Found this info on the Humane Society web site:

• Birds can’t hear ultrasonic sounds. Devices supposed to scare birds away with ultrasonic sounds don’t work.
• Birds are not fooled by plastic owls and inflatable snakes for long.
• Effigies (fake models) that move realistically may work for a little while.
• Crows avoid effigies of dead crows (never the real thing). Halloween décor crows, hung upside down with the wings spread, usually work.
• Highly reflective Mylar® tape, or bird tape, hung in streamers or twisted and strung to make a temporary fence can frighten crows away.
• Devices with reflective surfaces that spin or flap in the breeze can frighten crows. Buy them or make yourself—string up aluminum pie tins or discarded CDs around vulnerable plants or tie helium-filled Mylar party balloons around your garden.
• Playing recorded crow distress calls disperses crows.
• Farmers use gas-powered exploders and pyrotechnics. But these are too noisy unless your garden is far from neighbors. They may also be restricted or forbidden by local authorities.
• A garden hose with a motion sensor becomes an oscillating sprinkler triggered by an animal’s arrival. The surprise of a sudden spray will frighten crows initially—until they learn there is no real harm.
• All frightening devices work better when used consistently, moved around so crows don’t get used to them, and combined with other devices.

Thanks, I have crows too. When I had dogs I never had crows. I guess they never knew when the dogs would come tearing out of the house. Once my last dog died last year I started seeing them. I need them to be gone. They are eating my blackberries and blueberries.

After years of trying we gave up and have even considered
moving. Our neighbor feeds the crows a couple loaf of bread every morning from
her deck that sits up about 75 yards across the creek from our bedroom window. They
come half hour before day break sit on our roof and scream until she comes out.
They have a few that stick around all day screeching to each other in case she
comes out to give them her leftovers from lunch and dinner. My DH goes out
every day and picks up corn cobs, bones and all kinds of garbage from our patio
and tosses it back across the creek. They have damaged our roof, the air
conditioner and made it impossible to use our patio. We leave the TV or radio
on all day to overpower then noise.

We have tried talking to them tried the Forrest service talked
to an attorney to no avail. Last year her DH complained that our motion
detector light, that lights up the creed when we have wild life out there, was
waking her up. We said we would turn it off if she stooped feeding the crows.
All she did is feed them from her front deck so after a month we turned the
light back on. It’s not uncommon to have 50 to 100 crows around our back yard
at any given time. It’s like living in the movie The Birds.

We live in a very small mountain town and about a quarter of
the people feed the crows and the rest of us complain about it. The noise I can
block with the TV but the not being able to use our patio or let the great
grandson go play outside is what makes me angry but there is just too much bird
crap on everything and with our water restrictions we can’t clean it up. The
same neighbor would turn us in to the water company.

Sorry this is long but I just wanted to let you know we have
tried every device, searched the web, and nothing has worked. Crows are very smart
they know we don’t like them and will scatter if we even look like we are going
out but the come right back even if we stay outside. We worked hard to be
mortgage free and have a retirement home just the way we want it but we may
walk away just because of the birds.

Claudia

Thanks for the replies. I had read a lot of information on the web and wondered what worked. It looks like nothing does. Maybe we now have a neighbor who feeds them and that is why they are here.

That sounds awful partist. I'm sorry your neighbor is so inconsiderate.

We used to get crows gathering before they flew off together for their night roosts. The noise was fairly brief, so it never was a problem. Then they moved off to another gathering spot, and it does not occur here very often anymore. Sorry, I don't have a solution for you caflowerluver.

Some states have crow hunting seasons.

Just throwing that out there.

This is a little gruesome, but some women I know were losing all their fruit to the crows and they used a dead crow, strung up in the trees to eliminate the crows from their garden. Said it worked when nothing else had. Said it was a road kill, but I suspect they actually shot it.

We have a lot of crows. I can't say I've ever noticed excessive noise. They clean up road kill around here, and I even saw a few going after a rat in a parking lot once.

Voting for a shotgun. Seriously. That's just nasty to have that many birds around.

They are nasty! They clean their nests out and throw it up all over and around our pool. Some years are worse than others, this spring was a nasty one but they seemed to have moved on. They weren't too bad last couple of springs, so we will see what next year brings.

You could borrow a dog for a while. Or even adopt one that needed adopting.

I guess I'm a little guilty here. We do feed the crows and all the other birds. We buy our bird food at Walmart. We don't have any problem with any of them. Every Sunday morning you can see them sitting around waiting to be feed, but now that summers here we don't feed them that much.

partist -- Your post is heartbreaking. I would definitely try stringing up a fake crow, and if that didn't work...a real one. (Nobody should feed bread to birds anyway!)

