Is it possible to eat crows?

[Lurch]

I'm lead to believe that marianading the meat in milk makes the meat more palatable, but I've never tried it and don't plan on starting any time soon!

 

[RovingArcher]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for answering!

Roving_Archer; LOL I was not sure if you pull my leg or if you eat them or not. I am confused: Is your wife really making them for you? And are you making them yourself as a BBQ? Your recipe sounds very tasty but I wonder if one should not boil them for a while to be sure about the meat. I read that they eat all kinds of stuff and mainly dead animals and other rubbish much like rats. Thanks mate for the honey idea, sounds tasty.


cheers to all
Abbe

Sorry about the confusion. My response was done with tongue in cheek. Here in the US, when you have made a serious error and need to acknowledge it humbly, it is known as eating crow. Mainly because the crow, being carnivorous, is considered a rank meat and not easily swallowed or digested.

I have eaten it and a couple of times, with a lot of help, it was palatable, but still not very good. Even after boiling and marinating, most are rank and I suppose that's because they have eaten a lot of carrion. Ok to try them on a survival type of need, but if there are other critters available, I'll pass on eating crow.

 

[Abbe Osram]

Sorry about the confusion. My response was done with tongue in cheek. Here in the US, when you have made a serious error and need to acknowledge it humbly, it is known as eating crow. Mainly because the crow, being carnivorous, is considered a rank meat and not easily swallowed or digested.

I have eaten it and a couple of times, with a lot of help, it was palatable, but still not very good. Even after boiling and marinating, most are rank and I suppose that's because they have eaten a lot of carrion. Ok to try them on a survival type of need, but if there are other critters available, I'll pass on eating crow.

Aah, now I understand it much better! Simply said crows can be eaten but most people would only eat them as a last resort and if eaten they will need a lot of help to make it palatable.

thanks mate for all the interested in helping me out.

cheers
Abbe

 

[Moonraker]

Abbe, rest assured I am quite sure it was your way to shot that way hence the smiley

Buckshot I read an interesting bit on info which included this:

Magpies are despised by almost everyone owing to being wrongly blamed for the widespread decline in many of our songbirds by preying on their eggs and nestlings. In fact, many of our songbirds are in decline owing to poor survival rates after leaving the nest, which has nothing to do with the Magpies.

It got me thinking about my preconceptions of birds like Magpies and realising that the real situation is often a lot more complex than we imagine from word of mouth experience and lore. We see Magpies raiding a birds nest and blame it for predation and decline in smaller songbirds etc when actually it is much more likely that loss of habitat through intensive farming practices and use of insecticides depriving these same songbirds of food are the much deadly factor.

The RSPB did an extensive study between the correlation between Magpie numbers and decline in song bird populations:

Magpies and songbirds

Most British members of the crow family (including magpies) will take eggs and nestlings. This can be upsetting to witness but it is completely natural. However, some people are concerned that there may be a long-term effect on songbird populations.

Many of the UK's commonest songbirds have declined during the last 25 years, at a time when populations of magpies increased. To find out why songbirds are in trouble, the RSPB is undertaking intensive research on species such as the skylark and song thrush.*

To discover whether magpies (or sparrowhawks) could be to blame for the decline, the RSPB commissioned the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to analyse its 35 years of bird monitoring records.

The study found that songbird numbers were no different in places where there were many magpies or sparrowhawks from where there are few. It found no evidence that increased numbers of magpies have caused declines in songbirds and confirms that populations of prey species are not determined by the numbers of their predators.*

It is the availability of food and suitable places in which to nest that decide the population.

Having discounted predation as a possible factor, the RSPB continues to study the loss of food and habitats caused by intensive farming. The change from spring to autumn sowing and the increase in the use of agricultural chemicals have reduced the amount of insects and weed seeds available for songbirds to eat.

These changes, and others, including the removal of hedgerows which are used for nesting, roosting and feeding sites by some birds, have probably played a part in the severe declines in many of our farmland species.

