Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Making your yard an unattractive place
• Part 2 of 3: Remove nesting spots
• Part 3 of 3: Scaring crows
• Tips
• Warnings

Crows are very intelligent and resourceful birds, even if some people think they are a nuisance. They are very useful birds that can quickly learn new skills, such as opening a bag to get food and making tools from twigs and leaves. Crows are social birds that move around as a family and gather food. So when you see a crow, there are probably more crows around. Because crows are so smart, getting rid of them can be challenging. You will have to use different methods multiple times and make your yard an unattractive place for crows.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Making your yard an unattractive place

1. Keep trash in a safe place where crows can't get to. Crows can easily rip open a plastic garbage bag to search through your trash. Make sure your trash can is not overfilled as crows can get to your trash if part of the bag is sticking out of the trash. Look for a trash can that you can close the lid with a lock. When a crow finds a source of food, it will come back every day to collect food, so it is important to keep your trash safe at all times.
   • Cover and lock all trash cans.
   • Attach the handles to posts that you put into the ground so that the trash cans cannot be knocked over.
2. Keep all compost in a container that you seal. Crows are omnivores and will eat any food scraps they come across. It's important to make sure you store all food scraps safely. Composting is an excellent and sustainable way to get rid of food scraps, but an open container of compost is very attractive to a crow. To compost food without attracting crows, make sure you cover the compost pile or put the compost in a container. You can compost garden waste without attracting crows.
3. Protect your garden. Crows can be good for your garden because they eat insects and grubs, but sometimes they also eat the plants in your garden. Buy a flexible bird net at a garden center or hardware store near you and stretch it over your plants. A net with openings measuring ten by ten centimeters will keep crows away from your plants, but will allow smaller birds to eat the insects in your garden. Before the fruit starts to ripen, place the net over the plants or span it above the plants using a frame that you built in the garden. Make sure the net is secure to keep crows away from your plants. You can also stretch such a net over fruit trees and shrubs.
4. Use bird food containers that are not suitable for large birds. Buy a bird food container that automatically closes when heavier birds try to eat the food. You can also try using a bird feeder with a fine mesh around it so that crows can't reach it, but smaller birds can. Clean up spilled food every day to prevent crows from collecting food around the food container.
5. Hang up crow-resistant nesting boxes. Crows sometimes eat the young of other, smaller bird species. If a crow finds a nest box where it can get a young, it will come back every year to do the same.
   • Make sure all nest boxes are more than six inches deep from the opening to the bottom of the box.
   • Remove the stick or rim from under the opening of a nest box so that the crows cannot sit on anything and cannot wait for a youngster to stick its head out of the hole.

Part 2 of 3: Remove nesting spots

1. Remove dead branches from trees. Crows live in groups and look for open places to rest. By removing dead branches, large numbers of crows will not be able to settle on branches without leaves.
2. Attach bird pegs to eaves and fences. Strips and bundles of bird spikes are available for purchase that are easy to install and provide a permanent way to prevent birds from landing in certain areas. Using bird spikes will prevent crows from landing in certain places because they have nowhere to put their feet.
3. Apply transparent bird gel to branches and other resting areas. You can buy bird gel on the internet or at a hardware store. Bird gel is a non-toxic, sticky substance that does not alter the natural appearance of windows and trees the way bird spiders do. The sticky gel will make the surfaces unpleasant to crows and keep your garden from becoming a place for crows to make nests.
4. Hang fewer outdoor lamps. Crows usually gather in well-lit places at night. Illuminating your garden will make it less attractive to crows.
5. Tackle the crow problem early in the winter. Crows are migratory birds and usually choose places to settle in early winter. Disrupt their habits by tackling the birds as soon as they arrive so they don't stay in your yard all winter long.
6. Disturb the crows before it gets dark at night. Scaring the crows away at night will prevent them from spending the night in your yard. Crows will look for a safe place to spend the night and by scaring them off just before dark they will likely move elsewhere.

Part 3 of 3: Scaring crows

1. Use fake animals to repel crows. Get some fake crows from a party shop and hang them upside down with their wings spread. Crows will avoid these fake dead crows. You can also use fake eagles or snakes, but they will only repel the crows for a short time. Crows can even learn to recognize the patterns of mechanical fake animals and eventually realize that they are not real.
2. Point a laser light at the crows. Laser light can drive crows from a resting place for a while. However, the crows may return a short time later. It is thought that the crows will eventually avoid the place completely if you just keep bothering them.
3. Scare the crows by hanging reflective objects in your yard. Crows can be startled by moving mirrored objects. You can buy bird tape specifically made to visually repel crows. Hang glittering garlands on poles in your yard, or create a fence around your yard by connecting pieces of tape and hanging between posts around your yard. From time to time, hang the streamers in a different place to keep the crows scary. Other reflective items you can use include:
   • Reflective tape
   • Old CDs that you hang vertically on a string
   • Aluminum cake tins. By putting or hanging something shiny in your garden you will be able to scare the crows.
4. Use loud noises to scare off crows. Crows don't like loud noises like explosions, loud thumping and alarms. However, these well-functioning options can be impractical if you live in urban areas. Every time you see the crows make the noise to train them to stay away. Playing back audio recordings of enemies from crows or crows in distress can also help ward them off. You can find these sound recordings on the internet and get them from companies that control birds. Try the following remedies to keep the crows away:
   • Firecrackers
   • Recordings of crows in distress
   • Shots of crows enemies like owls and hawks
   • Air horns

Tips

• Make your yard an unattractive place before crows arrive so you don't have a problem with crows.
• Use multiple deterrent methods to repel the crows.
• Use the methods in a different order to scare the crows so they don't find out it's not a real threat.
• Contact Bird Protection to find out more about the crow population in your area.
• If there is a place where you don't mind the crows resting there, leave some tall trees with dead branches in them for them to rest on. This keeps the crows away from the areas you are protecting.

Warnings

• Most fake animals will only repel crows for a short time. When the crows find out that the animals are not real, they will no longer be afraid.
• On the basis of the European Birds Directive, it is prohibited in our country to shoot crows. For the carrion crow, there is an exception to this prohibition if it causes serious damage to plants, crops and livestock. There are strict conditions attached to this.
• There are products for sale that are said to scare away crows with ultrasonic sound waves. Birds are not sensitive to ultrasonic sound waves, so this will not work to repel crows.