How To Get Rid Of Crows | 12 Easy Methods

You might be wondering how to get rid of annoying crows. You’re not the only one, but many people around the world might be dealing with disturbing crows. Getting rid of crows has been practiced in many countries for a long period.

If you are willing to know how to get rid of crows, then you’re at the right place. To keep these blackbirds away from your yard, you may have to follow a wide variety of visual, mechanical, and chemical deterrents. Here are some effective ways (at a glance) you can check out.

• Keep your yard clean.
• Cover your trash.
• Remove all food and water sources.
• Use decoys or real predators.
• Scare away with reflective deterrents.
• Make high sounds and noises.
• Install feeders that exclude large birds.
• Trim dead branches from trees.
• Use bird netting.
• Install bird spikes on flat surfaces….. and more.

In this article, we’re going to share with you a dozen of easy techniques of deterring crows and some related questions regarding this topic. We have recently published a few articles on crow look-alike birds, attracting crows and what crows eat. You can read those articles if you feel needed.

How To Keep Crows Away from Your Yard

If you want to get rid of crows, you have to follow some methods that can scare crows away. You shouldn’t hunt or kill them because they’re protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Let’s see some effective ways of deterring crows from your yard.

#1. Keep Your Yard Clean

Crows love to stay in dirty places without caring what they are. They also move here and there in search of food. If you keep your yard clean, they won’t find anything to eat and go anywhere else without wasting their time. This way, you can keep crows away from your yard.

So, how can you keep your yard clean? Use your trash to keep all garbage and kitchen leftovers. Don’t put any small or large bits of food in the grass of your garden. Make sure to keep crows away from the feeders because they can scatter seeds on the ground.

#2. Cover Your Trash

Once you’ve cleaned your yard by putting all garbage and kitchen leftovers in the trash, you will need to cover the trash so that crows cannot get access to that. If they don’t find anything edible in your yard, they won’t come to your yard again.

The best idea is to cover the trash with light lids, and then, place it in an area where crows may not be willing to come. It’s better to remove trash from your yard asap. Otherwise, your pets may leave the trash uncovered at night, which crows appreciate in the morning.

Related blog: Crows Vs Ravens: What’s The Difference? [Read more]

#3. Remove All Food and Water Sources

If your yard doesn’t have any food and water sources, there is no logical reason for crows to come to your yard. However, if you notice some cows flying over your yard, chances are they have found any source of food and water in your yard to thrive.

Remove all the things that you can consider edible for crows. Uninstall bird feeders and birdbaths from your yard. Make sure that there is no cat/dog kibble available in your backyard. You may also reduce fruit trees and berry bushes in your garden.

#4. Use Decoys or Real Predators

To deter crows from your yard, the best option is to use a decoy or real predator. It might be an owl decoy, an eagle decoy, a coyote decoy, a scarecrow, a fake dead crow, a fake horned owl or snake, or even your pets like cats and dogs.

If you want to set some decoys in your yard to scare crows away, we would like to suggest you a few useful but cost-effective decoys from Amazon. The list includes Dalen Gardeneer Enemy Scarecrow, ZAMTAC Plastic Bald Eagle Decoy, and Flambeau Coyote Decoy.

We recommend you buy 4 to 5 different decoys and use them alternatively so that crows cannot identify the fake decoy. The best time to change the decoy is after sunset and before sunrise. If you have pets like dogs or cats, you can leave them in your backyard.

#5. Scare Away with Reflective Deterrents

Since shiny objects hurt crows’ eyes, they don’t like them. They think that shiny objects are dangerous weapons that make them nervous. If you want to get rid of crows from your yard or garden, you can hang any shiny object that will be swinging in the wind.

Here are some shiny objects that you may find around you. Some of them are available on Amazon. For your convenience, we have added the links on specific shiny objects. You can spot them while hovering on the texts.

