The crow is said to be one of the smartest birds or even the smartest animal other than humans. However, as smart as crows may be, they are often known to have a negative reputation due to how these birds are tied up with superstitious beliefs that we have been passing on from generation to generation for hundreds of years already. Such beliefs usually involve the cawing of a crow. But why do crows even caw non-stop and what does it mean when they do that?
Crows may caw non-stop due to a wide variety of reasons such as when they are trying to warn you or other crows of danger, when they are calling for other crows, if they are angry at you, or if they are holding a “funeral” for a dead crow. Such reasons also make you understand the superstitions behind crows.
A crow will not caw non-stop for no reason as these birds are smart enough to know when to make noises. As such, it is up to you to try to decipher what they are trying to convey especially when such crows are gathered around your house or location and are cawing non-stop. There might be something dangerous about to happen, and crows are smart enough to sense that. But it’s not as superstitious as people often believe it to be.
Crows and superstition
Whenever you look at the crow, it could be very difficult to actually not think of it as a bird with a mysterious ability that has allowed it to be one of the most superstitious animals in the world. Popular culture hasn’t helped us with that either because of how movies, shows, and games often depict the grow as an animal that is tied together with magic, the occult, or with bad omens. And this isn’t only because crows are black and noisy as many people actually think these birds are quite mysterious.
Because of how the crow is thought of to be a bird that has connections to the supernatural, it is difficult to not believe in the superstitious beliefs that are often tied together with the crow. For hundreds of years, the crow has been regarded in the literature as a mysterious bird that has ties with things that are equally mysterious. And that is why there are plenty of superstitious beliefs surrounding the common habits and actions of a crow such as when it is cawing.
If you want to know some of the more common superstitious beliefs about a crow, here are some of them:
- When one crow is following you and is cawing, there is a chance that bad luck or destruction is coming your way. That’s why crows are also considered symbols of bad luck.
- At the same time, crows can also be symbols of good luck such as when two crows are cawing. This could mean that good luck and harmony are coming your way.
- The same can be said when there are three crows that are cawing at you non-stop. Because superstitious beliefs say that three cawing caws can mean good health.
- Four is the limit when it comes to anything positive regarding crows because it is often believed that, when there are four crows cawing at you, you will receive good fortune and abundance in the near future.
- However, when there are already five crows cawing, this could mean that you are about to experience poor health or illnesses.
- Finally, when there is a large group of crows called a murder such as when there are more than five of them, that means that death is about to come. This is why a large group of crows is called a murder as superstitious beliefs often tie them with death. And this is also where crows get their negative reputation as they are believed to be omens of death.
It still is a mystery as to why crows are considered omens of bad luck or death in common superstition. Maybe it has always been common for people to notice that crows are often around when bad things happen. However, it could be tied to the fact that crows are some of the most intelligent animals on the planet, very similar in intelligence to magpies, and are probably capable of sensing events before they happen. Nevertheless, let us go more into the details of why crows caw non-stop and what it means when they do that.
What does a crow’s caw mean?
Now that we have talked more about the superstitious stuff and have gotten that out of the way, let us now talk more about what the crow’s caw actually means without getting into the superstition of things. After all, you want to make sure that you understand what the cawing means if you want to really know what the crow is trying to tell say without looking at it from a superstitious point of view. So, what does a crow’s caw mean?
The caw of a crow could mean several things, which we will be going over one by one.
They sense danger
It is oftentimes said that crows are birds that are close to death because they are capable of sensing danger. This is why crows are often called omens of death as they know when death is coming and that they are capable of warning others about it. To some extent, while superstitious beliefs have gone overboard with how crows are connected to death, there are some truths regarding how crows are able to sense it.
In a study conducted, crows were able to actually understand what death means without even experiencing it first-hand. The study involved having a person laying out food for crows so that the crows will understand that the person is friendly and that they could benefit from going near that person because he is feeding them treats.
However, at the same time, the study also used another person—a masked individual—bringing the same treats. But, this time, the masked individual was carrying a dead crow with him. He was not waving the crow menacingly or doing anything bad to the dead crow because he was just merely carrying it.
The study showed that the crows actually did not go near the masked person even though he did have treats with him. And the very reason why the murder of crows was reluctant to go near the person and would rather just caw non-stop instead of taking the treats that he had is that they understand death through the dead crow that the person was carrying.
That said, a murder of crows can caw non-stop when they see certain factors and things that they may have associated with death. For example, the same murder of crows must have experienced watching a fellow crow getting electrocuted by power lines near your home. And for that very reason, they may end up cawing non-stop near your home so that they can warn you or others of danger.
