Three Black Crows Candlestick Pattern: What It Looks Like and What It Means
Three black crows is a three-candle pattern: three tall down candles in a row, each opening within the body of the one before and closing near its low. Three periods of selling in a row are why some traders treat it as a strong bearish reversal after a rise, a turn from higher prices toward lower ones. It marks a run of selling that has already happened, and the next candle is still unknown.
How It Forms
After the first, each period begins inside the body of the one before it, so the slide builds step by step. Sellers then push the price down all period and keep control into the close, which lands near the low. Three such candles in a row make the pattern.
Read each candle as one period of trading. The body is the stretch between the open and the close, and the wicks are the thin lines beyond it that reach the period's high and its low. On a down candle, the close falls below the open.
The drawing's five candles, with made-up prices in dollars (the three crows are candles 2, 3 and 4):
| Candle | Open | High | Low | Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $41 | $44 | $39 | $42 |
| 2 (crow) | $41 | $42.50 | $32 | $34 |
| 3 (crow) | $36 | $37.50 | $24 | $26 |
| 4 (crow) | $28 | $29.50 | $16 | $18 |
| 5 | $18 | $20 | $9 | $11 |
The first crow opens at $41, right at the bottom edge of candle 1's $41-to-$42 body, and closes at $34. The second opens at $36, inside the first crow's $34-to-$41 body, and closes at $26. The third opens at $28, inside the $26-to-$36 body before it, and closes at $18. Each close sits just $2 above its low, so the lower wicks are short. From the first open to the last close, the price falls $23.
How to Read It
- Persistence. Three tall down candles in a row show broad, steady selling, which is why the pattern is read as a strong bearish reversal.
- The short lower wicks. Each candle closes near its low, which shows sellers held control into the close.
- The location. The pattern is most meaningful when it breaks down from a top.
What to Watch For
Position changes the story. Deep into a decline, some traders read three black crows as capitulation, a last wave of heavy selling, but a bottom is never certain. Seeing how far the price has already fallen, and where support and resistance levels sit, helps frame that.
Two patterns are easy to confuse with it:
- Three white soldiers is the mirror image: three strong up candles in a row. It differs in direction.
- A marubozu is a single full-body candle with little or no wick at either end. It differs by shape and by count: the crows are three candles, each with a short lower wick.
Free or Premium
Everyone can use this one. Three black crows is a core pattern, so Pattern Markers and Rapunzl's Stock Scanner both cover it at no cost.
Try It in Rapunzl
Set the chart to Candlestick or OHLC, then go to Customize Chart → Chart Indicators → Levels, Patterns & AI Charts and turn on Pattern Markers. Three black crows is bearish, so expect a ▼, plus a line in the detected-patterns list under the chart.
Open the Stock Scanner, add the Bearish candlestick filter and choose Three Black Crows. Results are stocks that finished a bearish pattern on the latest daily bar. Open a result to reach that stock's chart, turn on Pattern Markers there, and see whether the fall began at a top or deep in a decline.
A 15-Minute Class Activity
Crows or Not? Pairs share one sheet of paper. Both runs below come after a long rise, and every price is made up.
| Run (made-up prices) | Day | Open | High | Low | Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | $90 | $91 | $81 | $82 |
| A | 2 | $86 | $87 | $76 | $77 |
| A | 3 | $80 | $81 | $70 | $71 |
| B | 1 | $90 | $91 | $81 | $82 |
| B | 2 | $75 | $77 | $68 | $69 |
| B | 3 | $72 | $73 | $55 | $70 |
- 3 minutes. Write three tests: (1) three tall down candles in a row, (2) each opens inside the body before it, (3) each closes near its low.
- 6 minutes. Check run A, then run B, and note every test each one fails. (A passes all three. B fails test 2 on day 2, which opens at $75, under day 1's body. Day 3 fails test 1, because its body is only $2, and test 3, because it closes $15 above its $55 low.)
- 3 minutes. Suppose run A came after a long, steady fall. Which caution from this post applies? (Position changes the story: after a long fall, some traders read the pattern as capitulation, a last wave of selling, but a bottom is never certain.)
- 3 minutes. Exit ticket: in one sentence, say why the short lower wicks matter.
Related Patterns
- Three White Soldiers: the mirror image, three strong up candles.
- Marubozu: one full-body candle with almost no wick.
- How to Read a Candlestick Chart: reading one candle after another.
Frequently Asked
Questions
Yes. The pattern is three tall down candles in a row. In the drawing here, the bodies are $7, $10 and $10 tall.
It means each period starts from prices the period before already traded at, so the slide builds one step at a time.
Yes, it can show up after a long fall. Some traders read it there as capitulation, a last wave of selling, but a bottom is never certain, so the rest of the chart matters.
It is the mirror image. Soldiers are three strong up candles in a row, while crows are three strong down candles.
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Indicators, patterns and examples in this article are for education and are not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
By Myles Gage, CEO & Co-Founder at Rapunzl.