Home » Birds » Ravens » How to Attract Ravens: The Ultimate Guide

How to Attract Ravens: The Ultimate Guide

In this article, I’m going to show you how to attract ravens to your yard so you can have the ultimate bird-watching experience.

Ravens are intelligent birds and one of my personal favorites.

It’s fun to see their intelligence in person, but even more interesting is seeing the way they interact with others and how they will play games with each other and even you!

The United States government, however, views them as pests and does not allow people to keep them as pets.

This is because they are seen as undesirable by farmers due to their tendencies to eat crops like corn, wheat, and alfalfa along with other food storage products.

Although the Ravens weren’t always seen this way though. Historically speaking, the Native Americans revered these creatures for their intelligence and emotion. They were even part of some tribes’ religious beliefs!

Anyways let’s learn how to attract ravens in the easiest way.

How to Attract Ravens and Crows to your Yard

how to attract ravens

Just as I mentioned above, you can’t keep Ravens as pets but you can befriend them and attract them to your yard. 

Besides birdwatching, Ravens and birds from the Corvidae family are predators and they will help you get rid of rats and other pests in your house.

However, the question is still how would you attract ravens and crows.

Step 1: Offer Them Treats

One of the easiest ways of how to attract ravens is by offering them treats. They are smart predators that are always hungry and thirsty, so you should try to feed them different things like chicken, meat, or any other foods that they don’t normally get in nature.

Also, consider putting out water for them. Most people think Ravens drink blood but this isn’t true at all. 

If there’s no water available, they’ll have a hard time being around your yard or coming back. The last thing you want is a dehydrated Raven running around causing mischief!

Also, make sure to leave out different types of food items such as unsalted peanuts, seeds, nuts, fruits, and vegetables so that they can enjoy the whole menu. According to some sources, this is the best way of how to attract ravens. 

What Do Ravens Eat?

The diet of Ravens varies from region to region but generally consists mainly of meat such as rodents, rabbits, insects, and roadkill or other carrion (dead animal carcasses).

They also eat fruit, berries, and even vegetables when available. The majority of their diet however is made up of small mammals such as mice, voles, etc… which makes them a wonderful asset to your yard!

Step 2: Add Water Sources

Besides treats to eat, you can attract crows and ravens by adding water sources for them too! Just like mentioned above,

it’s important to have water if they are going to come around but even more so when you want to attract them because they really need water daily in order to survive.

raven looking for water and birdbath in your yard

Step 3: Make your Yard Interesting

It seems silly but it actually works to keep Ravens in the vicinity of your house if you make it interesting for them. Some people put up feeders for them to eat from or they might put up perches so they have a place to rest.

Even the little things count, so consider adding some interesting items to your yard. For example, you can add statues that resemble Ravens if you want more of their presence around the house.

Ravens Love bathing in Water

Another thing you can add to your yard is bathing water. Ravens love taking a swim and it’s even better if you have a pond or another body of water that they can bathe in! The sound of the water might also attract them further into the yard.

If you don’t own a pond or something you can buy a birdbath for them. You can find some good birdbaths online on different stores such as Amazon etc but make sure to read reviews before you invest in a birdbath for ravens.

Plant Flowers that Attract Ravens

Different types of flowers will attract different birds. For example, when you plant sunflowers you might get cardinals or finches instead of ravens!

So, try planting goldenrod and black-eyed Susans if you really want to get the Corvidae family (ravens, crows) interested in your yard.

Raven’s are Hunting Birds… But do they Hunt People?

There has been an urban legend around ravens recently about them attacking people. They’ve even shown up in news reports attacking people which freaked out a lot of people online! It turns

Hang a Mirror

Believe it or not, by hanging a mirror in your backyard, you would attract ravens and crows due to an effect called “Mirror Behaviour.”

In fact, by having one mirror outside on the ground is enough because birds will look at their reflections and see them as another bird which is a sign of danger for predators.

At this point though, they think there’s another predator near so it causes them to fly away and avoid your yard.

If you spend time and keep adding mirrors to your backyard though, they will eventually get used to the presence of “another bird” and stop flying away because it’s not a threat.

Step 4: Provide Shelter for them

A raven sitting in tree branches looking for shelter

Ravens build nests during the breeding season, so if you want them to come back to your area you should provide some shelter for them. This means building birdhouses and putting up other shelters like trees where they can roost at night.

Ravens are Nocturnal

This means that they’re mostly active at night which is when you don’t want to be in the yard anyway 🙂

However, if you live in Canada or Northern USA for example where they build nests during the winter months (January-April) you might see them in your backyard more often. They’ll be chasing each other and will be here and there.

