Crows

[BSmaster]

I made my way to Bass Pro yesterday evening - arrived in Auburn about dusk.  I was overwhelmed by the volume of crows in the air, in the trees, flying over my car.  It was eerily like that movie by Alfred Hitchcock.  Is there an open landfill near there or is there a sacrifice made to the pagan gods?  I just have a hard time understanding how that many non migratory birds could be in one place.  We have a murder of them here in Corning but it is such a small fraction compared to what I saw up in Auburn (I thought we had a lot til yesterday).  In Corning they have learned how to rip into garbage bags left out for curbside pick up.  I wait til morning to put mine out.  Anybody witness this?

 

 

[Sk8man]

They have been working their way west for quite a while now Syracuse had them bad and hired specialists to deal with them and I believe Auburn did at one point as well. They started showing up in Geneva after that and since last year have been showing up in some numbers here in Canandaigua. When I was a kid we used to hunt them in wooded areas where we had cover but out where I live (3 miles outside of town) it's new developments without mature trees so nearly impossible to get them as they are extremely wary and vigilant. I can't use any "big stuff" because of the 500 ft. from dwelling regulation but I have a nicely sighted in scoped pellet gun (and ballistic pellets)....problem is....as soon as I touch the door knob the wary SOB's take off ....and the worst part is they sound like they are laughing when they go

Edited December 27, 2013 by Sk8man

[Xxx]

Sounds like a crow hunters haven, case of shells and a 12 gauge

[camomanbg]

FYI, crows Are migratory.

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[Sk8man]

I'm not sure that is correct.....truly migratory birds spend the winter in warmer latitudes and then return in the Spring....crows are here year round but move large distances in search of a variety of food sources.

[ray koziatek]

geese and ducks are in corning year round too,,but the crow is a migratory bird probly just the way north birds (canada) head a little further south,usually a few 1000 go through corning every year and stay near wegmans the trees turn black ,,didnt see them this year..seems like i heard they go to Mexico ,maybe they speak spanish..

[bandrus1]

what exact problems do they cause?

[BSmaster]

geese and ducks are in corning year round too,,but the crow is a migratory bird probly just the way north birds (canada) head a little further south,usually a few 1000 go through corning every year and stay near wegmans the trees turn black ,,didnt see them this year..seems like i heard they go to Mexico ,maybe they speak spanish..

I just assumed they always stayed in the general area since I seen them all year.  I had one a few years back that had only one leg.  Came to the back yard every day all year.  Last week I was finishing up my Mom's deer out on the back of my tail gate and for an hour one solitary crow flew around in a circle or landed in a tree cawing at me the whole time.

 

what exact problems do they cause?

I don't know but they sure do creep me out when there are over a hundred flying around in a big circle cawing and all that.  Something mystical about it.  They are smart and will probably be noted as one of the most adaptable birds we have on our planet.  They hunt, scavenge and steal.  The are omnivores.  Its like a little bear with wings.

 

Sounds like a crow hunters haven, case of shells and a 12 gauge

  It was a big deal when I was a kid.  there are a lot more crows now so I figure not too many people are into it as they once were.

 

 

FYI, crows Are migratory.

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 From Crow Busters:  Crows are called short distance migrants. Some may only move a few miles from the nesting territory to ones that move a few hundred miles. This seems to occur more in the northern climates where winters get fairly harsh.

 

Click on the map below and off to see the migration.  I still don't think they migrate too much around here.

 

 

[camomanbg]

Sk8man, if that is the reason Crows aren't migratory, then neither are the geese you see all year long. Humans have altered the environment enough to screw with the natural life history of certain species. We have provided winter habitat and food that normally isn't here are n the winter. Not saying that is the reason for the crows, but you get the idea. Auburn has historically been a wintering area for crows, they have a big crow shoot there every year as a fundraiser for the fire dept or something along those lines.

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[Sk8man]

Your point is well taken....and the geese spend a lot more time on the golf courses than the rest of us too

[ERABBIT]

We usta hunt them all the time down here then  , when USA was making a" migratory bird Act "  some D. A** from the USA  put the crows in it.......................then being under Fed regs. the sates had to come up with seasons and rules and such...... in Pa it became a PIA to hunt them with the extra rules ..........anyway seems like the just kept getting more and more........ never saw crows just eyeball you along the road when they were eating on a road kill like they do now always flew away for a bit ................ I know we would spend quite a few weekend chasing them down all over using a mech. call ............

 

 

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act was enacted, principally, between Great Britain (for Canada) and the United States and was intended to give Federal protection to most birds in the United States but did not include crows or other birds in the Corvidae family. Various treaties were made with different countries and in 1936 the Migratory Bird and Game Mammal Treaty with Mexico was adopted. This protected certain migratory birds in the U.S. and Mexico and amended the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The Treaty was further amended on March 10, 1972. This amendment finally added 32 additional families of birds including eagles, hawks, owls and the Corvidae family…which includes the crow species.

[ray koziatek]

I knew it had some thing to do with mexico,national bird.

