Crows

[julia-mag]

Can anyone tell me please if crows that are making a nest in my oak tree will frighten away the smaller birds from the feeding stations we have under the tree?

[Kleiber]

I wouldn't be surprised. I've got a crows' nest a couple of hundred yards from my bird feeders and the crows actually come down & feed from the trays I put seed in! This morning, the damn thing chased away my lovely pair of tame collared doves.

[julia-mag]

We get a fair variety of smaller birds in our garden and I would hate to lose them, but what can I do ?

[Kleiber]

My small birds still come to the feeders, even when the crows are on the ground. Could you maybe move your feeders a bit further away then at least the crows won't be right above them. You could always destroy the crows' nest (I will get a lot of flack for saying that, but crows are vermin and it is perfectly legal to destroy a crow nest), but I suppose they have a right to live, too. The thing I would worry about, is the crows raiding the smaller birds' nests for the eggs & young, to feed to their young.

[jomifl]

Flak incoming Kleiber, how on earth can anyone who has an ounce of feeling for wildlife suggest that a crow's nest be destroyed just so that small birds can be watched whilst they eat food that they don't really need. As for crows being 'vermin' I'm amazed that people still swallow such outdated rural twaddle.
As I've mentioned several time on AB, we once raised a crow nestling that had de-nested itself and it proved to be a charming creature, very intelligent, quick to learn and affectionate. No better way of having your eyelashes groomed and your ears cleaned. If more people had such close contact with wild creature perhaps they would respect them a bit more.

[FredPuli43]

Kleiber, you'd better be careful if you are thinking of causing death to crows. I'm a farmer and we are only allowed to shoot or destroy crows if they are presenting an immediate threat to our crops, There is no carte blanche. And it explains why we don't go out and shoot all rooks and other corvids or otherwise destroy them.

[Kleiber]

I thought this would happen. I'm not advocating killing the crows (read my post). They will find another nest site if they know they're not welcome. BTW, Fred, I'm a farmer, too.

[Kleiber]

Jomifl, how can you say that small birds "don't really need" food that we put out for them? The last couple of years have been extrmely hard on the wildlife (including crows!) and the smaller birds need all the help they can get. I'm NOT against crows, everyone! They are very intelligent creatures and I said before that they have a right to live as well. What I would say, though, to FredPuli, is that I take it you're not a sheep farmer?

[jomifl]

Is it 'cos they's black?

[jomifl]

By the time crows are nesting there is plenty of food available for songbirds. They just have to go and look for it.

[Kleiber]

Oh, boy!! Another intelligent answer....

[jomifl]

and another :-)

[Kleiber]

Sorry, Julia, we've rather hijacked your thread. Nothing personal, jomifl or fredpuli. K xx

[julia-mag]

Well all the birds that feed in my garden have been searching for food because theyre nests are certainly not close, and my garden also offers a lot of insects that they like, such a greenfly, blackfly, spiders by the thousands, worms, etc etc. I know the crows are very intelligent, the food they pick up from here is always put into the water dish before eating it ! (when its bread they cant get it all out again!) Wildlife is a wonderful thing and I enjoy most angles of it. I just hope the wind may blow the twigs out of the tree and they move a bit further into the fields. I won't disturb them.

[jomifl]

Just to clear up a little misunderstanding, crows do not dedicate their lives to pecking out the eyes of newborn lambs and eating the chicks of songbirds. They are essentially insectivores and they eat some crop pests such as leatherjackets, grasshoppers, crickets and chaferbug larvae. The crow we had would NOT eat earthworms though it would take anything else we offered it. There is plenty of information on the web about the diet of crow's.

[jomifl]

Reminder to self, when reconstructing a sentence check for un-needed apostrophes

[Kleiber]

Oh, come off it jomifl - not dedicating their lives, maybe, but they will. If you'd like to see proof, come to my place & have a look at my poor old ewe - blind in one eye, thanks to crows. They are omnivorous and will eat most things (maybe yours was just a fussy so & so?). Julia, your reply is spot on. All the best with all your birds!!

[julia-mag]

Plus I need to check grammar, between their and they're!

[chaptazbru]

I wouldn't want crows nesting on my property as I would be very concerned about the smaller nesting birds. Could you not wave your arms about a lot and chase them away (lol) or throw things at them, not to hit them, but to scare them?

[jomifl]

I used to work in North wales and knew a few sheep farmers, I have to say that one eyed sheep were not that common. How many times have you seen crows pecking the eyes of newborn lambs that weren't already dead?

[julia-mag]

I am afraid we have watched these crows which are actually a family over the years, they all have a splash of white somewhere on their body, and I dont mind them joining in the food but was worried when they started putting a nest together in my tree. I think it is because a few days back the tree they usually nest in was 're-shaped' by tree surgeons which made them look for somewhere else. I am worried that they will use baby birds as food, and I keep picking up the fallen sticks so hoping they will build in fields not far away, and it is still very windy here to-day. But from a birds point of view it must be very frustrating to keep putting sticks to-gether and then the wind moves them again. I will never win against the crows will I !. Oh well..........I wont chop my tree down move them on !! (lol)