How to Keep Crows Away From Bird Feeders and Garden?

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Written by

Clinton Atkins

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FACT-CHECKED BY

George Dukes

how to keep crows away from bird feeders

Having a bird feeder in your backyard can be a lot of fun if you love birds. While eating their food, you get a sense of satisfaction from watching the birds in your backyard. In addition to attracting birds, the bird feeder can also attract other animals, such as crows.

Crows can be a source of intense annoyance over bird feeders, intimidating and attacking smaller birds. Crows, with their appetite and gregarious nature, can swiftly call their companions to finish up the seeds we have just laid out. They damage fruits, flowers, crops, and anything that gets in their way. Moreover, their incessant cawing can be very disturbing.

Crows are very attentive and clever birds. They can learn from their mistakes. These characteristics make them resilient. Thus, getting rid of crows is quite difficult. Have you ever wondered how to keep crows away from bird feeders? If you are looking for methods to get rid of crows easily on your own, you are in the right place.

There are several types of crow-proof bird feeders in the market. However, in this article, you can learn other simple tips to scare crows away without spending too much time and effort. For example, using a pest repeller or having a fence full of spikes.

Make Use of an Ultrasonic Pest and Bird Repellent

You may effortlessly and quietly get rid of crows using an ultrasonic pest repeller. You may consider purchasing devices from Bird-X or find some good deals on Amazon and eBay.

Typically, these ultrasonic products generate vibrations that only birds can detect. The vibrations cause discomfort and urge the crows to find a safer location.

As opposed to sonic repellents, ultrasonic repellents produce sound frequencies that humans cannot hear. Ultrasonic crow repellent is more environmentally-friendly and humane than other bird control methods, such as setting traps and putting down poisons.

You can feel better because you don’t harm any nuisance birds or their inhabitation. You may choose the crow repellent depending on your purpose, for small areas, home use, or outdoor areas, because each has a different coverage range.

Make Loud Noises and High Sounds

scare-crows-away

It’s a little-known fact that crows can become extremely anxious when they encounter a fake dead crow. Accordingly, you can reproduce distress cries from other crows and forever keep the pesky birds away from your garden. Aside from that, you can try various noise-makers to deter these birds, like fireworks noise.

Youtube is a good tool in this respect. You may discover a variety of noises to drive the crows away. Also, you can use the sound of predators or deadly birds. You can do this via your Bluetooth speakers. However, you must be mindful of your neighbors. I suggest you inform them that you are trying to scare the crows away and plan your loud strategy to avoid being disrupted.

Setting Bird Spikes on Fences or Roof Lines

Perhaps you have opted not to harm the nesting places for fear of scaring other birds around. No worries, as there are alternatives to keep crows out of the garden.

Bird spikes are one of the most effective techniques. The spikes are in strips or branches, and they are simple to build. Crows cannot roost comfortably in locations where these bird spikes are installed, hence those pesky crows will be kept away from your yard and bird feeders.

These spikes may also be installed on top of walls or other surfaces and ensure that the crows can see the spikes. When they notice the spikes, they will not dare to land in your yard and start avoiding it permanently.

Have Shiny Objects Dangled in Your Yard

According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, crows are not fond of shiny and flashy things. Therefore, hanging bright stuff in your yard is a verified method to deter the blackbirds. The objects can be CDs, party strings, or anything with a gleaming appearance that will work.

Crows believe that it is a deadly weapon. This knowledge is embedded in their mind, and they become nervous when seeing anything dazzling.

Use Motion-Detector Sprinklers

Using motion sensors is one of the most effective ways to keep blackbirds at bay. With these sprinklers, you can keep birds, insects, and animals away from your garden. The water sprinkler operates by spraying water directly onto any moving object by its motion detector.

Using a motion-detector sprinkler is a humane technique to deter unwanted animals in your yard. It is safe even when your unwelcome visitor is a rare and protected species. The loud blast of sound that comes along with the sprayed water may startle but not injure any animals.

If you consider purchasing a motion-sensor sprinkler, check out this video by wired tech for the Top 6 sprinklers.

Use a Bird Net

Bird netting can be useful to deter crows. Crows may be scared away from your yard or bird feeder because they can detect the danger from the bird net. They are afraid of being entangled in this net and dying.

If you want to use a bird net to keep these crows at bay, pick four-inch netting or something smaller. You should avoid using bigger netting because birds will be able to slip their talons and lose their fear. The mesh should be narrow enough so that it can keep the crows. Netting can be used anywhere, either resting on the ground or hanging from the patio roof.

Use Feeders for Small Birds

Like I have mentioned, there are several bird feeders in the market, and you should use a feeder that is not for large animals. I suggest investing in a bird feeder that closes automatically when large animals sit on with more weight. You can also use a feeder made of wired mesh.

Maintain a Clean Yard and Garden

crow-repellent

Crows are drawn to filthy areas in any way. Crows are always on the lookout for food, and it doesn’t matter what it is. Therefore, it is important to clean up your places to make them less appealing to the birds. Get rid of any waste, garbage, or bits of food lying on the ground. You should use a trash can with tight-fitting lids and close it properly. If you leave it open, crows will flock for the buffet.

Crows go from one location to another in quest of food, and if they can’t find anything to feast on in one location, they won’t waste their time returning.

Make Use of Decoys or Crow Predators

It is simple to shoo birds away using a fake decoy. You may scare the crows away by hanging a fake owl. However, try to change the position of the decoy because crows are very clever and may detect false animals in the garden.

You can hand a fake dead crow upside down somewhere it can move with the breeze to produce a true impression. The real crows will acknowledge that this is a potential threat. You can find the fake crow in the party stores or websites but try to look for a real-looking imitation crow. Just like what I have found here!

Remove the Nesting Spots

It may be the last option when all of the above methods are not effective. For now, it is no longer enough to keep these crows from feeding in your garden. You should also remove the nesting spots by putting away the dead branches from the adjacent trees.

If you eliminate the dead branches, crows will not gather in groups and will have to search for another place. However, moving these branches means that you are harming other birds’ nesting sites as well. The majority of them will be the birds for whom you have provided a bird feeder. So, whether you need to get rid of these branches or not, you should carefully analyze the situation.

Why Should You Get Rid of Crows

Besides their awful incessant noise and damage to crops, why should you get rid of crows? Crows cause significant damage to buildings and cars in cities and towns. Their pointed peaks pierce the seals on windows and sunroofs, as well as on windshield wiper’s rubber.

They also harm shingles and roofing tiles. Moreover, in the countryside, crows damage corn plants by plucking the sprouts and eating the kernels. Crows can destroy grain sorghum, sunflowers, watermelons, etc.

Larger crows may be deafeningly noisy during autumn and winter, and they frequently leave massive volumes of droppings, raising health concerns for both humans and animals. The crows can transmit transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE) across swine operations.

The flock of crows can pass on illnesses, such as waterfowl and avian cholera. These blackbirds are the home of the fungus that leads to histoplasmosis, a disease that makes people suffer from breath shortness or eventually harms their respiration.

Conclusion

Crows are among the most intelligent birds, as they can adapt and learn from their mistakes. Therefore, it is hard to get rid of them sometimes. Through this post, I hope you now know how to keep crows away from bird feeders and garden using the comprehensive methods above. If you have any experience with these blackbirds, don’t hesitate to share with us!

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