Ravens/Crows as pets

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A friend of a friend had a pet crow once (Australian Raven, but we call them crows. They're the ones with the bristly chin feathers, and their call is an "ark" and a gurgle). This was many many years ago before the EPA had anything to do with anything. They raised it from a baby, and it used to follow the kids up the road to school, then fly home. Come school out, it would be waiting there at the gate to walk them back home. He used to warm them about snakes, and any other dangers that might be about, and it was as loyal and as friendly and as intelligent as any dog could have ever been! He lived to the ripe old age of 20 human years!!

I also have another friend who is a WIRES bird carer, and she's had many baby crows, and hundreds of magpies (and peewees and tawny frogmouths to name a few). One crow I remember became very tame, and loved sitting on my sholder while I was visiting. He kept looking me in the eye, and his eyes were that beautiful blue colour!! He kept croaking whenever he wanted a bit of my bread, and he was so beautiful!

We have a family of magpies that live with us (in the garden). They bring around their babies every year, and we feed them, they take the food from your fingers sometimes. They never swoop us, but they swoop everyone else who walks past our yard, which is pretty funny to watch)! One day I heard this car alarm, and it was really close, so I went outside and there was the mother magpie, calling away! I sat there and listened for ages, she could mimick a crow, a butcherbird, a noisy minor, a car alarm, what I think was an electric saw, a cockatoo, and all kinds of other birds I can't remember. It was amazing!!

I've known magpies to be tame after their 2nd year. The males go a little wild, but the females are better. Many years ago, before I was born, my parents found a baby magpie who was extremely tame. He adopted them and would sleep inside a little box every night, and wake them up singing in the morning. Eventually Mum got pregnant with me and they couldn't keep him anymore (don't ask me why, I wasn't born yet!) so he went to live in a nearby wildlife park where he became one of the "teachers helpers" to teach people more about native wildlife. Here's a pic from an old slide we've put on the computer.
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You could always become a WIRES volunteer, caring for birds, and reptiles! ;) That way, if they called you up and said "we've got..." and you didn't want to take care of it, you wouldn't have to.
Or you can always go raid a nest...watch for the parents though, and wear a full protective body suit!!! I've been swooped (and got a nasty head wound) by magpies when I was young, and even a couple of crows while trying to pick their fledging up off the ground :D
 
Ok i'm probably mistaken or something but i've noticed some of the crows/ravens have blue eyes and others have brown? Is that a possible way of telling apart or is it just a random thing?
 
Hi,

Im looking for a raven, magpie or crow (or similar) for a music video were filming this monday in Granville NSW

Can anyone help or point me in right direction ??

Thanks

Edward
0410 185 461
 
there is a man in gundagai that has an albino magpie and he is breeding them he is 40min from me
they would be the ones to get
 
Raven/crow/magpie needed for video shoot

Hi,

Im looking for a raven, magpie or crow (or similar) for a music video were filming this monday in Granville NSW

Can anyone help or point me in right direction ??

Thanks

Edward
0410 185 461​
 
I live in SA and there are two types of corvid, Australian Ravens and Little Ravens, they are difficult to tell apart at first glance however although corvids look the same they have major behavioral differences. Little Ravens live in small flocks while Australian Ravens live territories all year round and when they call they appear to have a beard. Little Ravens also eat much more vegetable matter. The forest raven has a thicker bill and a shorter tail, Torresian crows are mostly rainforest dwellers and have white feathers revealed when the wind blows on them as do little crows, which have a proportionatly smaller bill.
 
found a crow

yesterday my wife and i were driving when we nearly hit a baby crow on the road it could not fly and is way too young to be out of the nest we took it home and luckly we have a huge avary not being used atm and we were going to take it to the bird refuge the next morning ....
this morning we found our son in the avary feeding it hamberger patties and the crow sitting perched on his shoulder .. so if you can keep crows in western australia we would like to know as this ones a ripper

crows are very noisie as we have found out we have kept roosters at one time and i would say the crow is just aa anoying as the rooster they are scavangers so mostly eat anything they can

once this crow is able to fly we will be letting it lose hopfully it sticks around
 
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All I can suggest is that you call DESQ TahneeMaree and ask them what you can do. Just some little facts I thought i'd throw in as well :D
- Ravens have blue eyes unlike crows, and crows are not native to Australia
- Crows, Ravens etc.. all belong to the Corvid family, corvids are the smartest bird family.
 