As such, it is by using their intelligence and by associating certain events, objects, or factors that allow crows to understand what death is and what can cause death. This is why superstitious beliefs often call them omens of death as crows are actually smart enough to know when to caw when they realize that something dangerous is approaching. And this comes from their innate instincts and their past experiences.
They are calling for other crows
Crows are some of the most social birds you can find because you will rarely see them in small numbers. In most cases, you will most likely encounter crows in groups or in murders. And this can be tied to their intelligence as crows are smart enough to know that socializing and interacting with other crows can give them a higher chance of survival.
That said, when there are crows that are cawing non-stop, it might not be something that you should be worried about. The non-stop cawing might just be a way for the crows to interact with one another or to call for other crows to come near them. Of course, the reasons for doing that may vary from one situation to another.
It could be due to how there is food available near you, and that is why the crows are calling for their other friends by cawing. In some cases, it could be a form of harassment and that the crows are calling for backup to try to gang up on you or something. This leads us to our next item on this list…
They are angry at you
Studies have proven time and time again that crows are some of the smartest animals on the planet and have the cognitive abilities that rival that of dolphins or even apes. This is why they are capable of doing some of the most intelligent things that animals can do. Of course, they are also capable of doing more than that.
It was found in a study that crows are so smart that they are capable of identifying faces to the point that they can recognize the tiny details of a person’s face. The study done involved having a man wear a mask with a caveman’s face on it. After that, the same person captured several crows on a university campus while wearing a mask and then subsequently releasing the crows shortly after putting bands on the crows to identify them. The results of the study were amazing.
The person realized that, when he was wearing the caveman mask, crows were likely to fly away from him the moment they saw him approaching. In fact, the crows would also scream while flying away. And when he saw another crow, the crow immediately flew to a tree branch while cawing at the man wearing the caveman mask. The cawing attracted a second bird, which followed the same kind of behavior as the first one.
Surprisingly, most of the crows that followed the behavior of staying away from the man did not wear bands and were most likely none of the crows that were captured and released during the experiment. This only meant that not only did the captured crows remember the face of the man that captured them but they also communicated to the other crows how dangerous that man is.
That said, if you somehow did wrong to a crow such as throwing a rock at it, you can only expect that you will end up getting scolded not just by one crow but perhaps an entire murder. This is due to how crows are capable of recognizing your face and then knowing how to communicate to their fellow crows that you are somehow bad news. As such, if you do notice that a few crows are cawing at you, they are basically scolding or harassing you while probably calling others to scold or harass you as well.
They are holding a funeral
While rare, crows may hold a “funeral” for their fallen crow when one of them dies in a certain location. They do so by cawing non-stop towards the dead crow’s body as perhaps a sign of respect towards the fallen bird.
This probably is the most unlikely reason why crows caw non-stop but it becomes quite obvious that this is the reason if you do actually see a murder of crows surrounding a dead crow’s body. As such, you don’t have to worry about the cawing unless you are the one directly responsible for the death of the crow and that the other crows saw you as the perpetrator of the crime. Expect to get harassed by the murder if that is the case.
Why do crows like gathering in one location?
As we were discussing why crows caw non-stop, we said over and over again that crows tend to group up and gather in one location to form a murder all while cawing non-stop. But why do they actually like gathering in one location?
Well, for starters, crows are social animals that prefer to be together with their fellow crows because they are smart enough to know that this is their best chance to survive. That is why crows often communicate to their fellow crows’ certain dangerous people so that the entire murder can avoid danger when encountering such a person. And this is also the reason why crows tend to “gang up” on people who they recognize as dangerous.
So, in a way, crows ganging up and grouping together in one location to form a murder is a way for them to stay strong and united because, individually, there aren’t a lot of things that crows can do. But, as a group, they are stronger and more capable of protecting themselves or even taking down potential predators.
Is it bad when a crow keeps on cawing?
Finally, now that you know why crows caw individually or even in groups, you may be wondering whether or not the superstitious beliefs about crows hold water in relation to how these birds are perceived as dangerous. So, is it bad when a crow keeps on cawing?
It depends on the situation. That’s because crows can caw for varied reasons such as when they are merely trying to communicate with one another or are trying to call their friends. In such a case and if you know that you did nothing wrong to the crows, you might not have to perceive it as something bad. However, because crows are indeed capable of perceiving signs of danger, it still is best to be careful when you notice that crows are cawing because of how they might be warning you or any other person around that something dangerous can happen.
Also, if you actually did something wrong to a crow in the past, expect that a cawing crow can be bad news because it could mean that the crow is calling for backup to try to harass you. That’s why it is never a good idea to hurt or do harm to a crow.