• Old CDs
• Lustering Aluminum Plates
• Mylar Balloons [Amazon Link]
• Cheap Silverware
• Wind Chimes [Amazon Link]
• Scare-Eye Balloons [Amazon Link]
• Reflective Bird Tape [Amazon Link]

Note: If you want to get the best results, we recommend you place your old CDs, aluminum plates, and cheap silverware together to produce extra noise. This will prevent crows from coming back to your yard quite effectively.

#6. Make High Sounds and Noises

For your information, crows dislike loud sounds. They are not accustomed to hearing explosions and alarms. They become afraid when they hear any distress calls from anywhere. In order to repel crows from your yard, you can make high sounds and noises each time you see them.

To keep crows away, you can try these noisemakers in your yard:

• Fireworks
• Recorded Crow Distress Calls
• Recorded Owl or hawk Calls
• Killer Predator Calls from YouTube
• Air Horns

Apart from that, you can use an ultrasonic pest repeller. We suggest you take a look at the Bird-X Electronic Bird Repeller on Amazon. This device helps you deter crows from your yard from up to 80 feet away, including a lot of user-friendly features for the users.

Keep in mind that you shouldn’t bother your neighbors by making such noises. Before you’re going to make sounds, let your neighbors know your problem. You can also follow a schedule. Therefore, your neighbor will take it easy.

#7. Install Feeders That Exclude Large Birds

If you love songbirds, you will definitely install bird feeders for cardinals, sparrows, chickadees, house wrens, house finches, nuthatches, and more. You may not allow large birds, like crows to consume food from your feeders, right?

It’s better to mount bird feeders that only allow various songbirds. Large birds, like crows, ravens, and jackdaws, cannot perch and eat from the feeders. In our opinion, a wire mesh feeder like this one from Amazon could be the best option in this regard.

If you have bird feeders in your yard, always keep them clean, particularly before refilling them with the nest batch. Make sure to clean fallen seeds under the feeders. They may encourage crows to come to your yard to feed on.

#8. Trim Dead Branches From Trees

If your yard has tall trees, chances are crows find them the most suitable places to roost and nest. To deter these annoying birds from your yard, you can trim dead branches. As a result, you can prevent a large number of crows from converging on your trees.

If possible, try to keep your yard open by cutting unwanted trees, shrubs, and bushes. Pay enough attention to the trees at least once each week. If you don’t provide enough concentration to your trees, crows may come again and make their habitat.

#9. Use Bird Netting

Using bird netting is a very useful way of getting rid of crows. These blackbirds consider bird netting as a threat that they become quite scared to get stuck into it and end up dead. You should apply this trick when you fail to deter crows from coming to your yard.

You should choose four-inch netting. Make sure to use a flexible net so that stuck crows can easily make themselves free. Considering this fact, we recommend you use Bird-X Heavy Duty Bird Netting from Amazon. You can use it anywhere you like on your patio or the ground.

#10. Install Bird Spikes on Flat Surfaces

Installing bird spikes is one of the most effective ways of deterring annoying crows from the yard or garden. Typically, bird spikes feature strips or branches to allow you to install them in the areas where can land. They prevent the crows from placing their feet on any flat surfaces.

Are you now wondering where to find bird spikes? It’s Amazon. The Bird-X Stainless Steel Bird Spikes are highly recommended. It has already gained more than 2 thousand good reviews. If you don’t want to harm other birds, using bird spikes is not appreciated.

#11. Use Transparent Bird Gel

If you’re not willing to install bird spikes, you can use transparent bird gel, a non-toxic sticky substance, to deter crows from coming to your yard. You can purchase one from local stores or online. We recommend you use JT Eaton Bird Repellent Gel from Amazon.

Crows feel the sticky gel uncomfortable, which forces them to consider your yard as an inappropriate nesting site. It’s a bit smelly to crows. That’s why crows are not willing to come to your yard. Even if they come, they will surely be tired of it and fly away.

#12. Set Motion-Sensor Sprinklers

To keep crows away from your yard or garden, you can set motion-sensor sprinklers, also known as motion-activated sensors. Regardless of crows, you can deter many insects, pests, animals, and other birds away.

