Damage Caused by Crows

When crows are in their flocking phase, thousands of these very noisy pest birds can literally overwhelm trees or buildings in an area, creating a tremendous amount of noise and harassing both people and animals in the area. Other crow problems occur when there is a large scale buildup of their feces which can lead to structural damage as the uric acid in the pest bird droppings can corrode stone, metal and masonry. As with other pest bird species, the bacteria, fungal agents and ectoparasites found in crow droppings and nesting materials pose a serious health risk. Crows are most often the source of agricultural bird problems due to their fondness for corn and other crops, especially when newly planted.

Nesting

Crows are committed nest builders. They typically build nests in trees, twenty to sixty feet off the ground. The nest consists of sticks and twigs with shredded bark, grass or a similar material lining it.

Breeding

Crows have one or two broods a year, averaging four to seven eggs per brood. Incubation takes eighteen days with a four to five week fledgling period before the young leave the nest. The eggs range from pale bluish-green to olive green or greenish-brown with splotches of brown and olive-gray.

Cycles

Migratory in upper parts of the country. Northern birds will fly thousands of miles south during the winter, while southern birds stay put year round. One notable characteristic about Crows is their flocking behavior. In fall and winter they will move to better feeding areas where they will coalesce into massive feeding flocks. These feeding flocks in turn, join up with other flocks at night to form enormous communal roosts numbering from a couple thousand to tens of thousands.

The best crow control product is 1-1/8” StealthNet bird netting. Bird net is extremely durable and creates a true bird barrier. Bird netting permantently resolves crow problems, keeping these pest birds completely away from the area.

In addition to bird net, another effective crow control product is an electrical wire/track product as these problem birds are generally to nimble for most traditional mechanical ledge products. If the crows are not nesting in the area, bird spikes are a good bird control product to use to protect ledges, signage, pipes, etc. You can get rid of crows with a combination of audio and visual bird scare products if the bird scare products are implemented quickly when the birds move into an area.

A combination of sophisticated noisemakers like the BirdGard Pro, Bird Squawker(for larger areas), Zon Gun propane canon and the BirdBlaster sound unit with visual products like bird scare eye balloons bird scare flags and flash bird scare tape creates a menacing, predatory feel to the area driving the problem crows from the vicinity.

A new technique for sparrow bird control that has found some success is fogging with methyl anthranilate, a grape extract that reacts with the birds olfactory sense like pepper spray. This is a technique that should be undertaken by experienced professionals only.