Why not. If you get to associate you with food and learn to trust you, I can't see any reason crows and ravens might be pets.

I've befriended the local magpies and they can be very cheaky and they follow my wife and I around like puppy dogs and sometimes you nearly trip over them. They've been known to follow inside too and then walked back out when their curiousity has been satisfied.

Ravens, crows and magpies are incredibly cleavour birds and they are great at problem solving , and great fun to watch when they are playing with each other on the lawn.

Our birds become friendly when we had a cat, they would steal the cat food , and become so very friendly. They taught their babies to be the same , and their babies taught ther babies.

I would want keep them in a cage or avery though. Not fair on the birds.

yesterday me and my wife were driving when we nearly hit a baby crow on the road it could not fly and is way too young to be out of the nest we took it home and luckly we have a huge avary not being used atm and we were going to take it to the bird refuge the next morning ....
this morning we found our son in the avary feeding it hamber patties and the crow sitting perched on his shoulder .. so if you can keep crows in western australia we would like to know as this ones a ripper

Wow, maybe if you give it the run of the back yard .
 
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Malcolm you wouldn't be able to keep that particular bird legally as it's a wild bird and therefore must be returned to the wild HOWEVER magpies, crows, etc will generally live where they get a good wicket so if you raise this little one and then release it directly to your backyard(I prefer a soft release where they have their regular cage to retreat into but can chose their freedom when ready) chances are it will decide to live in your backyard. My handraise magpie used to trot around the backyard and help me garden :)
 
Hello out there ^_^
SO, I've always wanted a nice intelegent bird as a pet, but parrots LOVE to chew things and tend to make ALOT of noise...

So I thought I'd look into having a Crow, Raven or Magpie as a pet... though I don't know all the legalities and stuff... like needing them on lisence and stuff... OR where to get one even...

(I have a soft spot for these birds but never considered one as a pet until now)

I'd really like to hear from anyone who can help me out with any info on keeping/caring for them... IF I can keep one... ^_^

I would MUCH prefer a Raven because I've read that they're more inteligent and cleaner (correct me if I'm wrong please)
I know they do make some noise and collect all your shiny things and can peck so please no flaming over the bad things they do... I have and WILL take it all into consideration before juming the purchase bridge... this is just an info fishing expedition at the moment...

Thanks in advance :)

not an expert on birds but I think you will find a Raven is part of the Crow family, which includes Ravens, Jays and Magpies.

So a Raven is a Crow but a Crow doesn't have to be a Raven.

for a bit of trivia, speak with the British Royal family as they have been keeping them for centuries as there is a superstition that if they let the Ravens die the royal family will fall.

Enjoy
 
so raven :: Tookie 1.08 video by ssssnakeman - Photobucket

an old thread deserves an old clip of tookie.
Lovely noise huh, imagine this noise everday ..all day ..getting louder and louder as the bird grows.
now imagine this lasting for more than a year.
Just want to make sure you know what your getting yourself into if you decide to raise an orphaned raven chick..
 
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we have had a pair of crows visiting our work everyday without fail for atleast 4 or 5 years the big male is missing an eye we named them eric and shelly from the movie the crow, there awesome, we even hand feed them and all, and shelly will catch food mid air if you throw it up for her, and so far they have raised 3 lots of chicks as far as we know, fantastic animals!!
 
Crow mob is Australia's gift to the rest of the world. They evolved here.

I kept maggies as a kid (stolen from the nest, though not without personal injury) and I know now I was wrong but they are brilliant animals. Very friendly and intelligent and not hearing the chortle of a magpie is one of the very few things I miss living in Darwin. Highly recommended if you can get one legitimately.

so raven :: Tookie 1.08 video by ssssnakeman - Photobucket

an old thread deserves an old clip of tookie.
Lovely noise huh, imagine this noise everday ..all day ..getting louder and louder as the bird grows.
now imagine this lasting for more than a year.
Just want to make sure you know what your getting yourself into if you decide to raise an orphaned raven chick..

