Crows! Ugh...
 

Walked down to the dock on Friday afternoon and see a large crow (blackbird...I’m assuming it’s a crow) on top of the rolled up Bimini top on our (new) boat. As I approach he flies off. I look in the boat and it’s an absolute mess. Not sure if it was birdshlt or regurgitated food but it took me an hour to get it all cleaned up. Purple/yellow slime with various seeds, etc. Yuck. I lowered the Bimini top to rest on the engine cover hoping to take away his perch.

Fast forward 24 hours. I go to the boat...no bird this time but clearly he had been there. Another complete mess with the added bonus of two holes poked into the vinyl seat back near the bow. It looked like two pencil holes, perhaps done with a beak.

This time after cleanup I put the full boat cover on (a PITA) and as of now, no more mess. We use the boat routinely so keeping the cover on is not ideal. It’s on a boat lift in a covered dock.

What can I do to make my dock undesirable for Gods little creature? There’s already an owl decoy in plain view but he doesn’t seem impressed.

Sucks.
See pellet gun thread...

+1, though go sniper style lest the rest of his "murder" sees you. Then all hell will break loose as they exact revenge. Ask me how I know...

Don't mess with crows.. they are stupid smart and will get back at you if you take one of them down.

It's better to teach em you are a cool hoomin and that you reward em for not messing with yer chit.
I got Jackdaws here.. they are bit smarter even then crows..

They know my cars and won't dook on em, cause I occasionally give em nuts.
And having Jackdaws around means there are no stoopid pigeons around.. and those are to stoopid to be taught not to dook on my cars


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Jackdaws can be taught to become pet.. they can talk and bond very close to their hoomin.
To the point they become jealous of other pets in the house, and start picking on the cat or dog.

That sounds like a story that we need to hear!!

Starlings here are TERRIBLE. Been whackin em as much as possible but they just keep coming! Worst part is, I have a terribly gun shy dog so I can't break out much more than my pellet rifle or he'll spend the rest of the day scared.

Sounds like a Raven. Bigger than Crows. We have them here. About 24" tall, clucking and cawing all the time. Smart birds.

Just ordered a wind chime that I’ll hang on the dock just above the boat. Maybe the sound will be more annoying to them than it will to me.

Crows and Ravens, as stated, are the Enrico Fermis' of bird land.

Get smart on the clean up side. We have so many birds all around the farm that the cars and equipment do take a hit.

I bought this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M7L1WKK?tag=duckduckgo-ffsb-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1592760347.jpg

Battery powered, suctions water from a bucket (or lake water), just the right PSI. I have a gas powered pressure washer I'll probably use once a year now.

Great for house uses as well.

Edit: In Washington State, the capitol of tree/fruit in this country, crows and Ravens laugh at wind chimes, random air guns that sound like rifles, etc. The tree/fruit folks have tried everything.

They adapt, over come: Clint Eastwood with wings.

agreed, wind chimes won't bother em even the slightest bit

Ok, cancelling wind chimes! Interestingly, with the boat cover on and the Bimini down, he has not come back.





Yet.

He is reading your thread right now on his or her iCrow.

Seriously.

Since the birds are smart, try yelling "How'd ya like it if I come sh.t all over your stuff pal? And I'll be comin over on Taco Tuesday!"

Get a hot female blow up crow doll and dress it up all sexy with red lipstick on the beak . Place it in neighbors yard ............ problem solved :D

Yeah, that really sucks. We deal with crows around here all the time. We are midway on their flight path from their nests to the local shopping mall where they do all of their dumpster diving. It seems our neighborhood is one of their favorite stops on their morning and evening commutes - sometimes we have what must be literally thousands of the damn things hanging out.

Shooting them is not the answer. You'll run out of ammo before you run out of crows. That, and they are remarkably tough to kill. And, as others have noted, remarkably intelligent - and vengeful. When I was still young and stupid (o.k., more stupid) I made the mistake of shooting them in my yard. The only result was that, for a time, my wife, two sons, and I could not sit out in the back yard - we would get attacked by crows. Real deal, Bodega Bay style. Literally pecking at our heads.