A sprinkler sprinkles water when something is moving in front of it, and the machine detects it through the motion sensor. For this purpose, the Orbit Motion-Activated Sprinkler from Amazon is highly recommended. The water it shoots doesn’t harm the intruder.

Comparison Table of Ways to Get Rid Of Crows

Method	Type	Advantages
Keeping your yard clean	Deprivation	1. Keeps your surroundings clean 2. Don’t harm crows and other birds 3. Don’t have anything harmful for humans
Covering your trash	Habitat modification	1. Doesn’t allow to get access to the trash 2. Helps to retain the freshness of your yard 3. Provides an excellent trash management
Removing all food and water sources	Deprivation	1. Discourage crows to come to your yard 2. Helps you keep your yard clean all the time 3. Reduces expenditure that you need to do for crows
Use decoys or real predators	Frightening	1. Makes crows consider your yard not a safe place 2. Keeps crows out of your yard 3. Doesn’t include anything harmful for humans
Scaring away with reflective deterrents	Frightening	1. Keeps crows out of your yard. 2. Scares other annoying birds 3. Deters unwanted pests
Making high sounds and noises	Frightening	1. Stops crows from coming to your yard 2. Works on many pests, such as rats, rodents, and mice 3. Not harmful for other birds and humans
Installing feeders that exclude large birds	Habitat modification	1. Only allows small birds, like songbirds 2. Don’t let crows make their habitat in your yard 3. Keeps crows away from you
Trimming dead branches from trees	Habitat modification	1. Suitable for the growth of trees 2. Prevents unwanted visitors from your yard 3. Looks your yard lovely-looking
Using bird netting	Prevention	1. Prevents crows from making their habitat on trees 2. Keeps crows away from damaging crops, flowers, and fruits. 3. Not deadly for crows
Installing bird spikes on flat surfaces	Habitat modification	1. Doesn’t allow crows to perch on anywhere in your yard (if you install spikes all over the yard) 2. Prevents crows from making nests 3. Feels crows uncomfortable to stay in your yard
Use transparent bird gel	Prevention	1. Doesn’t harm crows 2. Makes crows feel smelly and uncomfortable to stay 3. Discourages crows from nesting
Setting motion-sensor sprinklers	Frightening	1. Frightens crows in a sudden 2. Doesn’t make any harm to crows 3. Can be used for a long period

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Why is getting rid of crows important?

Crows are very disturbing, especially when they caw in a flock, also called murder. They also destroy flowers, fruits, and crops in the garden and on the field. Besides, they can scare small birds and animals away. Since these birds love dirty places, they may scatter your trash all over your yard. Because of these reasons, getting rid of crows from yards, gardens, and fields is important.

2. Which is the best way of scaring crows away but not songbirds?

If you use Crow-be-Gone CD and predator-bird sounds from YouTube, they can only scare away crows but not the songbirds. For example, an anonymous bird enthusiast played some bird-of-prey sounds from YouTube near a pair of bluebirds. But, he didn’t notice any symptom of bothering any of the sounds.

3. What about killing or trapping crows?

Enforced by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) protects crows from illegal killing, hunting, or trapping. Although it might vary from state to state, most experts don’t recommend the assassination of crows without any valid reason. If these blackbirds damage crops, trees, and wildlife, they can be killed with permission from federal regulations.

4. How do I get rid of a crow that likes to hang by my window?

To get rid of the crow that likes to hang your window, you can put transparent bird gel on the windowsill outside. Therefore, the crow doesn’t find it comfortable to hang. You can also install bird spikes on the windowsill. This will prevent the crow from perching or making a nest on your window.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to deter crows from your yard, you can easily discourage these unwelcomed guests. We recommend you use the best method you find in this article to repel crows from your backyard or garden.

Anyway, the article you’ve just finished reading, hopefully, helps you a lot to know a dozen of ways of getting rid of crows. If you know any specific way that we didn’t include in the article, you are most welcome to let us know below in the comment section.

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