18 
FARMERS" BULLETIN 630, 
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 1,103 stomachs examined these highly injurious 
forms comprised over 80 per cent of the insect food. Grasshoppers are natu¬ 
rally 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 except January, 
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 grass¬ 
hoppers 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 stom¬ 
achs containing upward of 50 
grasshoppers 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 ut¬ 
most economic importance. Spi¬ 
ders are taken in considerable 
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 mol- 
lusks lend variety to the crow’s 
bill of fare the year round. In the 
consumption of toads, salamanders, 
frogs, and some snakes, which to¬ 
gether 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. Fifty of the 1,103 crows examined had fed on wild birds or 
their eggs, and the eggs of domestic fowls were found slightly more frequently. 
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 a third of the yearly diet. Much of this, how¬ 
ever, must be considered waste. Over 60 per cent 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. 
