Direct Answer
A Two Crows is a three-bar candlestick pattern that signals a possible bearish reversal after an uptrend. The name reflects the two dark ("crow") bearish candles that appear in sequence following an initial gap up, the visual read is of a rally that stalls and starts giving ground back over two consecutive down bars.
Key Takeaways
- Two Crows is a three-bar bearish reversal pattern that appears after an uptrend, and it's treated as a weaker precursor concept to Upside Gap Two Crows.
- The first bar is a long bullish candle; the second bar gaps up and is a small bearish candle.
- The third bar opens within the second bar's body and closes deep into the first bar's body, though the initial gap up remains unfilled.
- Unlike Upside Gap Two Crows, Two Crows doesn't require the third bar to specifically engulf the second, it only needs two consecutive bearish bars following the gap up.
- Most approaches wait for the next bar to close below the third bar's low before treating the reversal as confirmed.
Two Crows Candlestick Pattern: Formation, Meaning, and Signals
A Two Crows is a three-bar bearish reversal pattern that appears after an uptrend, formed by a long bullish candle followed by two bearish candles that open with an unfilled gap up. It's a weaker precursor concept to the stricter Upside Gap Two Crows pattern, and its meaning depends on confirmation from the bars that follow.
What Is a Two Crows?
A Two Crows is a three-bar candlestick pattern that signals a possible bearish reversal after an uptrend. The name reflects the two dark ("crow") bearish candles that appear in sequence following an initial gap up, the visual read is of a rally that stalls and starts giving ground back over two consecutive down bars.
Two Crows is described as a weaker precursor concept to Upside Gap Two Crows. Both patterns share the same three-bar shape and the same unfilled gap, but Upside Gap Two Crows adds a stricter structural requirement about how the third bar relates to the second.
How a Two Crows Forms
The first bar is a long bullish candle, consistent with the uptrend the pattern interrupts. The second bar gaps up from the first bar's close and is a small bearish candle, the first sign that upward momentum is fading, though the gap itself remains open.
The third bar opens within the second bar's body and closes deep into the first bar's body. Despite that deep close, the initial gap up between the first and second bars remains unfilled, price never trades back down through that gap during the pattern's formation. That unfilled gap, combined with two consecutive bearish closes, is what distinguishes Two Crows from an ordinary pullback.
Two Crows Example
The chart below shows a deterministic, illustrative example: an uptrend leading in, the Two Crows pattern forming, then two possible continuations, a confirmation (price follows through lower) and a failure/look-alike (price breaks back above instead). Toggle between them to see why the pattern alone doesn't decide the outcome.
How to Trade a Two Crows
Recognize the looser structure
Two Crows shows two consecutive bearish bars following a gap up, without requiring the specific engulf-and-partially-fill structure that defines Upside Gap Two Crows. That makes it a broader, less strict pattern to spot, but also one that calls for more caution before acting on it alone.
Wait for confirmation
Confirmation typically means the next bar closes below the third bar's low. Until that happens, the pattern only shows that an uptrend has produced two down bars in a row after a gap, not that the reversal has actually taken hold.
Watch the unfilled gap
Because the initial gap up stays unfilled through the pattern's formation, that gap level is a natural reference point. A move back up through it would undercut the bearish read the pattern implies.
Common Two Crows Mistakes
- Confusing Two Crows with Upside Gap Two Crows, the latter has a stricter requirement that the third bar specifically engulfs the second; Two Crows doesn't require that.
- Assuming any two red bars after a green one qualify, without the initial gap-up structure between the first and second bars, the pattern isn't present.
- Trading before confirmation, acting on the pattern before the next bar closes below the third bar's low skips the step that separates a real reversal from a temporary pullback.
- Ignoring whether the gap actually stayed unfilled, if price already traded back through the initial gap during formation, the pattern's defining feature isn't met.