Many people are concerned that the use of some garden chemicals may also remove the birds' natural food supply, and may be a problem when they are raising their young. If you are worried about garden chemicals, please write to the Henry Doubleday Research Association, at the National Centre for Organic Gardening, Ryton on Dunsmore, Coventry CV8 3LG, who will advice you on alternative methods of pest control.

Source: Sites and species conservation department
30 January 2004

So, where it may appear that there are large numbers of potential predatory birds, this probably has little to do with the decline in songbirds. Then the justification for culling them appears flawed and a more practical and effective solution would be to take steps to reverse the sad lose natural habitat especially hedgerows in our landscape.

And, as with 'weeds' a plant or bird or animal is only a 'pest' or 'weed' if it is in the wrong place for out liking (invasive introductions perhaps excepted). Where they pose a real threat to other wildlife then control makes sense but I feel that, as with other 'old enemies' they tend to get a raw deal.

For me I only feel mostly joy when I see Magpies flighting cheekily across the road or path in the way they do with their shrill cackle and always remember to say 'Hello' to them in the morning and never in the afternoon or else bad luck will come my way . They are intelligent and curious birds who often have weird and expressive mannerisms and also tend to stay in the same place.

I am not sure if other countries have the same traditions with Magpies but because they tend to gather in Spring especially into groups or 'parliments' we have a saying or nursery rhyme which most school kids in Britain know:

One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a wedding, four for a birth,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret not to be told.
Eight for heaven, nine for hell,
And ten for the devil's own sel'.

or a similar adaption. Do you have a similar folk lore and tradition in your country?

There is a place in the countryside for the gun; there is also a place in the countryside for the Magpie

 

[Abbe Osram]

Moonraker,
thanks for the info it was very interesting to hear your thoughts on the subject and I appreciate them very much. I am going to check if they have here in sweden a old rhyme about the magpie.

My question came up through my interested to overcome cultural limitations and to find new food sources. I don't like to waste anything.That is my way to show my respect to the animal I have to hunt. I don't want to shoot or kill any life if I don't need it for food or if I cant see a higher purpose in doing so.

all the best to you
Abbe

ack:

 

[Buckshot]

Hm, interesting one Moonraker.

I agree modern farming techniques will have a far greater impact on any wild species than a couple of extra predators.
However, I'm only going on what I've seen myself, both in the 'wild' and in back gardens. Predatory species do affect the local population of prey species, it has to. I'm talking local population here, overall I doubt it makes much difference to the country as a whole though.

I tend to take what the RSPB say with a pinch of salt. They've said various things in the past that when proved wrong, in thier own studies, have glossed over them or ignored that part of the study. Not showing the whole truth seems to be part of everyday life these days. :shock:

Not trying to cause an argument here, just reporting my observations.

Cheers

Mark

 

[Lurch]

I'm with Buckshot. I am always extremely sceptical about what the RSPB say, they are a highly politicised organization.

 

[Moonraker]

Not trying to cause an argument here, just reporting my observations.

I appreciate that Mark. The important thing is that people care enough to have a point of view and also that these type of issues are discussed openly.

The posts reflect my own thoughts and reflections on this, questions to myself as well as others. I very nearly ended up going to Sparsholt and training as a river keeper when I left school. In some ways I wish I had. I used to own a shotgun and do some rough shooting around our village in Wiltshire. Rabbits, pigeons the occasional hare and rooks. Now I look back and think about why I did that. Not so much the rabbits which were prolific and I ate and skinned them. But shooting the rooks was just something everything I read up about said to do but eventually I found I had no heart for it and grew to love them. I am not anti shooting and see rough shooting (1 man and a dog) as a very natural part of the countryside.
I do have more problems with the commercialisation of traditional sports including organised shoots but it is another debate I think.

Times change and so do the pressures on wildlife and indeed us. So I think it is important to consider and question accepted practice as part of what keeps the countryside a vibrant and living place.

I'm with Buckshot. I am always extremely sceptical about what the RSPB say, they are a highly politicised organization.

Are not all organisations political Lurch? Each has an agenda to progress. The same would be equally true of the The Game Conservancy Trust for example.