Step 5: Understand Ravens’ Behavior 

Ravens are very common throughout Canada, Alaska, Northern USA and it can get quite annoying if they start making a mess in the backyard or coming in too close.

The number one way to get rid of them is by scaring them away. For example, you can use a squirt gun filled with water or make loud noises like banging pots together to scare them off.

If this doesn’t work it’s also possible to purchase an electronic deterrent that will keep the Ravens away. Usually, Ravens are afraid of new things so this might be what you need to get rid of them permanently.

If all else fails have patience…

Ravens are really smart birds and they will eventually figure out that your yard isn’t worth being in anymore if there’s nothing interesting for them to do there!

If you really want them back, try to make the environment interesting again and you should be all set!

Attract Ravens With Other Birds

As corvids, ravens can get along with other birds quite well. Not only will the presence of other birds make it more likely that a Raven would come around, but they’ll also help keep each other company and entertain you while you’re watching them play. So try attracting doves or pigeons if you want to attract ravens in particular.

Those are just two of the many species that could attract ravens. You should experiment with different combinations of birds if you want to watch a lot of avians visit your backyard at once! But don’t worry too much about what types of birds to pick because there’s no wrong answer here.

Do Ravens Remember Kindness?

Ravens are one of the smartest birds out there and they have been shown to interact with people in a variety of different ways.

One particularly interesting study showed that captive ravens visited their caretakers after being released into the wild.

Even more, interestingly, these ravens picked a special call when they were in the presence of their caretaker. To the other, ravens it just sounded like a regular call, but their caretakers knew otherwise.

So what does this mean? It seems that ravens can develop a special bond with humans and that these bonds have been shown to be long lasting.

As corvids, ravens’ memories are impressive and there’s a good chance they remember all of the good things that you’ve done for them. And with that in mind, it’s very likely that they’ll come back to your yard if you provide a fun environment not only for them but also for their friends!

This is why I recommend feeding other birds when trying to attract ravens. By doing this you’re providing a source of entertainment and friendship for these intelligent birds and they won’t want to leave anytime soon!

Ravens are Confident Birds

a confident looking raven bird

Ravens are very confident that they will be able to feed themselves. They don’t need any help in that department and in fact, you might end up scaring them if you try to help out. The same goes for any other form of assistance like shelter or protection.

Their home is wherever they can find food so even though they do build nests, they won’t hesitate to pack up and leave if they can’t find any food.

Are Ravens Dangerous?

While it might seem like Ravens are dangerous due to their size, they’re actually very peaceful birds that don’t cause trouble. They very rarely attack people and when they do, the damage is minimal because of their beaks’ small size.

So you can rest easy knowing that if anything were to happen between you and a raven, the worst thing that would happen is you’d get a small cut.

Ravens are very smart birds and this has lead them to play around with people, but it’s all in good fun! Ravens have even been known to place objects onto the heads of people for their own amusement.

However, you should always be careful when dealing with any wild animal, especially one as smart as the raven. You never know when they might get tired of playing around with you and decide to attack out of necessity!

But for the most part, Ravens are peaceful creatures that don’t cause any trouble for people at all.

Will a Raven Kill a Chicken?

While it seems like Ravens are predators, they’re actually very peaceful animals that don’t hunt for sport.

Ravens only really hunt to survive and there’s a good chance that they won’t even go near your chickens. Why? It’s because your chickens are too small! Ravens often prey on things much larger than themselves so chasing after a tiny chicken is a waste of time.

If anything, Ravens will watch the chickens from a distance and then fly away if they get too close to them.

Ravens are also smart enough to know that your yard isn’t an appropriate place to go hunting so they’ll stick with watching them from a distance or going elsewhere altogether!

Will Ravens Attack a Human?

Ravens are actually very peaceful creatures that don’t attack people for no reason.

However, it’s recommended to be careful around them anyways because they’re still wild animals and you never know when something might set them off.

But as long as you keep a reasonable distance between you and the bird, you should have nothing to worry about.

Ravens are also smart enough to realize that your home is no place for hunting so they won’t go there anyway!

Final Words

How to attract ravens? Well, I’ve explained the whole process in a step-by-step manner above. 

If you follow these tips, ravens should be showing up in your backyard soon. After all, they are some of the most intelligent birds around so it’s not surprising that they would be attracted to a well-designed yard!

Just keep an open mind and do your research if you want to attract specific types of birds like these beautiful corvids.

Ravens may be a nuisance to some people while they’re trying to relax in the backyard but, if you spend enough time with them and get to know their unique behaviors, you will certainly fall in love with these intelligent creatures! I hope this article was helpful. 🙂

Similar Posts