18 
Conservation Bulletin J8 
The crow is practically omnivorous. During spring and early summer any 
form of insect life seems to make a desirable item in its diet, and in winter 
when hard pressed nothing in the animal or vegetable kingdoms which contains 
a morsel of nutriment is overlooked. 
The insect food of the crow, which comprises about a fifth of its yearly 
sustenance, does much to atone for its misdemeanors. Grasshoppers, May 
beetles and their larvae (white grubs), caterpillars, weevils, and wireworms 
stand out prominently. In 1,340 stomachs of adults examined these highly in¬ 
jurious forms comprised over 80 per cent of the insect food. Grasshoppers are 
naturally taken in greatest abundance late in the season, September being the 
month of largest consumption, when they form about a fifth of the total food. 
May beetles and white grubs are eaten in every month, but occur most 
prominently in May. In June caterpillars are a favorite food, and weevils of 
various kinds are taken in varying quantities throughout summer and fall. 
About half of the remaining 20 per cent of insect food is composed of beneficial 
ground beetles, ladybirds, predacious bugs, and parasitic wasps, and related 
forms, the rest consisting of neutral or injurious forms. Numerous instances 
are on record where fields badly infested with white grubs or grasshoppers 
have been favorite resorts of crows, whose voracity has resulted in a material 
suppression of the pest. When the amount of food required to sustain the 
individual crow is considered, the work of these birds appears all the more 
important. Single stomachs con¬ 
taining upward of 50 grasshop¬ 
pers are not uncommon. Thus in 
its choice of insect food the crow 
is rendering an important service 
to the farmer. 
In the other animal food of 
the crow are several items of 
the utmost economic importance. 
Spiders are taken in consider¬ 
able numbers in May and June, 
but the yearly total is a little 
over 1 per cent of the food. 
In early spring crawfish are 
eagerly sought, and other aquatic 
food, as fish and mollusks, lend 
variety to the crow’s bill of 
fare the year round. In the con¬ 
sumption of toads, salamanders, 
frogs, and some snakes, which together compose a little over 2 per cent of the 
yearly food, the crow is doubtless doing harm. Small rodents occurred in the 
stomachs collected nearly every month, but it is often difficult to determine 
whether small mammals found in birds’ stomachs were taken alive or found dead. 
From its carrion-eating habits the crow has been unfairly criticized as a 
disseminator of live-stock diseases. While this may be to some extent just, the 
fact that there are many other important carriers which lie largely beyond our 
control, shows that we must seek final relief only through the strictest methods 
of sanitation. 
The nest-robbing habit of the crow, long a serious criticism, is verified by 
stomach analysis. Of the 1,103 crows examined, 47 had fed on wild birds or 
their eggs, and the eggs of domestic fowls were found somewhat more fre¬ 
quently. The crow’s habit of rummaging about garbage piles may explain 
much of this latter material. 
Of the vegetable food, corn, which is eaten every month, is the most im¬ 
portant item and forms about 38 per cent of the diet. Much of this, however, 
must be considered waste, since over 60 per cent of it is consumed from the first 
of November to the end of March. During the periods when corn is sprouting 
and when in the “ roasting-ear ” stage the crow is eating this grain at a rate 
considerably less than the yearly average, and the months of smallest consump¬ 
tion are July and August. At times, however, the damage to corn becomes a 
serious problem, and were it not possible to make use of such deterrents as coal 
tar upon seed corn there would be little friendship for the crow in some sec¬ 
tions of the East. The “ pulling ” of corn is a trait most prevalent in small- 
field areas. Wheat and oats suffer similar damage at times, especially in the 
Northwestern States, where these grains predominate. About the only safe¬ 
guard to ripening grain is the constant use of powder and shot or the scarecrow. 
Fig. 16.—Crow. Length, about 19 inches. 
