Crows are not picky eaters and are natural scavengers.
They can eat almost anything edible without any problems.
Their diet is usually composed of fruits, berries, vegetables, human food, meat, and nuts.
With that said, acorns are one of the most common nuts available.
But do crows eat acorns?
Acorns are one of the all-time favorite foods of many animals.
This specific nut is also one of the most commonly eaten foods by crows.
Not because these are crows’ favorite, but rather because of its availability.
Acorns are plenty everywhere and usually seen on the ground.
Since crows are opportunistic birds, they would not let the acorns, which is an available food for them, to simply rot.
Where Do Crows Find Acorns?
Crows perfectly know where to find acorns – on the ground.
Since these nuts are produced by oak trees, these usually fall simply on land.
Some places are plentiful of oak trees and crows know that under these trees, there is available food to eat.
Fallen acorns are not only fed to crows, but to many animals in the wildlife as well.
This turns acorns into something that is available for everyone and a part of a diet of most animals.
Are Acorns Safe For Crows?
Truth to be told, despite the availability of acorns, they are not safe for everyone.
These nuts contain some substances that can be dangerous to some animals and even to humans when eaten raw.
Luckily, crows can eat raw acorns safely without any side effects or consequences.
In fact, it can pretty be concluded that raw acorns are only meant for wildlife, including crows.
These birds do not need any complicated process just to eat these nuts safely.
How Do Crows Eat Acorns?
So, if crows can eat acorns without any health troubles to bear, how do they eat them?
Regardless how acorns can be seen anywhere, they are still nuts – extremely hard nuts.
These things pose a serious challenge to some animals because it is difficult to eat due to their hard shells.
Though that is not really a challenge to crows.
These birds are extremely intelligent, so it is not surprising that they would find an easy way to crack and eat these acorns.
Currently, crows have two ways to break these nuts:
Dropping it from a high place
Crows found an easy way to crack the nuts open and it is dropping them from a very high altitude.
They would fly high and drop the acorns to break it once it lands on the ground.
Cracking the acorns in this manner does not require any hard work and is very efficient for crows.
Crack it with the moving cars
Unfortunately, some acorns are hard enough not to break from dropping.
Hence, crows found another way to eat these acorns.
These birds figured out that moving cars are powerful enough to open their nuts, given how they witnessed some animals being heavily injured or dead from car hits.
They must have thought, “Why don’t we try cracking our acorns using those moving things?”
Crows drop their acorns on the road and wait for the cars to pass on them, cracking it open.
It is quite an effective way with no effort at all on the crows’ part.
If you are worried that eating acorns on the road is dangerous, these birds have already thought of a way to be safe.
Other crows will make a loud caw warning their companions whenever there is a fast-approaching car.
Have a look at this video of crows using cars to break nuts
How Often Do Crows Eat Acorns?
Crows eat acorns depending on how they often encounter these nuts.
As mentioned, these black birds are opportunistic scavengers.
As long as they see acorns all waiting to be eaten on the ground, they will grab it.
If a flock of crows stays near oak trees, then it is safe to assume that the majority of the food they eat are acorns.
Health Benefits Of Acorns For Crows
Isn’t it pretty sad if an always-available-food for crows is not entirely healthy?
Well, luckily, acorns also have plenty of benefits that will seriously bring lots of good nutrients to crows!
Acorns is densely-packed with lots of nutrients, such as carbohydrates, antioxidants, fats, and proteins.
They also have large amounts of vitamin B and minerals.
Calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc are just some of the good minerals that acorns contain.
In general, acorns aid crows’ health in many ways: boosting energy, improving immune system and digestion, keeping the heart stronger, regulation of blood sugar levels, and many more.
What Is Crows’ Favorite Food?
Crows have a diverse diet, but they still have their own favorite food.
These birds love to eat nuts, such as almonds, peanuts, acorns, and walnuts.
They also love eating eggs, regardless of how it is served (raw, boiled, scrambled, poached, etc).
These black birds also prefer eating meat, such as chicken and fish.
Dried pellet foods like kibbles are also one of their top favorites, like cat food and dog food.
Still, crows will love any food they can have.
They are opportunistic birds, and they are not really picky eaters.
They will eat anything that is available, regardless if it is their favorite or not.
Which Bird Eats Acorns?
Acorns are mostly safe to eat for many wild animals out there.
A lot of bird species, aside from the corvidae, can also eat acorns.
Other birds other than crows are wild turkeys, woodpeckers, mallards, jays, bobwhite quails, and many more.
Of course, cracking acorns is somewhat a difficult thing to do for some birds.
Like crows, they also have their own ways of breaking the hard shells and enjoy the food.
What Animals Like To Eat Acorns?
Not all birds are capable of eating acorns, but other wild animals as well.
Essentially, eating these nuts is somehow a bit easier for other wildlife since they are more capable of breaking the hard shells.
Other animals that like to eat acorns are squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, wild hogs, deers, foxes, goats, ducks, bears, woodpeckers, and even boards.
Wrapping Up
Acorns are one of the widely available food for many birds and even other animals.
In particular, crows love eating acorns and will pretty much eat them whenever they spot a nice place that is filled with these nuts.
These nuts are usually seen and gathered on the ground, just below the oak trees.
However, acorns have hard shells which need to be cracked open first.
Crows break these nuts by dropping them from a high altitude or letting the cars crack them.
These birds get a lot of health benefits from eating these nuts, giving them a high amount of nutrients in their body.
There are also a lot of other animals and birds that love eating acorns, such as jays, deers, foxes, ducks, squirrels, rabbits, and many more.