The fact that the RSPB have an interest for both the Magpie (and other Corvids) and songbirds makes me feel that they have more the interest of the wild birds at heart and the statistics came from the British Trust for Ornithology which appears to be well respected in the field. I have no real understanding of the background and politics of the RSPB so could not comment about any other agendas.

The GCT present some useful reports and I found those interesting to read alongside those of the RSBP, as well as some others. I am not naive enough to believe either of these organisations do not put a spin on their presentation.

Perhaps the difficulty here is to separate out the needs of any one lobby; the shooting interests who would more likely view the corvids as a pest, being that they predate the reared and introduced young sporting birds directly affecting their investment and livelihood; and the desire of the conservation lobby to protect all wildlife where practicable (given the understanding that control of such birds effects the potential well being of other birds under more pressure).

I do not see either of these two as being indivisible (and the many other interested parties in the countryside and into the urban environment increasingly) because many people involved on both sides do great work to help and protect wildlife and our natural heritage. More, that perhaps what is need is a wider independent assessment of such issues so that traditional entrenchment on either side of any fence, and historical assumptions and practices can be better considered; with more effective practices and tolerance by all becoming part of how we may nurture a more natural balance in the stewardship of the land.

 

[Moonraker]

Abbe, I had a look around and found a nice recipe for 'Rook Pie'. And old English speciality It gives some tips about how to prepare the rook which I guess could be used for crow too.

5th - Rook Pie


Ingredients
3/4lb Puff Pastry
4 Rooks
½ Beefsteak
½ teaspoon of Liebig Company's extract of meat (meat extract like Bovril or reduced beef stock as option as I do not think it is possible to get this?)
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon of salt
powdered mace
½ pint of water
1oz butter
1/4 teaspoon pepper


Method
Skin the Rooks, cut out the back-bone and draw, remove the head and feet, and wing bones to second joint. Soak in milk water with salt for 4 hours; divide the steak into strips, mix the flour, mace, salt and pepper on a plate. Roll each piece of steak in the seasoning, put a small amount of butter in each and lace on the top of the steak, pour in a little of the water, with the pastry, brush over with beaten egg, make 2 or 3 holes in the pastry to ventilate the pie and bake for 90mins in a moderate oven. When cooked add the remainder of the water, boiling, in which the Liebig Company's Extract of meat [or option see above]has been dissolved and serve.

I also have some information in an old English cook book from which I have scanned the relevant section here:

source: 'Food In England', Dorothy Hartley, 1954, Pub: Clays Ltd, St Ives plc, ISBN 0 316 87900 2


Happy cooking

 

[Abbe Osram]

Hi Moonraker, Buckshot, Lurch

Its cool that the thread gave us more than my carnal needs of crow food or a recipe for me. ):

all the best to you all
cheers
Abbe

:chill:

 

[Gary]

I've not read the entire thread so this may have been said already but the origin of the '4 and 20 black birds baked in a pie' comes from the old English custom of taking crow chicks from the nest and eating them.

Of course I have never tried myself but I am sure with a nice thick gravy and some HP brown sauce (steak pie style) they would be tasty. :super:

Top tip - any carrion eating bird boil the meat to be safe, although I usually fry it and that seems to work ok too.

 

[ScanDgrind]

I also have not read the whole thread. But I have eaten crow myself. I grew up in poachers headquarters. This was my Grandfathers house in the countryside of Worcestershire. Not far from a very historic pub called the Mitre Oak,

I was told that the only part that was any good was the breast which we cut into strips and soaked into milk over night. I have to say it still seemed quite a tough meat with what I can only describe as a "dirty" taste. Of course this could have been my imagination as I had built in thoughts about eating a creature that feeds on carrion.

Cheers,

Tony

 

[BIG-TARGET]

Have you ever heard the term"tastes like chicken" Well, according to a friend that does alot of hunting/camping, crow tastes more like Goodyear(the tire)!!

 

[Lurch]

Are not all organisations political Lurch?

Yes I suppose in some way this is true, however it was my understanding that a registered charity was not supposed to be politically active in the way that the RSPB is.
Certainly charitable status is given as one of the reasons that the UK NRA avoids political activities.

