I HATE Crows!!!

[AngC]

When they bathe in the water dishes, they make oily, grease slicks. Plus, today, they left peanuts, bread, cherries and (what looked to me) like a piece of vole leg from the ‘elbow’ down. Nasty!

Of those, only the cherries and the vole part are endemic to this area. The bread and peanuts were fed by some person in the neighborhood. I’m sure glad I don’t have a stock tank; our rubber dishes are relatively easy to dump, rinse, and refill. I sure am tired of dumping and refilling.

I’m trying to be a good neighbor, but my trigger finger is itching.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Nasty birds but them's Rooks- Crows do not live in "packs" they are fairly solitary bird. Rooks live in....well I think they heard about Passenger Pigeons personally and took it as a challenge! We have so many they blacken the sky. Put down some bread for the chickens, take out your gun, sit back and wait......

 

[horse_apples]

I've witnessed crows chasing hawks in the air here in Ohio. They can be agressive and destructive. Crows get on my last nerves and lucky for them, my old daisy red rider bb gun shoots sideways or else.....

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Well, I guess I am odd, I actually like crows. Yes, Rabbit, we have crows that flock in family groups here. Pretty sure they are a different bird than your rooks. We also have Ravens which look similar but much bigger and dare I say uglier. Ravens are solitary (mostly) and more aggressive than crows. Crows are the only bird I know that cares about their flock/family members. I have seen crows gather in trees beside the road where one of their own was killed and hold what amounts to a funeral for their lost flock member. I have also seen them bring scraps of food to one that was sick or injured and could not or would not fly from its perch. Show mw another bird that does that. If a chicken is weak or sick the other chickens will not just ignore it they will often turn on it and if it has an open wound they will peck at it, often killing it, far more brutal and yet many of us - me included- like chickens. Crows are quick to learn what they need to know to survive, how to get food/water, where it is safe, where it is not but they are like curious and playful toddlers and will get into things too. If the crows are really causing you grief AngC all you need to do is shoot one and hang it where the rest can see it, they will avoid the area for a very long time. Some of ours are so used to being shot at (at the neighbours - I don't bother) that if you raise your arm to mime a rifle as they fly by and shout bang they will actually flinch and swerve like they hope to dodge a bullet.

 

[disneyhorse]

I'm with reignmaker... I love crows (in flocks) and ravens (lower voices and more solitary) I find them beautiful and intelligent.

West Nile had obliterated most of the flocks around here years ago but they are making a comeback.

When I was a child, we raised a baby crow who had fallen out of its nest (named it Edgar Allen Crow). As it grew older, it's family would circle outside when it called us for food in concern. The family never really left it, even though it lived inside our house. When it was able to fly, we released it, the parents swooped down to join it and they all flew away. We didn't keep it long enough to really tame it (they are a bit messy and smelly for a pet) so it's cool that the flock will keep tabs like that!

I'm with reignmaker... I love crows (in flocks) and ravens (lower voices and more solitary) I find them beautiful and intelligent.

West Nile had obliterated most of the flocks around here years ago but they are making a comeback.

When I was a child, we raised a baby crow who had fallen out of its nest (named it Edgar Allen Crow). As it grew older, it's family would circle outside when it called us for food in concern. The family never really left it, even though it lived inside our house. When it was able to fly, we released it, the parents swooped down to join it and they all flew away. We didn't keep it long enough to really tame it (they are a bit messy and smelly for a pet) so it's cool that the flock will keep tabs like that!

 

[Tab]

I love most birds, I thrill at goldfinches, purple finches, bluebirds, scarlet tanager, redheaded woodpecker, but I strongly dislike crows and their incessant cawing. Grackle we could also do without and house wren. The grackle and house wren take over the barn and spread lice and parasites. We live on a busy state road and near two even busier highways so crow are overpopulated on plentiful roadkill. Every time I hear a hawk and upset crows I'm rooting for the hawk to eat a few.

 

[AngC]

I’m not Miss Audubon Society, but generally I like birds. I just can’t find it in me to like crows. I read somewhere that they eat slugs. After observing their behavior, I haven’t seen any indication of that; not that I blame them, when it’s rainy here the slugs are so huge, I wouldn’t eat them either. If they actually had some useful value besides tormenting the horses, I could deal with them. But fouling the water dishes and dive-bombing Baby (our yearling, who used to like chasing them for fun) really yanks my chain.

Interesting perspective from the UK... I read a little about rooks, crows, etc. Our American crows are not solitary. Most of the plots here where we live are 5 acre, with a handful of 10/20 acre plots. We’re up against the foothills (not their preferred habitat) I’d guesstimate there’s probably a dozen or so crows living on our immediate (5 acre) property. If you drop 500 feet in elevation, down on the highway in the farmers’ fields, there are many, many more.

We tried the shoot-a-crow and hang it on the fence method once; I’m not too sure how well that works since I made the husband take it down after a day, because a neighbor lady showed up at our door and threw a freak-fit about us evil bird-killers. Funny thing is... she’s the reason we’re using rubber water bowls vice stock tanks. I didn’t want to install tanks because she was grumping about her immediate neighbors feeding the crows and the food product was ending up in her stock tank and had mentioned what a pain it was to empty and clean. [sometimes, I really don’t understand people. I must be deficient.]

 

[Tab]

Maybe we need to pray the crows away. I'm serious! For about a week right after I posted about crows they went away

There must have been a bumper crop of roadkill south of us, so they went away lol!

 

[Shari]

When I lived in WA state, we had a big problem with Crows. Because of people thinking it was cute to feed them, they grew in numbers and would form up flocks or like Fish and Game said, Killing Gangs.

Some nights I would count over a 100 crows flying over or stopping on our place.
They would kill and eat baby song birds, squirrels, baby chicks, ducks, steal eggs and so on... got so bad the song bird population had been diminished.

Ravens were rare, only saw them once in awhile.... and no more than two at a time. Never had a problem with Ravens.

Now in Oregon, we had one pair of crows in the area. This is normal... they would raise their babies every year, then the babies would go off and we would be back to two.

 

[Margo_C-T]

Here, there are flocks of crows that fly out from the city for the day to feed in the grain fields east of us, then return home late in the day, at some times of the year...but the 'permanent' area residents are ravens, and some of them are HUGE! They aren't exactly solitary, but tend to hang out in small groups...2,3, maybe 4...at times. I admire how exceedingly SMART they are, but discourage them from hanging around too close, as if I allow it, they'll perch on, and poop HUGE messes into, my 16 gal. water tub, and some of my feeders...a mess to clean up! The ones around here now know what I mean when I yell, 'get out of here'---and they'll take off and leave the place, at least for awhile....

They are adept predators, have observed them killing/carrying off baby rabbits, and my beloved King bird chicks---a big reason I run them off if possible. Once, years ago, when they were being particularly destructive, I shot one out of a tree on my place....I do believe it really 'put the fear' into the others, and they quit hanging around here for quite some time afterward.

 

[Marty]

All this talk of big black birds is making me think of Alfred Hitchcock