Are Crows Dangerous? (Reasons They Attack + How To Avoid)

crow is a member Corvidae Family (Corvids), including magpies, crows, jays, rooks and jackdaws. According to some studies, these well-known and widespread birds are quite intelligent — about as smart as a 7-year-old child, but are crows aggressive or territorial?

Crows are incredibly socially intelligent and good at understanding who or what is dangerous or potentially dangerous. If they sense danger, they will not hesitate to take the initiative, swooping and swooping down on their opponents to scare them away. However, this behavior is only common during the breeding season, when most birds become increasingly territorial.

During the breeding season, birds tend to become increasingly aggressive and territorial as they build their nests and raise their chicks. This is extremely common in birds, which often isolate themselves from other birds during the breeding season in order to focus all their energy on successfully raising their young. This is when crows are most likely to show aggression toward humans, animals, and other birds.

It is not uncommon for flocks of crows to “siege” crows or other animals. Crows and crows seem to have a huge rivalry in the Covid family!

Of course, there’s still a lot to learn about crows’ aggressive behavior – read on to find out!

A pair of crows fighting in the air

How dangerous are black crows?

To humans, crows are actually not too much of a danger as they are relatively small and can’t do much damage at all. Generally speaking, crows will only attack humans when they are near their nests during the breeding season.

Crows are usually solitary and only attack when they feel threatened by themselves, or by their chicks or other family members.

Usually first, the crows take off when threats or humans approach. Aggression is usually only a last resort. Crows are very intelligent birds, they can recognize when someone is passing by and when someone is walking directly towards them.

If a crow mobs and attacks you, the worst outcome is usually just a few cuts or scratches, however, this is extremely rare.

Read on as we dig into what to do if a crow attacks you, and when a crow is aggressive or territorial.

Ravens do not pose any danger or threat to humans

How do crows protect themselves?

Crows use their intelligence to identify threats. Research has shown that crows are highly effective at identifying potential environmental threats. Therefore, crows do not wait until they are attacked, but often take the initiative to scare birds, animals and even humans away from their habitats.

One of the main techniques crows use to defend their territory is siege. Small groups of crows often band together to attack other animals, especially birds. Flocks of crows chasing hawks, hawks, kites, gulls and other large birds of prey are common.

Even when there is no group to attack, crows are happy to take on larger birds alone. Single crows have even been observed violently chasing eagles many times their size!

The second tactic crows use to defend themselves is dive bombing. In some hotspots in the United States and Canada, crows routinely dive-bomb humans, including in Vancouver and outside Arcadia University in Nova Scotia.

If there are crows nesting nearby, there’s a good chance they’ll swoop down and peck passers-by! Of course, the resulting wounds are almost always superficial at worst, but it still shows how aggressive these clever birds can become when “provoked”.

American crow sieges red-tailed hawk

Are crows aggressive towards humans?

If crows feel threatened, they don’t discriminate the size of their target, and can definitely attack a human if they feel defensive enough!

During the breeding season, crows often swoop down on humans passing near their nests, which is common in North America. In fact, the American crow is one of the most aggressive of the crow species, and the smaller carrion crows are less aggressive towards larger animals, including humans.

At Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada, the university campus had to warn students and staff because aggressive crows were swooping down on people on campus. There are news reports of dive bombing crows in many cities in the United States and Canada!

When crows dive-bomb humans, they rarely inflict serious damage. Surface scratches are probably the worst scratches you can think of. In fact, a crow’s aggressive behavior rarely results in injury – the goal is to scare off a predator, not engage in an actual fight!

The aggression of crows is impressive because crows remember those who “offend them” the most and attack them. Crows remember faces for years – if not their entire lives – so if you’re marked as a threat by a particular crow, it might hunt you down if it sees you.

This happened to a man in Madhya Pradesh, India, who was regularly chased by angry crows outside his home. The Ravens likely see him as a potential threat – and haven’t forgotten who he is!

Carrion crow with mealworms in its mouth

Are crows aggressive towards other birds?

Crows are especially aggressive during breeding season. However, this is far from unique to crows – most birds become aggressive during the breeding season.

When crows become aggressive, they attack and chase other birds in and around nests and territories. Crows are not only aggressive towards other birds, but also towards each other.

However, it should be noted that crows will rarely attack other birds to seriously injure or kill them. While flocks of crows have been dubbed “crow murders,” they’re not evil.

Instead, their goal is to scare away predators. This may involve scratching and pecking, but crows will rarely go further than necessary to deter a predator!

Crows really don’t care how big another bird is!

What would you do if a crow attacked you?

If a crow attacks you, it will probably be quick and harmless. keep calm and go away. If you slap or chase a crow, it may continue to attack you.

Crows often become territorial if you encroach on their nest, so if you leave the area, they will almost certainly move away from you. If you know there’s a crow’s nest on a path or sidewalk you frequent, it might be wise to keep it away in the future!

Crows mobbing a gray heron in the air

Do crows fight to the death?

Crows generally do not attack each other to kill or cause serious injury. Instead, it’s a territorial behavior designed to protect the crow and its nest — not kill other crows.

However, there are some exceptions, as crows are sometimes seen attacking injured or sick crows, or even killing them. Sociality and docility among crows is reasonable the vast majority of the time, especially outside of breeding season.

Crows sometimes kill and eat nestlings and other small birds, but this is not particularly common either. So, while crows are indeed quite aggressive, they are not evil birds and are no more aggressive than most other birds.

Three crows fighting on the ice

common problem

Why is a crow dive bombing me?

It could be that you are invading its personal space, or getting too close to its den or baby! Crows fiercely defend their territories, especially throughout the spring breeding season. During this time, the crow will not hesitate to attack anyone who comes too close to the nest. American crows are particularly aggressive, hence why most crow dive explosions occur in the US and Canada!

Have crows ever killed people?

Fortunately, crows have never killed humans, and probably never will. While crows aren’t small by bird standards, they’re still hard-pressed to deal a serious blow to humans. Scratches and cuts are probably the worst thing you can think of. In theory, large flocks of hundreds of crows could inflict serious harm on humans, but that hasn’t happened yet!

Do crows attack cats?

There have been some anecdotal reports of crows attacking kittens, but this is unlikely. While crows will chase cats out of their territory like most other animals, they still don’t want to come to harm themselves. Cats are more likely to kill crows in open fights!

Do crows attack dogs?

Crows see dogs as predators, just like many other animals. Therefore, crows will attack dogs when there are legitimate reasons, such as protecting their nest or chicks. However, crows are very smart and will only pick fights they will win, so they won’t come face to face with a dog if they can help them!