My home has become 'Crow Central' Why?

[Teila]

Oh, how awful Manningjw

Yep, as I have mentioned, I definitely have not trusted them around any chicks in the past and luckily, do not have chicks at the moment.

I have never seen a Hawk around here and I know that does not mean that one opportunistic Hawk is not going to visit one day, I still wonder if I will ever get used to 15-16 Crows hanging around. Hopefully whatever is attracting them is not here all the time and they may just move away leaving a tolerable 2-3

I have watched them pick up the palm berries off the driveway so maybe that is what is attracting them and I can only hope that once the palm stops seeding, they go.

As I am not able to get any real life Crow enemies of my own and any scare tactics I try are just going to scare my bantams also; I may have to learn to live with it.

I know that people put rubber snakes on their roof to keep away birds and others use the plastic Owl trick; anyone have any ideas on something that may deter the Crows that I could 'park' on the front lawn?

 

[Teila]

Update:

It has been 5 days since my last post and I have not been pecked to death yet and they have not started trying to smash through the windows but they are still here!

Driving me insane!! They are so noisy! I was trying to talk to a client on the phone the other day and he was having a great laugh at my expense as he could hardly hear me over the noise and when I explained my predicament he had could not stop chuckling; should charge him extra for the entertainment factor lol.

It must be bad because even hubby noticed them and he pretty much gets into the work-zone and would not notice anything much going on unless someone was to disconnect the power!

Anyway, he tried hanging a couple of old CD's from the tree out the front. All that accomplished was to give the Crows a disco ball under which to continue their party!

On the up side, even though I am not allowed to have one, I could probably get a rooster and no-one would know ... no chance he could make more noise than these evil black sqwarkers that start way before the sun comes up!

We live in a single level home, with a double level home on either side of us; yesterday I was in the back garden and both neighbours roofs had about 10 crows each, all looking down, watching me .. scary stuff!

One was in the back garden the other day, pretty close to my 5 month old bantam cochin and he was bigger than she is!

Also, walking through the lounge room today, glanced over at the screen door and there is a beady eyed crow, standing there looking back at me.

Whatever wrong I did to invoke this feathered pestilence, I'm sorry, please call them off or send them back from whence they came!

 

[ChickenAndMore]

I once thought that I had a bad egg eater turns out it was a crow. He would sit in the trees and wait for the egg song and then fly in and eat it. I live out in the country so he didn't last long.

 

[Teila]

Gees, ChickenAndMore, they sure are fearless!

Luckily my run is wire covered and the girls home is not accessible to other birds. Funnily enough, when I first started this thread it was because the Crows were scaring my girls, the girls do not seem quite so bothered by them now .. just me who wants them gone I think!

If I lived in the country, we would not be having this conversation and I would be digging a hole for all the bodies or Googling Crow Soup recipes

I still have no idea why, now 16-20 Crows, have decided that they are going to live here. Still looking for ways to get rid of them that will not draw unwanted attention from the authorities and also not injure or harm any other critters, including my girls.

Truthfully, I wish the Crows no harm, just want them to find someone else to stalk

 

[BobDBirdDog]

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door—
"‘Tis some visitor," I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more........

Sorry I could not resist!!!!!!

In days gone by, the crow was thought to be a bad omen, a sign of a death or a death soon to come. It is believed to be that this "Lore/superstition" evolved from days of the battle when the dead lay in the battle fields for days, in which the raven would await their chance to feed upon the the carcases. The raven often followed the battle-men from a distance as they marched into battle as they became accustom to the free and easy lunch.

In this modern day, we commonly see an occasional raven/crow scavenging along side the roads feeding on road kill. Why? Food/Proteins! A substance that most all crave. Such a large bird can easily take a young chick from the nest but that does not seem to be the case from the photo. I suspect that your lawn may harbor some natural proteins, perhaps Night crawlers, red wiggler or other earth Worms, Grubs......

This would be highly likely if you compost your yard or maintain a higher organic content. Perhaps it is just silk worms falling from the trees above, or ants......?Like any bird they will hang out were the food is located. Also, birds of a feather flock together, in such you my be attracting them with your birds thinking they are kissing cousins or something. Crows are gutsy nuisance.

Edit: I just seen where you posted about palm berries....another food source! You might try rock salt in the yard, it will bring a duck, goose, or dove down as it glimmers like water in the sun. But crows have been known to be thief's stealing shiny objects such as a pocket watch, if they eat it then it might drive them to thirst and vacate to a water source. Who knows it might shrivel them up like a prune!

As an evil anarchist resort, fishing line tangled up, "looped", makes a nice trap that will reek havoc on them if their poor little legs, feet, necks or wings get tangled in it. I am sure the crows would love you for that. No telling where you might find one hanging though if they tangle and manage to fly away to a tree.

 

[tridentk9]

If you or your husband ever chase them or act negatively towards them, wear a mask. Crows remember people and if the person has been good or bad towards them. Then they tattle to all their crow friends. Add in that they're scarey smart ....

http://news.discovery.com/animals/z...s-memory-life-threatening-behavior-110628.htm

 

[Teila]

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door—
"‘Tis some visitor," I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more........