I can't imagine shooting an animal for being annoying. I would no sooner hurt a non-threatening animal than I would a loud, messy child. To me, it's the same thing. But I'm generally pretty alone in my "treat all creatures kindly" philosophy.

We have a few, but not too many. A family member has quite a few; they make a poop mess on the sidewalks in the neighborhood.

I'm so sorry partist. Bad neighbors. When animals are fed by humans, there is not the natural population control. The populations can grow too much because their needs are well met. When food, water and shelter are limited, animal populations naturally decline.

I know lots of people enjoy feeding birds, and ok with me, but they do create a lot of poop under the feeders and the excess seed attracts rats.

Having 50 - 100 crows on your house and in your yard is intolerable.

A hundred years ago some 'sportsman' imported Francolin quail to Maui. Now they are *pests* with no natural predators -- similar to the 'chickens' of Kauai, and feral deer and hogs. Guests at our Maui condo complex have to be reminded NOT to FEED the QUAIL. It encourages RATS, and feral CATS.

Thanks for all your sympathy most people just laugh and think
it’s funny they really don’t get getting woke up every morning at 3:30 or 4 and
having the screeching all day not to mention all the mess. We did try the dead
crew hanging in the tree and it didn’t work. All we can really do is take them
to court but almost all cases like this have not been positive according to our
attorney. About the only way we could win a fight like that is if we tried to
sell our home and couldn’t because we would have to disclose any problems with the
neighbors. Then we could show real damages it’s something we have thought
about.

We really don’t want
to move although right now almost the entire Kern River Valley is on fire. We
are safe for now the fire is on the other side of the lake so far aver 60 homes
have burned. It will be a long night. I think where we live here in Kernville
is the only area that still has power and phones still working. We have been
evacuated many times so I’m ready but I know several friend that probably lost
homes tonight. I know I will be up most of the night watching the news on face
book about the fire.

Kinda makes living
with the crows seem petty!

They've likely found a food source nearby that's why they're there. When my neighbour died, he had nut trees and no one was collecting the nuts because the house was empty for a while. We had a group of crows start hanging around constantly making a racket after that. They would pick up the nuts in their casing and bang them on our roof to get the nuts out. It wasn't until recently the house was rented out to new tenants who collect up the fallen nuts and the crows have mostly left and other birds have come back. There was also some new construction down the street that has now wrapped up and I think they were also finding food scraps there. We would find bits of bread, bones, (even parts of baby birds once) in the birdbath. I think it's unlikely your crows will leave unless the food source dries up.

Even a small band of crows can start to drive you nuts when they are constantly around. The constant annoying cawing, driving away the other birds so all you have left is the crows, destructive behaviour which they seem to do just to amuse themselves with no real purpose behind it. They are incredibly smart birds who have adapted very well to living among people. I don't understand why anyone would feed them, they simply do not need human help to survive, far from it.

Can you contact your health department? Surely they have some sort of remedy for vermin (and those who insist on feeding said vermin).

http://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/threecrows.htm

Lucille!!! You are too much! Lol

you could save a lot of $ at the grocery store that way

ok here in So California this week a crow touched a circuit breaker and 15000 homes and businesses are without power !

Partst very sorry about the fire. It's horrible. Hope you home stays safe.

Lucille - gives a whole new meaning to "eating crow". It is supposedly nasty tasting.

LMBO @ Lucille!!!

I could come sit on the patio for you. That would damn sure scare em away.

Very funny Lucille I’ll keep those recipes in mind if we
ever have an emergency although I don’t know how good crow would be having been
raised on white bread.

Thanks for the kind wishes Socks. We are still OK the rest
of the valley is mostly still without powers and as far as we can tell Kernville
is the only area that has phones and wifi. The evacuation headquarters has been
moved up here and the town if full. The fire is still out of control and they don’t
have a count of homes lost but it’s over a 100. They reported today that we
have two fatalities looks like an older couple who just couldn’t leave. Very
sad. It’s a mess and not looking like it
going to get any better for days. One friend was here at 5:30 this morning to
use our phone connection to call his insurance company but it turns out his
home is one of a few that was not burned in upper Squirrel Valley. Most people
still don’t know if their home made it or not.

On a brighter note the rafting companies are going strong
the river has enough water after the last few years of drought and I can hear
music from the local watering hole downtown as I type this.

