I haven’t made a point to befriend crows, but I’ve very much made a point to establish mutual trust and respect. When I moved my pup from Saint Paul (which had surprisingly few if any crows) back to my long time home of Seattle (which, I’ve only since learned, if famous for its crows), I had to teach pup not to chase crows. She actually has learned the difference between crows (and Steller’s jays) and other birds.

And the crows definitely know us. And recognized us when we moved to another neighborhood. They know we give them a wide berth if they’re doing their thing on the ground whenever we can, crossing the road or splitting the middle wherever possible. And they calmly move aside when they see that we can’t. Sometimes one will see us and (I think) find a perch to announce our approach to the others. At first this seemed like a warning, but now it feels more like a friendly heads up.

I don’t regularly give them food, but I did sometimes leave little stuff for them at a designated place outside my last house. It was an accident the first time, I had left a little cup of salsa out on top of my yard/food waste bin and forgotten it was there until I saw a crow fly off with it. After that, any deliberate offering left there was swept up within minutes.

I’d like to make better friends with them, but most of my encounters are with pup in tow. While she definitely understands they’re different than other birds, she still needs fairly strict control to keep her behaved while we pass by. So friendly respect at a distance feels more appropriate.