Two Crows vs. Similar Patterns
| Pattern | Structure | Key difference from Two Crows |
|---|---|---|
| Two Crows | Gap up, then two bearish bars | Baseline, third bar closes deep into the first body, gap unfilled |
| Upside Gap Two Crows | Gap up, then two bearish bars | Stricter version where the third bar specifically engulfs the second |
| Evening Star | Bullish bar, small star, bearish bar | Small-bodied middle "star" candle rather than two full bearish bodies |
Limitations of the Two Crows Pattern
A Two Crows describes the relationship between three bars' opens and closes, it doesn't tell you why the gap formed, what volume accompanied each bar, or whether the selling pressure will continue. It also doesn't guarantee a reversal: the looser structure that makes Two Crows easier to spot than Upside Gap Two Crows also makes it a less selective signal. Like any multi-bar pattern, it's best combined with trend context and a defined confirmation and invalidation plan, not used alone.
The Weaker Sibling of a Better-Known Pattern
Two crows is generally treated as a lesser version of the upside gap two crows, and knowing the relationship is more useful than memorising the shape. The fuller pattern requires a second gap on the third bar; this one does not, which makes it easier to find and correspondingly weaker as evidence. If you are going to use either, it is worth being clear which one you have.
The measurable part is the third bar close. It has to close deep into the first bar body, and how deep is the difference between a decisive instance and one that technically qualifies. That depth is a calculation rather than an impression.
The gap up on the second bar is still required, which makes even this weaker version uncommon in markets that trade continuously and gives it its structure: an advance that reached higher at the open and then failed twice.
An established uptrend is needed for the reversal reading, and three bars remain a small sample for a claim about a trend ending. A confirming close below the pattern is where most approaches begin.
Two Crows FAQs
Is Two Crows the same as Upside Gap Two Crows?
No. Two Crows is a weaker precursor concept, it only requires two consecutive bearish bars after a gap up, with the third bar closing deep into the first candle's body. Upside Gap Two Crows adds a stricter requirement: the third bar must specifically engulf the second.
Does the gap have to fill for Two Crows to count?
No, the defining feature is that the initial gap up remains unfilled even as the third bar closes deep into the first candle's body. If the gap fills, the pattern reads differently.
Do any two red bars after a green candle qualify as Two Crows?
No. The pattern specifically requires a gap up after the first bullish bar, followed by two bearish bars, with the third closing deep into the first bar's body while the gap stays open. Two red bars without that gap-up structure don't qualify.
Does Two Crows need confirmation?
Yes. Confirmation typically means the next bar closes below the third bar's low, following through on the bearish reversal implied by the pattern.
How is Two Crows different from an Evening Star?
An Evening Star has a small-bodied middle candle (the "star") between a bullish first bar and a bearish third bar. Two Crows instead has two full bearish bodies following the first bullish bar, with a gap up that stays unfilled.
Does the first crow have to gap up?
In the standard definition the second candle of the three-bar sequence opens above the previous close, which requires a gap. That gap is what sets up the failure the pattern describes. Implementations that accept an open above the previous close without a full gap find the pattern more often and lose the element that makes it distinctive.
Where must the second crow close?
Inside the body of the first candle, which means the two down sessions together erased part of the advance. Some definitions require it to close below the midpoint. The depth requirement determines how far the failure has to progress before the pattern is complete, and as with the piercing family it is the main source of disagreement between implementations.
Why is the pattern named for crows?
The imagery comes from black candles being associated with crows in the Japanese candlestick vocabulary, which also gives three black crows its name. Both patterns describe consecutive dark sessions. The naming is entirely visual, and the ominous connotation is a property of the language rather than evidence about what follows.
How does two crows differ from a bearish harami followed by a down bar?
A harami requires the second bar to be contained within the first body. Two crows requires the second bar to gap above the first close and then fall back into the body, which places it partly outside the first candle rather than inside it. The structures look similar on a small chart and satisfy different conditions.
References
- CMT Association: Technical Analysis Body of Knowledge and Research
- CFA Institute Research and Policy Center: Investment Research
- Steve Nison, Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques (1991), the book credited with popularizing Japanese candlestick analysis in Western markets.
- SEC Investor.gov: Introduction to Investing