Resolving Crow Problems Around Your Home Using Bird Deterents

 

 

Resolving Crow Problems Around Your Home

Pigeons used to be the number one pest bird, but in the last decade crows have edged it out as the most annoying problem bird. Crows tend to hang out in large groups and they are very social birds, so small or large flocks can be very noisy, often early in the morning or late at night which is a big nuisance. They not only leave their messy, dirty, bacteria and mite-filled droppings, but they are scavengers so they pick up a lot of litter such as food wrappers and bring it back to their roosting area, and when they are done picking it over if falls to the ground making a mess. If you have a vegetable garden or fruit trees crows can decimate them.  They will pick at the fruit and much of it falls to the ground uneaten with a peck or two in it and then is left by them to rot, again making a huge mess for the homeowner to clean up on top of losing the best fruit to enjoy.

Because crows are very intelligent you may need to combine multiple options to get rid of them permanently.  If there is food available or if they are roosting (sleeping) in the trees you may need to do all of

1) Remove Food Options
Crows transitioned over the past couple decades from being primarily an agricultural pest bird nuisance to being the main urban pest bird in many cities because they are scavengers and the urban environment offers them a wide choice of food options.  If you have crow problems around your home or property this is one of the first things to scout – where could the crows be getting food nearby? 

Often the crows will perch in a location that overlooks the food source be it trash cans, a park across the street where people picnic and there are open trash cans, people who feed their pets outdoors, compost bins that are open, bird feeders that have a lot of spillage and don’t block out larger birds from feeding.  Ideally all of these should be addressed if there is a real problem in your area.  Make sure your trash cans have their lids on and can’t be opened by the crows.   If you or your neighbors usually put your trash out the night before with extra bags you should wait to put the extra bags out until the morning of pickup, giving the pesky crows less time to rip into them (ideally get another lidded trash bin if you often have extra bags). 

If you feed your pet outdoors maybe move that into the garage so it’s not accessible to the crows. Also, talk to your neighbor that loves the smaller birds about getting a bird feeder that excludes the crows and larger birds and doing some cleanup around the feeder every day when they replenish the feeder for a few weeks while you work on moving the crows out of the area (crows tend to drive smaller birds out of the area anyway so it would be in their interest to do this). 

2) Trim Your Trees

 

Gull Cats can scare away problem crows!

 

Crows tend to like to hang out on smaller, lower tree branches because they can see food opportunities below easier.  Trim your trees to remove dead branches and these lower overlook branches so there are large branches lower which are not as desirable to these pest birds. 

After the trees have been trimmed, look to hang multiple bird scare devices throughout the tree including Bird Scare Eye Balloons, Octopus Bird Scarers, Bird Scare Flash Tape that will move in the wind and reflect the light tapping into the birds instinctive fear of predators. A newer visual scare product called the BirdChaser reflects light into the eyes of crows, limiting their vision and disorienting them. This makes them believe there is a credible predator threat in the area. Also, you will want to combine this with a noisemaker unit like a BirdGard Pro which is a fully programmable audio unit that emits random sounds that will disturb the crows like shot gun blasts, clanging pans, dogs barking, and species-specific danger and distress calls for crows and ravens. The combination of surprising dangerous sounds and crow danger and distress calls disorients the birds and they do not want to stay in the area as they do not feel safe.

 

3)  Take Away Roosting/Sunning Spots on Buildings

If the crows are hanging out on ledges or pipes overlooking an area, BirdSpikes can be glued or screwed down to provide an effective way of preventing the crows from landing there. 

On a roof peak, you can install the BirdSpikes to prevent the crows from landing and roosting or loafing.  If the crows are also on the rest of the roof, you will want to install Daddi Long Legs bird deterrents to cover the roof surface. The Daddi Long Legs wavy arms that rotate in the breeze prevents the crows from landing on the rooftop

 

 

4) Protect Your Garden
Your garden can be protected in a number of ways from crows. You can suspend bird netting from a framework built around the garden for complete exclusion of crows, other pest birds and some non-burrowing animals as well.  You can install a large zipper for you to have access.  This is extremely effective, but either requires a high level of DIY or hiring a professional installer for it to be done correctly.

Bird Scarers can be very effective if deployed strategically around the garden area.  Crows are high intelligent birds.  A combination of multiple bird scare products has the best chance of convincing crows that there is a real predator in the area and that they should leave, especially since where is food available.

Use audio, visual and odor repellers together.  For example, around the garden set up a few Bird Scare Eye Balloons that will hang and sway in the breeze, as well as strips of  Bird Scare Flash Tape hanging all around the which will catch the sun and reflect it as a ‘flash,’ creating a sense in the crows that a predator is rapidly moving about the area.  Then set up a couple of Gull Cat Bird Scare Decoys. These realistic looking decoy cats are in a predator stance and actually move in the breeze. Station one on the ground near the edge of the garden (ideally in between where the crows perch and the garden) and another Scare Cat up higher on a fence or other ledge so it can be seen easily.  Then hang a Dead Crow Bird Scare Decoy in a location that is visible to the crows and place another on the ground in an area visible to the crows.  You can also add some Bird Free Optical Repellent Gel in their roosting area (trees, roof line). These gel dishes create an illusion of fire because of the way birds see things and there is an associated smell they do not like so they think the area is in flames and take off.

The combination of the dead crow effigies and predator deterrents, scare eye balloons and flash tape will tap into the crow’s fear and flight response making them believe a predator is in the area. You can enhance this by also installing a Moving Predator Owl at a higher point so it can be seen by the crows. The owl rotates in the breeze and emits sounds to create a realistic idea of a predator in the area. Be sure to move the Gull Scare Cat Decoys every day or two to a different location so they seem more realistic to the crows as predators.  Finally, get an audio scarer like the BirdXpeller Pro Electronic Repeller which covers up to an acre with its danger sounds and crow specific distress calls and even with the food source there (or a Bird Distress CD if you have a way to play that in the area for the birds), the crows will not want to stick around.

Again, combinations of products of different kinds – audio/visual/odor – is the best way to attack a crow problem.

 

If you have questions about what scare products to use for your specific crow problem, please do not hesitate to contact us. Installation of Bird Spikes, Daddi Long Legs, or Grid Wire is advanced and if you are not a serious DIYer you may want to hire a professional installer to ensure there are no gaps for the birds to get through.  For a referral of an installer near you or if you have questions about installing these products, please email us at mark@birdsgottago.com or call us at 855-741-3222.