[Big Water]

I'm always amazed when I'm driving down the road and a crow is picking on some road kill in a lane.  Those birds know enough to just walk beyong the painted white line on the side of the berm and then walk back onto the roadway when you pass.  Not too many animals have those smarts.

[fish-on]

That's funny, I went to Bass pro in Auburn last Sunday looking to buy an electronic crow caller, They didn't have any. Anybody got one forsale?

[Xxx]

That's funny, I went to Bass pro in Auburn last Sunday looking to buy an electronic crow caller, They didn't have any. Anybody got one forsale?

I love to crow hunt it's the only thing we can hunt on a Sunday here in PA. the days we can hunt crows are Fri, Sat, Sun, that's it and now they put a season on them so during the mating season it's closed. The end of May to July, I think? We have the decoys and now I have 2 callers since I got a new Fox Pro, but I sent it back to have more crow sounds and update the sound system, it's not loud like my Johnny Stewart, I have all the cassettes, the best are from Dennis Kirk and those are the sounds I want on my Fox Pro, I don't think I need a Hyena or some of the other weird stuff they put on their callers, so it will be coyote's and crows when I get it back with the louder speaker for crows, the most we ever killed in one day was 32 and that was years ago and we can't seem to beat that incredible day, we managed to find a migratory flock that we were able to call back time and time again. Then we moved to the opposite side of the hill and called them in again it was awesome day for us crow hunters, we still go a lot but if we kill over a dozen it's a good day!!!

[bandrus1]

And what exactly is the point? To just go out and kill something?

[Xxx]

And what exactly is the point? To just go out and kill something?

That's it, nothing else, don't like it leave!!!!!!  This is the good ol' USA if your a tree hugger or a animal rightest, if you don't like the thread, DON'T read it or go listen to the water falls on another page!!! ALL for crow hunting say I. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII.!!

[bandrus1]

that was almost comprehensible

[ray koziatek]

Bandrust I have to admit as i kid i did overuse my BB gun on birds,shot wood chucks for fun and crows too..Now that I've put a few circles around the sun behind me,I have to agree why take a life of something Im not gonna eat,sell,or gonna protect the safty of my family or deer (coyotes)..Yes I am a tree hugger ...every time i climb 40 ft up to my stand I hug that tree ,well climbing pegs pretty good.

[Xxx]

I know what your saying Ray, you will kill a coyote because they kill deer, which you hunt, to feed your family out of necessity right, or for the sport of it, meanwhile ask a farmer what he thinks of the crows, as they pick each little corn plant out of the ground and soybean plant, then comes the time for germination and they peck the silk of the young corn ears and destroy those plant that they didn't pull out earlier in the spring. I get paid a $1.00 for every crow I shoot from the Heckman Farm, I loss my a$$ but it's fun. Just like your deer hunting. I'm not saying anything neg. to you Ray, It's the other people who just have to say there .02 instead of minding their own damn business. Like I said if you have a problem with a thread, look elsewhere or go listen to the water fall sounds on your own post and I promise I won't even say a word on that post. I don't tread on others for there belief or what they consider fun so why ride my horse about crow hunting. They don't make all the calls and decoys and web sites,

CROW BUSTERS> because it's unethical to one waa bag about killing crows for fun.  Pissed Off.

Edited December 29, 2013 by pap

[rolmops]

Crows like to roost at night in a place where they can see at least a little bit. You will not find them gathered in big murders where it is pitch black at night. The reason for this is their arch enemy ,the great horned owl.

Some of you may have witnessed how crows will harass these owls as they roost during the day. At night,the roles get turned around.Sometimes in the morning you can find fifty or sixty dead or maimed crows below their roosting spot. This is the result of a visit by a great horned owl which with its perfect night vision will fly through a roosting spot of the crows and slashing and pecking will do a lot of damage in a very short time. That is why crows like to roost in large trees with artificial lights nearby so they are not blind sided.

As for non migratory geese. In the seventies the university of Syracuse did a research project to see whether the migratory impulse  in geese is a learned behavior or an instinctive one. So they tried to see if they could convince geese not to migrate. The first experiment was a failure,all the geese took off anyway. the second experiment was a success. The rest is history

 

By the way,I used to have tame crows. They are very intelligent. You can even teach them to talk a bit. They love shiny things and yes they will try to steal them and bring them to their nest

Edited December 29, 2013 by rolmops

[ray koziatek]

I had 1 also coolest pet i ever had,the neighbors would always mention when he took a bottle cap,nails from the roofers and even a few matchbox cars from the sand box,,I wonder where his secret stash was? Maybe one of these days when climbing a tree to place a stand ill find some ones watch....It was pretty cool to come home from school and whistle and 3/4 mile away he would drop off the hill and land on my arm........

[BSmaster]

As to the why.  I mentioned they are predators.  Very skilled at disorienting young of the year. 

 

Also very good eating.

Grind up the breast meat and make a meatloaf with a BBQ sauce topping.  Slice about an Inch thick and serve with bourbon.  I call them Crow Bars. 

[Gill-T]

Crows are very smart.....very smart.  They probably heard that NY was not a gun-owner friendly state.

[rolmops]

what exact problems do they cause?

Park your car in the wrong place and you'll find out...