Crows burying food (1 Viewer)

I live in Belgium (just south of Brussels). For several years now we have had a family of crows which visit the garden to pick up bits of fat and sundry meal leftovers which we put out for them.

Just recently, I have noticed that they are eating some of the food but cramming their beaks with whatever is left and then hopping over to a flower bed where they bury it. Are they doing this in order to ensure a food supply for the young when they are born or do crows tend to do this all the year round?

Jays rather famously cache huge quantities of acorns and they are a type of crow. I think as more and more of us are out there observing stuff and unafraid to report it it's more and more likely that people will crop up and say they've seen the same.

I can't say I've seen crows going out of their way to cache food but they're intelligent birds and what you're seeing could be something that caught on with a local population. It's certainly sensible to do this in times of plenty, provided you remember that you did it and where. Crows are more than smart enough. Birds can't afford to put on fat as they can't then fly, so it's the only option for them to tide them over through lean times.

I haven't seen crows do this before, but Shrikes do pretty much the same thing. They stick dead rodents/amphibians/reptiles etc. on thorny bushes/barbed wire and go back to the meal later when they need it.

Just found your website and joined. Excellent. Just watched a young crow bury food in the garden. Didn't know birds did this so delighted to find your site and see it is quite common. Will keep watching and learning.
Thankyou

I've seen magpies cache food away as well.

Some crows are also known to pretend to cache food when they know they're being watched by other crows.