American Crow Calls (2024) - 3 MOST COMMON Sounds You Will Hear

In this video, you will learn how to identify the most common CALLS and SOUNDS of the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos).

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Although they are not known for their beautiful voices, American Crows make a WIDE variety of sounds. They are even known to mimic other birds!

In this video, you will learn the THREE calls you're most likely to hear.

00:13 SOUND #1: "caw, caw, caw"
The most common sound from an American Crow
is a loud, repeated “caw, caw, caw,” which can have many variations.
Typically, American Crows will thrust their heads up and down as they make this call.
Groups of crows will often gather and call together, which can become quite loud! There are sometimes hundreds of birds in these “murders.”

00:43 SOUND #2: The rattle
Another common noise that American Crows make is a loud rattle. These rattles and clicks are typically made when communicating with other crows.

01:00 SOUND #3: "ko-aw"
"Ko-aw" is the best way to describe the last call we will review today. You will often hear it intermixed with other vocalizations, such as the "caw, caw, caw."

Credit for Recordings
Macaulay Library at the Cornell
Lab of Ornithology.
Recordists: Mike Anderson, Jay McGowan, Brian Sullivan

Images used under license

[SmithBiology]

I have a male/female pair that come every morning and at lunch time. The female “caw caw caws” for me at 7:45 am. She sits on top of my stucco wall. I walk out and greet her with, “Good Morning, crows!” I place unsalted pecan halves on the top of the wall. I must walk inside before they will eat. Afterwards: She will rattle call her hubby. He flies over and lands on my wall. She lets him eat the pecans at first. I have grown to care deeply for them. I do believe they follow me around the block. They have brought me three presents. I really like them.

[Palmartist]

4 years I fed a crow with a partially broken wing unable to fly far mostly sidestepped down the block on power lines. Her two offspring protected and hunted for her. One morning I heard loud caring outside about 50 crows on wires above my house. She introduced entire family to me. They played around for 20 minutes then flew off. She passed away and her offspring with their babies continue to visit everyday for treats. One stays with me in the garden to enjoy the grubs I dig up. So intelligent I am greeted by crows all around my city. Always have a bag of peanuts in my car to share.

[cattailer]

They are always talking to me on my daily woodland hikes. Since I tend to hit the same trails routinely for the past 10 years, they know me and are always following me thru the woods. It's my favorite part of hiking❤

[sallydale]

I once had a home with 10 huge Douglas Firs (I live in Seattle). I fed my family of crows every day. They ate communally as a group, waiting patiently until the squirrels left. This was when I brought out their special treats- which included blueberries. I started receiving gifts from them- a discarded mouse from a computer, pilfered items from garbage cans ( something shiny typically) and sometimes a quarter. They are amazing, and I have read that they are actually the 4th smartest animal. I don't doubt it- their use of tools is amazing and their face recognition has been proven by the U of Washington.

[BK-isfj]

They sound so haunting in a beautiful way to me honestly. There’s something about their call that sounds so mysterious

[neildbarker]

I like the rattle sounds. I've made this sounds regularly with the local group of Crows in my area and have had them mimic it back to me a few times. :)

[TimCollins-oe]

Holy crow!!! I've been searching for a couple of years for the chortle noise I was hearing from our crow friends and finally we heard it on your video! Thank you so much, crows make the world better.

[NahualliUoxtitla]

I love the clicking / cooing sound crows make.

[danmax]

I'll never forget this as long as I live. It was 1968, and I was 9 years old, and playing In the backyard of the house we were living in at Sherman Oaks. There was a tree and a big black crow, it might have been a raven regardless. I heard with my own ears, this bird speak the words "Mommy" more than once. So naturally, many decades later when we didn't have a source of information at hand in our pocket, like Captain Kirk had, like we do today called a smartphone. The thought popped in my head at my late age, and I looked it up on my search engine. Sure enough, those big black crows, or like I said it might have been a raven.They talk. Absolutely amazing! Thank you for the 3 different calls these very beautiful highly intelligent birds are frequently capable of making 😁

[butchdeadlift]

I've been leaving peanuts on my fence for the last few months and there's one crow who comes regularly. I just started seeing him take them, before he'd wait for me to go inside. A couple days ago, I put some down and started walking away and he immediately flew down to them and made something close to sound #3, then grabbed them and flew off. It felt like something of a "thank you" but I can't say for certain.

[BeeHus]

I have a small group of Crows, 6-8, that I feed regularly. When I have food for them, I go outside and call them. Weird as it is, I just say " caw caw" a time or two and they do respond. They hear me and are there in no time... They know food is there, and they prefer anything orangey. (cheetos especially) I have heard the first two calls but never the third.

[paulinemarks]

I’ve have only heard the caw, caw, caw. We don’t have a lot of crows around here but they happen to be my favorite bird! My sister and I love crows! Heckel and Jeckel was our favorite cartoon. I think I was unaware of their other sounds as well. I will listen to this video a few more time so I can become familiar with them. Thank you for the tutorial 😊

[lanapoulliot]

We have a couple of rattling crows our back right now. We've heard them sound like a teenager whose voice is changing, to a squeaky hinge. We love our silly crows 🖤

[figo]

I played 0:14 and riled up the entire neighborhood of crows.

[jsphat]

I am hearing the “Caw caw caw” sound over and over here in uptown NYC (181st St) and I didn’t know whether it was a crow or a raven. Thank you for this video!

[Howlingburd]

Corvids, including crows, are some of my very favorite animals. Their intelligence is remarkable!!!

[hucks]

I love the rattle sound they make. The crow that often visits me loves to make that sound. He also makes a clucking noise sometimes.

[TTB_FIRE]

One of my favorite birds! I like their calls😍

[Palmartist]

The sweetest sound is the pigeon like cooing they make I believe it is an expression of love to mates.

[evanescence]

Idk most bird sounds I cannot take they give me headaches and keep me awake but I've always found crows to be peaceful. I love their little caw caw lol