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PESKY CROWS!

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  • 08-04-2010 12:54pm
    #1
    Ghandee
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,653 ✭✭✭


    Hey folks!

    I am a keen bird watcher, and I have been trying for close to 3 years now to attract them to my back garden (the small variety, finches/tits etc) which is about 40 foot long.
    Right behind my garden is a Huuuuuge field, that is not being grazed by livestock etc, but does seem to have a lot of crows in the grass which graze and peck all day.

    I have tried fat balls, coconut shells filled with food, nut bags, even squirrel proof feeders, however I seem to be attracting nothing to the garden but CROWS!
    As you probably know, these monsters will pooh everywhere, tear stuff up with their beaks and make the most God Awful sounds!

    No matter how I try and deter these fecking things, they always manage to return and find away round any obstacles I have put to try stopping them robbing the food meant for the smaller birds!

    They have wrapped the rope from the cocount shells rond the bracket they hung from so tight that it no longer "hung" as such enabling them to eat EVERYTHING in the shell, I mean this shell is bone dry.

    They have unhooked nutbags from the brackets emptying all the nuts on the ground which they then have a fieldday gobbling up!
    I have even seen them fly off with COMPLETE plastic nut feeders!


    At the min, I have a feeder I got from Aldi which is basically a large plastic bottle with a small place for small birds to perch on, but just this morning I observed the crows perching on it so it wobbles and empties nuts while 2 or 3 sit on the ground gathering them!

    I know crows are very intelligent birds, I have googled countless times to try and get rid of them, but nothing is shifting these pesks from my garden, nor the field behind it!

    Im really peed off about this, as I would love nothing more than to be able to watch green finches or gold finches, blue tits etc feed in my garden while I have breakfast, but it just isnt happening.

    Is it to admit defeat to a "murder" of crows?


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    #2
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Firstly, can I politely ask that you amend the title of the thread as I find it offensive and it is not very pleasent for children looking up a Nature thread to see this.

    Then we'll discuss Crows (Rooks I assume).


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    #3
    Ghandee
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,653 ✭✭✭Ghandee


    Abram Wonderful Mural wrote: »
    Firstly, can I politely ask that you amend the title of the thread as I find it offensive and it is not very pleasent for children looking up a Nature thread to see this.

    Then we'll discuss Crows (Rooks I assume).

    as you wish.

    I DID censor the real word I was thinking of to describe them.


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    #4
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    If there is a large field behind your garden, and a lot of open space, then Rooks and Jackdaws are inevitable really. I had a similar problem when I first built my house surrounded by fields. Move feeding stations closer to the house for a start. Hang feeders from elastic bands as larger birds like Rooks can't cope with them. Usually Rooks will feed in certain fields only for a short period as food becomes exhausted and they need to forage somewhere else.

    To attact birds to a garden, feeders are almost the last things required. Start with providing shelter in the form of trees and shrubs. Natural food from berries, seeds, insects, grubs etc will attract birds before any amount of peanut or seed feeders. The general area has to be conducive to wildlife. An oasis of one garden in a natrually sparse area will not do the thrick.

    Don't put a lot of food out. Some seed on a birdtable and a couple of nut feeders is enough to get started and to attract any local birds. Greenfinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, etc require nothing more. Make sure water is available at all time as well. Seed feeders lend themselves to being shaken and seed dislodged.
    It takes time but 3 years seems excessive. Are there any birds (apart from Rooks) in the general area? Is there sufficient cover and food elsewhere to attract birds away from your garden? Any Cats about your house? There are many reasons and it's difficult to determine what the problem is without knowing the area concerned.


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    #5
    stevoman
    Registered Users Posts: 3,041 ✭✭✭stevoman


    Funny thing. I slabbed all of my back garden and i havnt any flora in it at all yet, but i hung my bird feeder off my clothes line about 2 foot away from mt garden shed. Since then i have evry type of tit and finch and robins coming in to feed on it daily. Its great because now they are really getting to know me and the pay no heed to me or the dog anymore when we are out and about the garden.


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    #6
    stevoman
    Registered Users Posts: 3,041 ✭✭✭stevoman


    OP have you tried a plastic owl in the garden.I beleive rooks hate the sight of these, but it also may have the opposite effect if the try to attack it. Worth a try though.


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    #7
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    stevoman wrote: »
    Funny thing. I slabbed all of my back garden and i havnt any flora in it at all yet, but i hung my bird feeder off my clothes line about 2 foot away from mt garden shed. Since then i have evry type of tit and finch and robins coming in to feed on it daily...

    But it stands to reason that there is shelter available around, if not in, your garden. Small birds don't appear out of nowhere to feed on peanuts. The surrounding area must be conducive to them in the first place. :)
    stevoman wrote: »
    ...have you tried a plastic owl in the garden
    Unfortunately these are known to scare other birds away as well.:(


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    #8
    Half-cocked
    Registered Users Posts: 4,319 ✭✭✭Half-cocked


    Bird table with a low roof can deter larger birds, but rooks and jackdaws always amaze me how they can figure out how to get around all the obstacles you place in front of them.


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    #9
    stevoman
    Registered Users Posts: 3,041 ✭✭✭stevoman


    srameen wrote:
    But it stands to reason that there is shelter available around, if not in, your garden. Small birds don't appear out of nowhere to feed on peanuts. The surrounding area must be conducive to them in the first place
    The wall behin my house is an old laneway that has over grown ditch and some tall tress so they arwe always on the move about there. I have a piar of woodpigeon that must be mates also, but they dont seem to nest back there on the tree but are always perched together there.

