I see a lot of both sides for crows, so I will attempt to touch on it all. It is unhelpful to lump all crows together as 'always this way' because it's simply untrue!
Your, or anyone else's experience with crows will
vary depending on the local crow population and what they are used to.
Not all crows are going to be hawk deterrents. Just as not all crows are going to ruin everything on your property. They are wild,
intelligent animals and they develop very strong habits that different from region to region and neighborhood to neighborhood.
Urban crows tend to be very human-savvy. They usually don't have to deal with as many predators and may be very blase about hawks.
Suburban crows tend to be a mixed bag. They are used to people, dogs, noise. There are also a lot of hawks in suburban settings, and it just really depends on what the family unit of crows that you have around thinks of hawks! Some have learned to hate them, while others don't care. It also seems to depend on the species of hawk in how they react.
Rural crows are generally the most likely to have smaller family units and are the most likely to not only warn about hawks, but actually drive them away-- especially during breeding season. Rural crows tend to be the most spooky around humans and our pets... rural crows may have been shot at.
The effectiveness of crows, and other hawk-hating birds such as jays, magpies, mockingbirds, and a few other songbirds, depends on your ability to observe these birds and react accordingly. If this sounds like too much work, then you should invest your efforts into more concrete ways of deterring hawks, such as a covered run for the chickens. But, using cues from wild birds can be helpful in some situations.
Try to observe your local birds, and how they react to predators. Around here, the crows, jays, catbirds and chickadees will start screaming when they see a hawk, or a ground predator. They are often my first indicator that something is wrong, as they have better eyesight than we do. If you are keen on letting them help play sentry, then it's worth it to spend a little time to get used to their calls, and which ones mean "Danger".
Crows have a fairly large range. Unless you own over a hundred acres or more, it's likely that any crows you see have your property as only part of their range. Therefore the first thing to understand about crows is that they will not always be there to 'help'. Even if you encourage them to visit often, you will have lapses in 'crow surveillance' and it's important to remember that their 'help' should only be part of your protective measures for your birds. You should never rely on crows alone to protect against hawks!
Depending on the species, crows tend to enjoy nesting in conifers, especially pines. Nesting crows on your property is a good thing as they will rarely tolerate a bird of prey in the area while they are raising young. Young crows are predated on by raptors such as hawks and owls regularly, and crows will very often mob, harass, and otherwise carry on if there is a hawk in the area where they are nesting.
If you want to encourage crows and jays, here are some tips:
- - Choose a crow feeding area away from your home and chicken coop/outbuildings. This should be a location where items put out for the crows can be seen from the air. I use an old woodpile at the edge of the woods.
- - Offer foods that crows enjoy, such as leftover bones and meaty scraps from your dinners, nuts, etc. Meat and peanuts are some of their favorites. Try to avoid human junk food, salty, fatty, sugary things... in excess... it might be tempting as a way to get rid of old bread and such but these items are especially bad for wild animals in any quantity.
- - Don't offer eggs (if you have old eggs, your chickens would love them, no need to waste them). You don't want to teach crows that your yard is a source for eggs! That is a whole other problem.
- - If you do offer food, consider putting it out only early in the day so that the crows have a chance to find it and clean it up. You are NOT looking to accidentally attract other predators to your yard, like raccoons, stray dogs, bears! The first few times you may need to offer these foods while there are crows around so they see you putting them out. If the food isn't cleaned up by the crows by nightfall, consider discontinuing this practice, because you could make things worse by encouraging nocturnal predators into your property.
- - Be aware that crows are smart, and opportunistic. If you give them easy access to your eggs, they can and will steal eggs. If you give them easy access to baby chicks, they will eat those too. Do you know of many predators that don't delight in baby chickens though? I don't! Nearly everything loves a chicken nugget sized meal. If you protect your chicks and eggs then you should not have this problem.
- - Remember that each situation is different. These methods may work beautifully for some, and not at all for others. Use common sense and observations to figure out what's working, and what isn't.
Crows have a very keen memory, and will not only have they been proven to remember individual humans faces, but they remember which ones were unkind to crows in the past (and which ones put out yummy treats). They teach this to their offspring. Therefore it is important not to accidentally teach them something you don't want them knowing, such as 'this is a good place to get eggs'.
. I've never seen that they have any interest what so ever in my chickens. So I was wondering if there were any ways to encourage them to spend a little more time in my area. Sorta like feral, flying guard dogs.