So, I think "defense is the best offense". Cover your stuff, don't give them places to perch, and that kind of thing. Here in the PNW, seagulls are an even bigger problem, at least around our docks. I'm not sure you've seen this, or if it would even be acceptable, but here is how we keep seagulls off of our stuff:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1592765074.jpg

Granted, you can't cover your boat like this, but using something like this to reduce the other places they can land seems to be effective. Kinda ugly, though...

Shooting them is also illegal. Federal law. You may not go to prison, but it will NOT be fun.

In Houston, we have grackles and starlings (they come through together) almost year round, but they do also migrate through past. I have at times seen a line of them in the sky from horizon to horizon that looks like this

https://szimistylebirding.files.word...18889905_n.jpg

Working downtown, there are years that downtown looks like a scene from "The Birds" with every stationary spot used as a perch.

Not true. They are not protected under federal law. State law applies, both with regard to shooting crows and where one can and cannot discharge a "firearm", the definition of which varies widely state to state.

Here in Washington, we used to only be able to shoot crows when caught in "an act of depredation". It was open season all year, no license required - as long as they were stealing or damaging something. Of course most of us could tell they were about to, or were at least thinking about it, which to us was "close enough". An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and all of that...

In light of that, the real inability to police these matters, the state relented. It's now open season, year round, no requirements, no limits. Anytime, anywhere, for any reason. At least as far as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is concerned. The only thing to be mindful of is that "discharge of a firearm" thing. In my town, an air rifle is a "firearm". It is, however, legal across the state to dispatch "nuisance wildlife" by any means at your disposal, including discharging a firearm in the city limits.

Davis,CA downtown is on the migration path. All the downtown cars turned spotted white and the bare trees turned black.
And we've gotten the flocks occasionally here in Mich as well. What a mess.

I second the idea of making the dock a more unwelcome place to hang out.
Get a motion activated sonic or water spray device.

Talk to them while walking forward and let them know it's yer turf. Claim the space. They are smart.
If that doesn't work clap hands, and yell 'go away' a little.
Animals understand even when they don't seem to care.

wrong

Crows are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Act covers almost all song birds in the US (passerines).

You can however apply for a permit.

They are also protected under many state laws.

Starlings and English Sparrows are not 'native' for the last few hundred years. They were deliberately introduced.

They have displaced many other unique and highly specialized native species of birds.

But nature adapts and is unkind. Mao once destroyed all the sparrows and the resulting crop-eating insects were worse.

"Michigan has an open hunting season for crow from August 1st to Sept. 30th and from Feb. 1st to March 31st in zones 2 & 3."

Good luck if trying to shoot one. They are one of the smartest birds around. You might get close enough for a shot without carrying a gun. But carry one...no dice.

Crows are known to do a post mortem
That is.. if one of them get's killed.. the others investigate what happened.. to make sure they don't run into the same problem.

They actively communicate to one another on tactics to survive.

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And they know how a stoplight works.
To put nuts in front of cars when it's red
wait for green to see cars crack nuts
then wait for red to pick up the cracked nuts



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crows know before ever seeing one being used... because other crows told em.
not kidding.

Yes, crows are "protected" to some degree by the Migratory Bird Act, but that "protection" does not extend to barring us from shooting them. State law applies, as I stated earlier.

That State Law also serves as the "permit" required under the Migratory Bird Act. No individual is required to apply for that permit. And again, this is here in Washington - it's important to check your own state's laws.

So, no, shooting them is absolutely not "illegal under federal law". Federal law allows the states to set their own rules with regards to hunting crows. As long as one is following their state law, it is all perfectly legal under federal law.

I just don't know where you get your misinformation

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act prohibits the take (including killing, capturing, selling, trading, and transport) of protected migratory bird species without prior authorization by the Department of Interior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b85587342ebe4f607983dfb6d1e07461&mc=true&n ode=se50.1.10_113&rgn=div8

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/16/2020-06779/general-provisions-revised-list-of-migratory-birds

^^^ "Michigan has an open hunting season for crow from August 1st to Sept. 30th and from Feb. 1st to March 31st in zones 2 & 3."

That's my area.

You're not paying attention. As I've already stated, our permission comes through our respective states. This sentence is key: without prior authorization by the Department of Interior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Again (pay attention this time), that "prior authorization", or "permit", is provided through our states' game laws. It's really pretty simple, Randy. It's perfectly legal for us, under federal law, to shoot crows if our states have laws under which we can do so.