    My neighbours got a cat and dont keep it inside and its driving me insane knowing that the little beast is hunting the birds there evryday as i do be watching it. Plus it was in season and it had every tom cat in the area sniffing around and up on my back wall. i told the neighbours but the were oblivious and they didnt even know she was in season. I wonder if my dog was to wander from garden to garden would people mind?


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    #10
    Half-cocked
    Registered Users Posts: 4,319 ✭✭✭Half-cocked


    stevoman wrote: »
    My neighbours got a cat and dont keep it inside and its driving me insane knowing that the little beast is hunting the birds there evryday as i do be watching it. Plus it was in season and it had every tom cat in the area sniffing around and up on my back wall. i told the neighbours but the were oblivious and they didnt even know she was in season. I wonder if my dog was to wander from garden to garden would people mind?

    Pop into a toy store and pick up the biggest supersoaker they have. The cats will soon get the message. And its fun;)


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    #11
    Ghandee
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,653 ✭✭✭Ghandee


    Abram Wonderful Mural wrote: »
    If there is a large field behind your garden, and a lot of open space, then Rooks and Jackdaws are inevitable really. I had a similar problem when I first built my house surrounded by fields. Move feeding stations closer to the house for a start. Hang feeders from elastic bands as larger birds like Rooks can't cope with them. Usually Rooks will feed in certain fields only for a short period as food becomes exhausted and they need to forage somewhere else.

    To attact birds to a garden, feeders are almost the last things required. Start with providing shelter in the form of trees and shrubs. Natural food from berries, seeds, insects, grubs etc will attract birds before any amount of peanut or seed feeders. The general area has to be conducive to wildlife. An oasis of one garden in a natrually sparse area will not do the thrick.

    Don't put a lot of food out. Some seed on a birdtable and a couple of nut feeders is enough to get started and to attract any local birds. Greenfinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits, etc require nothing more. Make sure water is available at all time as well. Seed feeders lend themselves to being shaken and seed dislodged.
    It takes time but 3 years seems excessive. Are there any birds (apart from Rooks) in the general area? Is there sufficient cover and food elsewhere to attract birds away from your garden? Any Cats about your house? There are many reasons and it's difficult to determine what the problem is without knowing the area concerned.

    Thanks for the advice.

    I have noticed a few green finches and Chaffinches feeding from the feeders in the past, but they wouldnt exactly have been regular visitors if you understand me, (seen them about 6 times in 3 years)
    Right behind my house is a huge field which is hedged around its four edges, but its also surrounded by fields.
    I live in the Kill/Johnstown area quite close to the N7, and have on occasions seen the odd hawk,but this has been about 4 miles from my house.

    My back garden does include about 6-7 bushes and a tree (small tree)

    I had the feeders hanging from brackets that would normally be seen with hanging baskets on them. These are attached to the side of my small wooden garden shed.

    To my knowledge theres no cats about, (well I do see one white one the odd time, but very odd time)

    I have just spent the best part of today digging up some of the bushes in my garden which, sadly did not seem to survive the extremely harsh winter we had. I will be purchasing a few plants and bushes from johnstown garden centre this weekend, so I will bare in mind your suggestion of shrubs that provide berries and shelter.

    I have also reshaped some of my branches on the tree so as the hang inside my own back garden, and am going to relocate my feeder to the very lightest branches using your method of elastic bands and hopefully I will attract some of my smaller, chirpier friends!


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    #12
    Alliandre
    Closed Accounts Posts: 129 ✭✭Alliandre


    I feel your pain. I live on the top floor of an apartment block and the crows seem to love my balcony cause they seem to like the height. Also, there's a bit of shelter from the roof so they're always there when it's raining. The noise of them is unreal, I hate the squeaking racket they make!

    Anyway, I tried hanging up a feeder (even though I know it would be hard to get small birds to a balcony) but they managed to hover near it, rip it and get the seeds out. So I stopped trying that. I did eventually manage to get a couple of blackbirds, a wagtail and a robin by putting out small bits of seed that the crows couldn't be bothered with.


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    #13
    Ghandee
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,653 ✭✭✭Ghandee


    I moved my peanut feeder from a hanging basket bracket on the side of my shed to a small branch on a tree next to the house.
    I used the elastic bands to fasten the feeder to the tree and so far, so good!
    Wife spotted a couple of finches on 5 or 6 occasions hanging from the feeder although she was unsure what type exactly.
    Also had a fatball hanging from tree, caughtbthe crows in several occasions trying to get at it yesterday, but i deliberately put it in one of the smallest branches on the tree which in no way could support the weight of a crow!
    Woke at 8am this morning, feeder still hanging, fat ball done a "Houdini"

    GRRRRRRRRRRR,

    I know them crows are laughin at me!!!!!!


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    #14
    corklad32
    Registered Users Posts: 446 ✭✭corklad32


    Hi guys,

    I'm having a similar problem - i have just moved to the country lots of open fields etc. The problem i'm having is the crows are landing on the roof at about 6am and make an awful racket. I'm not too bothered about attracting other birds i just want to be rid of the crows :(. If i get a plastic owl would this do the trick? Where would you get one and a rough cost anyone? finally where should i hang it - i cant really get up to the roof - would having it in the area just do the trick? Any help would be greatly appreciated as im wrecked tired now most days after my 6am alarm call!


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    #15
    thefly
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 328 ✭✭thefly


    scarecrow2.usermyth.jpg

    Has anyone thought of one these beauts


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