Crow Management: Crows Have Taken Over My City!

From Portland Oregon, to Rochester Minnesota, and even Watertown NY it seems every year more and more crows are gathering in the winter months and taking over the night skies. Thousands of crows also known as a murder of crows, flock together and roost in just about every city in the country, especially those in northern states. As if 2020 could get any stranger,  click here and see for yourself the number of news stories reporting crow destruction or infestation. So, if a few geese in your yard can leave plenty of feces behind imagine what 15,000 leave behind in just one night; click here to find out!

The American crow populations have generally expanded in size and range over the past few decades. This comes even in the wake of the West Nile Virus in 1999, in which American crows exhibited the highest death rate of any species impacted by the disease. The American crow population was estimated to have been decimated by up to 45% by the virus. However crow populations were able to recover and bounce back and are estimated by the BirdLife Fact List to be over 31 million in 2019.  

Well, if you are sick of your city skyline looking like something out of a horror movie there are a few techniques we at Loomacres Wildlife Management have used to keep these birds from flocking in certain areas.

1. Habitat Modification – This is probably the hardest “non-lethal” tactic because crows succeed in just about all varieties of habitat but simply covering trees and roost sites with netting, plants with plastic bags, applying sticky substances on perching areas and places they forage for food.


2. Repellants – By strategically placing repellants such as scarecrows, or effigy of owls, and other predators and reflectors in areas that the crows are flocking at night will typically make them congregate elsewhere. Frightening audio or noisemakers are another common type of avian repellant. These include propane cannons, screamer or banger rockets and other pistol-shot pyrotechnics. The use of recorded distress calls has also been proven effective. These methods temporarily scare the birds away from the immediate area. Propane cannons and similar devices emit loud noises, often at set intervals. Some models may rotate to have a greater effective range. Pistol-shot pyrotechnics are small explosives that may be shot from a distance toward the desired target. Shellcrackers are another commonly used pyrotechnic that are fired from 12-gauge shotguns.


3. Live Trapping – For smaller residential areas, trapping crows and relocation has been proven to work very well. However, for major cities with huge populations of crows it may not be cost effective with labor required.
4. Poisoning – It is extremely important to be knowledgeable about active chemicals and their usage before applying avicides. The risk of accidentally poisoning other species can be high if used incorrectly.
5. Shooting- Probably the most effective way to keep crows away is by shooting them! Plan and simple, however, seeing as most of these bird’s flock within city limits, this might not be an option. This is typically a last resort measure used to not kill every crow but to remove a few and condition the rest.

If you would like to find out more information about crows or the removal of crows please fill out the field below and someone from Loomacres will reach out to you shortly.

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