 

[gurthang]

Crows, I'f youve got somewhere to shoot them thats great as their awfull pests just like giant winged rats but I wouldnt recomend eating them, Rook is palatable but I'll stick to pigeon their real pests as well but taste 100000000 times better than rook

 

[Moonraker]

I have posted an Inuit story of the crow called 'Crow brings Daylight' in the Story Forum here:

Crow brings Daylight

Cheers

Simon

 

[shinobi]

Crows, I'f youve got somewhere to shoot them thats great as their awfull pests just like giant winged rats

What is the definition of a "Pest animal"? As far as I can see, carrion animals spend most their time clearing up everything that no-one else will eat and therefore serve a valuable service in the scheme of things. In the same way as rats clear up the rubbish in the cities. If it's down to the fact that they eat anything they can, maybe it's because they're better at adapting than we are? Just the same way as Wolves and foxes are classed as pests by Farmers.
This is not meant to be personal Gurthang, i'm just using your quote as an example of how animals are perceived in the public perception.

Cheers,

Martin

 

[Abbe Osram]

Moonraker that was a cool story, thanks mate for sharing.

Shinobi: I agree with you and thinking about what is actually a pest in this world I would consider that humans are the cancer of this world. But when I started this thread I was mainly interested if there are people around who eat or have eaten crows and maybe even think that it is great meat while we kill them and throw them away.

Why birds from the crow family are often considered a pest has to do with the fact that they are predators and steal eggs and kill young birds. Here in Sweden we have clouds of crows, which are very very big, they fall into the cities because of the warmth and the light they get there in wintertime. I have seen scenes near to Uppsala where the sky was black filled with crows, when such things happen because of the lack of predators hunting the crows down; we have to step in and shoot them to get the population healthy and smaller. Shooting and throwing them away feels bad to me, and out of that grew the thought...”are people somewhere in the world eating them?"

Only think about what if pigs would be a problem somewhere and people would kill them and simply throw them away because they are not used to eat them, we would say that this is a shame to dump all the good meat. To study the cultural limitations I started the thread but still with a love and respect for the crows and other animals.

I have more problems with humans and their doings but hunting and eating that ugly animal I guess is not and option. :yikes:

cheers to all of you sending so great thoughts on a simple thread like this.
:You_Rock_

Abbe

 

[Buckshot]

What is the definition of a "Pest animal"? As far as I can see, carrion animals spend most their time clearing up everything that no-one else will eat and therefore serve a valuable service in the scheme of things. In the same way as rats clear up the rubbish in the cities. If it's down to the fact that they eat anything they can, maybe it's because they're better at adapting than we are? Just the same way as Wolves and foxes are classed as pests by Farmers.
This is not meant to be personal Gurthang, i'm just using your quote as an example of how animals are perceived in the public perception.

Cheers,

Martin

Quite right Shinobi, they do provide a valuable service.
Without the influence of man they're numbers would be naturally stabilised by the amount of carrion avaliable, as is the case with any wild animal and it's food source.
However, when man is allowed on the scene the amount of food avaliable increases hugely, therefore allowing the numbers of carrion animals to increase as well.
That's when they become 'pests'
I don't think many people would mind if the occasional crow, rook, fox etc wandered through, the problem is when thier numbers increase enough to put pressure on man and what they're doing.

As an example, the farmer next to my shoot rears pigs outside. Fair enough, the problem is all the pig food left in troughs in the fields is very good food for rooks. There are litterally thousands of rooks that decend on the pig farm to feed. This lowers his profit - which is pretty tight as it is, effects the health of the pigs, increases the pressure on the surrounding farms and woods for roosting and other food sources as, inevertably, some rooks will not go to the pig farm every day.

So to my mind it's not the species that is a pest, it's the circumstances that the species is found in. You could say it's unfair to kill them if it's not thier fault, and to a certain extent, you're right. But what other realistic option is there ? :?: We all know that man's unlikely to change - unless it's forced on him.

Cheers

Mark

 

[Lurch]

I have seen crows work in pairs to distract a ewe in order to get a vulnerable lamb. They will peck a vulnerable animal's eyes, tounge and back end out given the chance.