Claudia

We had lots of wild birds here, and then the crows came. Doves used to perch in a line on our fence in the back yard. Lots of hummingbirds and other birds too. Then the crows came, and we don't see many birds any longer. It is rare to see a dove, and we used to have so many of them.

I took out one today, Hit it with my van. Was sure he was quick enough to get out of the way, but nope, Thump. One less crow! Kathy G in MI

I live in the city. I have an average size city lot. We have crows and magpies. LOTS of them. I counted 8 magpies making a ton of noise two nights ago, as they were jumping from our garage roof to our next door neighbours. They are louder than crows. MUCH louder and way more annoying. Do I want these birds dead? NO. They are animals and they have just as much right to be here as I do. Are they annoying? YES! But again, they have just as much to be here as I do. When the crows and magpies fight, it is really noisy. But it's how wildlife is. I would never kill an animal because it does what nature intended for it to do. If that were the case, there would be no children in my neighbourhood either. After all, they're animals too and they also make annoying noise... ;) I even slam my brakes when a squirrel runs across the road.

Effigies of dead crows Halloween décor crows, hung upside down with the wings spread, work well. Be sure to move the effigy now and then and keep it free from dust or debris ( which is a give-away) Works perfectly for me!

" I would never kill an animal because it does what nature intended for it to do. "

Termites. Fire ants. Africanized bees/wasps that come after people. On farms, coyotes and other predators that kill and eat the farmer's livestock. Anything a few feet away from me that is wanting to kill me, even if it is hungry and hasn't had it's dinner, if it plans that I'm going to be dinner.

Noise doesn't bother me a whole lot because I'm hearing impaired. But there are many situations I can think of that I would kill animals who are simply acting naturally. Nature isn't fuzzy wuzzy all the time.

Debby, I am not arguing with you, I can see you have your own perspective and I respect that. I'm just posting mine.

They are louder than crows. MUCH louder and way more annoying.

oh I love our (Australian) magpies. They sound so beautiful when they sing (reminds me of my childhood growing up in the country). Ours have only just returned along with all the small birds now that the crows have left. One of the most adorable noises is a baby magpie demanding food imo, lol, I love them. I wouldn't kill birds, but damn those crows test your patience.
Australian magpie

If you click on the link there is an audio of their song over on the right.

we had our odd 2 or 3 until that mosquito or whatever it was, killed one....that was almost 7-8 years ago? they never returned...but have had redwing black birds for the first time...we have one pair of cardinals, of course squirrels, and a ground hog with twins! a bunny has joined the daytime feeders...the only sad thing and i'll have to try and change are no hummers...dh swears we had one and visited the feeder, but not lately...I must admit the early riser at 4:30am can be a bit annoying...oh a cheeseburger bird (lol)...

Yes, crows are among the first to contract and die from the West Nile virus. I wish it had done a better job. The crows eat the eggs and baby birds from other nests and devastate the local bird population.

>The crows eat the eggs and baby birds from other nests

I noticed a long time ago other birds just don't like crows, and after finding parts of a baby bird in our birdbath (when the only birds using it were the crows) I realized they likely do go raiding nests.

Crows are smarter than the average bird. They can count up to four. If they see up to 4 people enter a blind and then an equal number exit the blind, they will assume the blind is empty; If 5 people enter a blind and 4 exit. they are not sure if the blind is empty, but may behave as though it is.

If crows have been shot at with a gun, they can recognize when a person is carrying a rifle. They recognize the difference between a stick and a gun, thus, they behave differently when the see someone carrying a stick versus a gun.

I love crows and would love to find an abandoned baby and raise it. They are super smart and clever. So they eat other birds eggs? Eagles brought a cat into their nest to feed their babies. Would anyone want to kill an eagle? Nature is cruel. I kill nothing except house flies.

Crows at least are natives, so if the local environment is in balance, other natives have a chance to thrive despite losing a few nests to crows. Feeding large flocks of crows throws off the natural balance, so I understand your anguish. My unhappiness is directed at English House Sparrows which were imported to this country and are evil little thugs! They drive other birds away from feeders, take over birdhouses and kill any competitors. Unfortunately, the house sparrows thrive in the urban environment, so now that I live here instead of in the country, I'm looking for ways to discourage house sparrows and encourage diversity. Any ideas...?

Sparrow s & Cow birds. OH I hate them!!

There are traps for them HERE

Although they must be monitored daily to release the native birds.

And the explanation for WHY is here: Sparrow Traps

Ten years ago, a virus swept through or English Sparrows, AKA house sparrows, and wiped them out. Its only in the last two years that I have seen one or two sparrows at my feeder. Location: SE Wisc