often participate in “purposeless activities,” seemingly just for fun. This includes rolling in snow, doing aerial tricks, hiding inedible objects through play caching, “talking” to themselves, and hanging off of branches upside down.

4. Crows Are Great Problem Solvers

Crows are highly intelligent and have big brains (in fact, they have one of the highest brain-to-body size ratios of any avian species). This allows crows to problem solve like people. In fact, crows may be smarter than children. In experiments with captive crows, researchers discovered that crows understand water displacement, a concept that most human children do not master until they are around seven years old.

These savvy birds also use (and make) tools to get food. New Caledonia crows in particular are well-known for their advanced use of sticks to reach things that they want. They have even been recorded bending wire into hooks to lift items out of hard-to-reach places.

5. They Don’t Have Much Patience

Crows become impatient and frustrated when a challenge is too difficult. During training sessions with captive crows, birds that were unable to solve a puzzle tipped the entire thing over, threw pieces away, or otherwise refused to engage. Essentially, they threw a hissy fit. Crows can also remember specific faces and hold grudges against people who have frustrated them in the past.

6. Teenage Crows Are Good Babysitters

Usually, where there is one crow, there will be more. These birds are highly social and enjoy spending time with other crows. Crows are usually monogamous and mate for life. Babies may stick around and form social groups with their parents and are sometimes even recruited for babysitting. Juvenile crows will assist the parents with chick-rearing, helping to defend the nest, and bringing food to the babies. One study found that up to 80% of crow parents received a helping hand (or wing) from a younger crow.