Ha ha. Sounds like the martians in MARS ATTACKS!

I love crows when they're talking. Especially the creaking noises that featured in Predator!

In every Aboriginal language I have come across so far they are called Wark or Wark Wark :D
 
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Hi guy's. I'm in Tassie and live in a rural area. We have a large bird called a currawong and I am currently feeding one that has an injury to her beak. She comes down to the front of our house every morning and afternoon and I feed her with bread, meat and kitchen scraps. Because of her injury she scoops her beak across the ground to pick up the food offered. She knows when it is safe to come down as we have two large labradors and she won't venture down when they are around. She is highly intelligent and is getting more and more game every day. Do you guy's have this type of bird on the mainland and do they have another name as if you could have one they are an amazing animal Cheers liley43
 
Aww, this made me miss my Jet so bad. I raised a young raven myself, he (or she, I never did get the bloods to find out which), was a 'soft release' in my backyard, I never intended to keep him in an aviary. While he was young he was in a cage at night for his own protection as we had a heap of magpies and cats around, but during the day he used to cruise around the backyard.
He became attached; used to look out for me, follow me to the supermarket, if I came out into the back yard he'd swoop down from his favourite tree and land on my shoulder. I never found him feral or noisy or aloof; he reminded me of a tiny feathery labrador. Every morning when I went out he used to hit me full in the chest and clamber up to my shoulder and nibble on my ear, really gently. He was funny too; if he was thirsty he used to gape his mouth and stick his head on the side, and a couple of times on really hot days when he wanted a bath he spread his wings, flopped his head and flattened out on the grass. The first time he did it I freaked out and thought he'd just up and died for some reason lmao!
He was different with different people; always gentle with me, but he was a little rougher with my husband, used to tug on my mother-in-law's pants legs, was unsure about my father-in-law so he'd just jump on his lap, and he'd chase my kids around (never threatening, they'd be cracking up and if he caught them he'd tug on their clothes). One of my mates who had a bit of a phobia used to come over and he'd swoop over her to get to the table then caw, cheeky little bugger.
He's with a friend in the Riverland now, circumstances changed suddenly so we had to leave to New Zealand. It totally broke my heart to give him up, but he knew how to forage, fly and defend himself as I'd never kept him in a cage except for when he was really young, and it had to be done.
Amazing birds, but I'm never getting another one. I couldn't give it up again if I had to and I don't want to take the chance.
 
Hi guy's. I'm in Tassie and live in a rural area. We have a large bird called a currawong and I am currently feeding one that has an injury to her beak.

We do have currawongs on the mainland. They are lovely.

But please do not feed wild birds bread. It's not good for them at all. Probably the best thing to give them is bits of mince rolled up in little balls.
 
Just some little facts I thought i'd throw in as well :D
- Ravens have blue eyes unlike crows, and crows are not native to Australia

Wrong, sorry. I had a baby crow that fell from a nest at boarding school, it had the bluest eyes, he sat on my shoulder for a good couple of hours until the teacher caught us. If you watch ssssnakeman's video of Tookie the raven, his eyes are brown.

Maggies are awesome pets, we used to rescue them when they fell out of the nests. We fed them mostly wheat and some mince and they always came back when released, one of them, Swoopy, even brought her babies back with her.
 
Wrong, sorry. I had a baby crow that fell from a nest at boarding school, it had the bluest eyes, he sat on my shoulder for a good couple of hours until the teacher caught us. If you watch ssssnakeman's video of Tookie the raven, his eyes are brown.

Maggies are awesome pets, we used to rescue them when they fell out of the nests. We fed them mostly wheat and some mince and they always came back when released, one of them, Swoopy, even brought her babies back with her.

Yep. Magpies know a soft touch when they see one.

Can be very cheaky, even wonder inside behind you if you aren't careful.

Love having them visit my yard and sometimes I'll toss them a treat. They are hilarious when they are playing on the lawn.
 
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