Sorry I could not resist!!!!!!

In days gone by, the crow was thought to be a bad omen, a sign of a death or a death soon to come. It is believed to be that this "Lore/superstition" evolved from days of the battle when the dead lay in the battle fields for days, in which the raven would await their chance to feed upon the the carcases. The raven often followed the battle-men from a distance as they marched into battle as they became accustom to the free and easy lunch.

In this modern day, we commonly see an occasional raven/crow scavenging along side the roads feeding on road kill. Why? Food/Proteins! A substance that most all crave. Such a large bird can easily take a young chick from the nest but that does not seem to be the case from the photo. I suspect that your lawn may harbor some natural proteins, perhaps Night crawlers, red wiggler or other earth Worms, Grubs......

This would be highly likely if you compost your yard or maintain a higher organic content. Perhaps it is just silk worms falling from the trees above, or ants......?Like any bird they will hang out were the food is located. Also, birds of a feather flock together, in such you my be attracting them with your birds thinking they are kissing cousins or something. Crows are gutsy nuisance.

Edit: I just seen where you posted about palm berries....another food source! You might try rock salt in the yard, it will bring a duck, goose, or dove down as it glimmers like water in the sun. But crows have been known to be thief's stealing shiny objects such as a pocket watch, if they eat it then it might drive them to thirst and vacate to a water source. Who knows it might shrivel them up like a prune!

As an evil anarchist resort, fishing line tangled up, "looped", makes a nice trap that will reek havoc on them if their poor little legs, feet, necks or wings get tangled in it. I am sure the crows would love you for that. No telling where you might find one hanging though if they tangle and manage to fly away to a tree.

Lols BobDBirdDog

You are forgiven on this occasion, but only because I love your sense of humour!

Thank you for giving me thoughts of an impending death to add to my remake of Birds phobia!

Hhhhm, ants are a definite possibility. The Palm that drops the berries has fronds which the ants love to build nests on and I have seen some smallish ant nests on the lawn. Having said that, we have lived here for 5 years and this is the first time we have had a problem with the Crows. As you can see in the photo, the lawn is not lush and green at the moment due to a lack of rain and it is probably the driest it has been since we moved here which would definitely make it ant-haven. We finally had some torrential rain on Thursday and it was extremely windy yesterday. While I can still hear the Crows in the trees as I type, they have not actually been all over the front lawn since Wednesday so your theory of something nice to eat in the lawn is definitely a good one and the rain may have drowned that food source which is why they have taken to the trees. All I ever do to the front lawn is mow it; thats it. I do have a compost bin out the back and of course, the girls keep the back lawn nicely fertilised and bug free on free range. The back lawn, which the Crows do not seem too interested in, is definitely lusher and greener than the front.

I believe you are correct. If we get more rain and the front lawn becomes lusher and greener again as it has in the past, it will be interesting to see if the Crows do move on. Still does not explain why it is only my lawn and no-one else in the street as they all look pretty much like mine. Ah, thinking as I type, next door has a dog, the other side has an outdoor cat, across the road has a Beagle and next door to them live two dogs and two outside cats ... I think I am starting to see a trend here! All I have protecting my front lawn is a CD/Crow disco ball!

Good thinking on the salt, unfortunately the closest water source would be my 3 fish ponds in the back yard

You know, I think I am just going to have to learn to live with them, as much as I joke about it, I could not bring myself to hurt them. If I could find something to scare them away without hurting them I would be over the moon which brings me to tridentk9's comment ..................

If you or your husband ever chase them or act negatively towards them, wear a mask. Crows remember people and if the person has been good or bad towards them. Then they tattle to all their crow friends. Add in that they're scarey smart ....

http://news.discovery.com/animals/z...s-memory-life-threatening-behavior-110628.htm

Now that was some scary reading!

Impending death + Bird remake + at least 5 years of revenge stalking .. this just keeps getting better!

*Sigh* I am now a marked target ... this bit of news came way too late and I think they got a pretty good look at me when I was chasing them off the back fence and again when I was waving the broom at them like a crazy woman! I am thinking this can not be a good thing!

Time to start pondering a sacrificial peace offering I reckon, that or stay indoors for the next five years so they forget me!

Seriously now, thank you tridentk9 that was interesting to read. Again, unless I can find something to scare them off that they can not trace back to my face and that will not hurt them, it appears I am going to have to learn to live with my new evil overlords until whatever is going on with the front lawn changes.

 

[tridentk9]

LOL- wear a Bieber mask when you chase the crows?

 

[Teila]

LOL- wear a Bieber mask when you chase the crows?

lolz tridentk9, too funny!

That is a pretty good line of thinking. Needing a bit of pay back on someone? Don a mask with their face on it and go and hassle a few Crows!

Edited to Add:

By jove, you may have solved the mystery ... maybe that is exactly what happened! I might have upset someone and I am suffering the pay back? lol

 

[tridentk9]

Hmm, maybe we should recommend that idea to the BYCers harassed by neighbors. Bird revenge