Dude I've "eaten crow" for a few lifetimes already. ;)
(foot-in-mouth disease here)

Black Crows Matter :D

Speaking of crows .... where's crowbob?

^^^
Prob chasing crows out of his cherry trees. :)

Jeff is correct. A lot of birds covered under the migratory bird act are hunted. There is a waterfowl season and many migratory birds land on the dinner table! Even in CA there is a crow season. Dec 5 - April 7 - daily bag limit 24 crows.
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Hunting/Nongame-Furbearers

The main issue I see is that people confuse crows with ravens and then get in trouble. I have never tried to hunt crow, like others mentioned, they seem strangely absent when there is any hunting going on.

Personally I don't care for the crows at all, mainly because they come through my area a couple times a year in big groups of 100+ and systematically clean out all the song bird nests. Air battles ensue with little birds trying to fend off the crows ...

G

I will run this down if you can tell me where you saw it.

Generally, a state cannot enable you to violate a federal law. States can enact more stringent laws protecting birds. 16 USC sec. 704.

Nor am I aware of anything in the MBTA that allows FWS to allow a state law to

FWS violates the law frequently, so it is possible they are doing so here (by enlargening on what Congress told them to do)

Or you may be thinking of Depredation Orders - these do include crows, but are VERY limited in what circumstances allow a private citizen to take migratory birds. Similar restrictions apply to state and tribal authorities.

the bolded stmt. is not correct AFAIK, and I know pretty far in this area

again, LMK if you have a link or anything else and I'll look into it

If Calif. is allowing crow hunting, then it can only be legal under a Depredation Order

What about pot sales in certain states?

How about an ultra sonic device that is motion activated? The quick and easy way is to use a motion detection light. Get a dual socket model and use a screw-in adapter for the plug. Don't bother with battery operated units and shoot for 100 dB sound with a variable frequency.

link

One of our family stories that gets told over and over is about shooting starlings.
When I was 15 my bedroom was directly above the kitchen and our garden was right outside my window. It was a favorite feeding ground for starlings, by the thousands.
One afternoon mom was cooking and, having nothing better to do, I decided to get rid of a few starlings. I lined up my .410 shotgun, my 16 gauge, my 20 gauge, Dad’s double barreled 20, my .22 rifle, and Dad’s .22 revolver on my window sill. I carefully watched the birds, looking for clusters that might be better targets. When the time was right I unloaded all the shotguns as fast as I could and started picking off the floppers with the .22s.

I should have mentioned my plan to my mom.

There she was, calming singing her hymns and making noodles when WW III broke loose just above her head. She ran from the house waving her arms, with flour and noodles flying everywhere. She hid in the barn until Dad came home from work. I think he was supposed to yell at me, but he couldn’t stop laughing.
For 30 years every time The Great Starling Massacree came up at family dinners she left the room and we rolled on the floor laughing.

Jays are in the same family as the Crows both being Corvids. They like shiny objects. Such as the keys to your Porsche, guitar picks and shower heads. This particular Jay would fly circles around me while I was in the shower.




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that's a non-enforcement issue

FWS also has discretion to not enforce criminal penalties, sometimes... civil

My folks put out a dead crow in their yard. It is something you can buy (not an actual dead crow). They leave it out for a few days and the crows stop coming for months.

Federal regs


§ 20.133 Hunting regulations for crows.
(a) Crows may be taken, possessed, transported, exported, or imported, only in accordance with such laws or regulations as may be prescribed by a State pursuant to this section.

(b) Except in the State of Hawaii, where no crows shall be taken, States may by statute or regulation prescribe a hunting season for crows. Such State statutes or regulations may set forth the method of taking, the bag and possession limits, the dates and duration of the hunting season, and such other regulations as may be deemed appropriate, subject to the following limitations for each State:

(1) Crows shall not be hunted from aircraft;

(2) The hunting season or seasons on crows shall not exceed a total of 124 days during a calendar year;

(3) Hunting shall not be permitted during the peak crow nesting period within a State; and

(4) Crows may only be taken by firearms, bow and arrow, and falconry.