When I was in high school and living on the farm, I had an affinity for birds as pets. At one time I had a Retail Hawk, a Great Horned Owl, and a Crow. Their names were Tom (the owl), Dick (the hawk) and Jim (the crow). While they were fledglings, I fed mice and rats that to Tom and Dick. I caught the rodents while plowing and mowing hay. I fed the grasshoppers, various insects, and fruit to Jim.

When they became adults, there were gentle pets that flew about the farm. Although all of them eventually began provide food for themselves, we always had tidbits of food to give when we called them. Tom, being a nocturnal bird, eventually foraged for most of his food at night.  But we could always call him in the early evenings and early mornings and he would come flying. He roosted in the daytime in a large tree a short distance from the house.

Dick was a delight. He would soar high above the barns,  usually within vision of the homestead. He eventually began to forage for his own food in the pasture behind the house or in the fields below the house. Occasionally he would catch a snake, bring it in and devour it atop a highline pole near the house. He would eat as much of it as he wanted and let the remains fall to the ground. I carried many a leftover snake (to him I imagine it was like steak) off to the trash. He roosted in the in tree not far from where Tom roosted.  Their sleep times were opposite, so in that regard they did not interfere with one another's down time.

 Jim Crow was the most fun of all. He was a moocher deluxe. He was around the house like the dogs and cats.  He  hardly ever left the general area of the house. Whenever anyone came out of the house, he would immediately fly up and land on someone's head. When we had him in our hands, he would gently peck at anything shiny. Our watches, rings, buttons, and other items were fair game anytime. Primarily he was interested in the food items we would bring to him. He would eat almost anything and especially delighted in eating tidbits of fruit. Although he could easily catch his own grasshoppers & insects, and forage for other stuff on his own, he wanted to be hand-fed most of the time. He roosted in the rafters of an open hay barn near the dairy barn.   A great moocher, he was... Although I knew that crows were capable of being trained to "talk," I was never successful at teaching Jim to say anything. I was too busy helping dad around the farm, or going to school, to spend the time necessary to affect that.

Below is a photo Tom and Dick while they were fledglings. That's me standing between them...
Click on the image for a larger view.