How to keep crows away from bird feeder

Bird feeders are used to provide food for birds in the yard or garden. People use them to attract songbirds and capture their moments. But many times, unwanted large birds and animals also find this food source and cause constant trouble for everyone in the vicinity. Crows and pigeons are the most irritable among them.

You can keep the crows from the birdfeeder by using small bird feeders and by putting the food that crows don’t eat. Using a fake dead body of a crow is the best way of scaring them . CDs , fake owl decoy, reflective surfaces and garlic smells are hated by them.

Crows are a smart and intelligent species of bird and can be very annoying when it comes to feeding, and their endless cawing is very annoying. But there is no reason to worry about it. You are not alone in this scenario, many others are also facing the same problem.

Keeping crows away from bird feeders is no easy task. It requires several techniques and methods as they are very fast and make your efforts a bit impractical.

So here are some tips and tricks to get rid of this critter and keep your bird feeder safe.

Using a dead body of a fake crow can keeps them away from birdfeeder:

It may sound weird but it really works. I belong to a country side. There are cows and other animals in our farm. Crows are greatest pests there. They came there and tease the animals and eat their stuff. So what we do is to place a fake dead body of crow in that area.

It was seen that the crows fly away on seeing the dead body. They take it as a sign of danger and think that if they go there, they too will be attacked by a predator. This technique works for me. You can find fake dead crows on Amazon. Here is a suggested one.

Note: if you buy an stuff through our link , we will get commission for that. It will cost you nothing extra.

Use spikes instead of Bird control devices:

Many people use ultrasonic devices, propane gas cannons, and lethal bird control. Professionals recommend neither of them because some are ineffective, toxic, and unworthy to spend your money on.

Professionals suggest using Plastic Bird spikes that are anti-roosting, anti-perching to keep crows away from a bird feeder. The installation requires crews and glue, or you can tie it down. They are available in 3-5-7 inch widths.

Another is Wind-Powered Bird Spiders, and it creates an ultimate barrier for crows because it has long, thin tentacles that keep birds away. These pest bird repellent devices are available in four arm lengths: 2′, 4′, 6′, and 8′, allowing you to create increasingly more prominent zones of pest bird discouragement.

Using Decoy can scare the crows:

To protect your bird feeder from crows, you can use different decoys and scarecrows. Do you know crows are afraid of owls? They get terrified when owls are around, so why not introduce an owl decoy to your yard. Crows will get scare and fly away as soon as they see owl decoy.

Other than that, you can also make scarecrows and place them near the bird feeder. Amazon has a great variety of owl decoys and scarecrows like IFOYO Fall Harvest Scarecrow Décor, AIPINQI Scarecrow, Gold Solar Powered Owl with Detection and CTREE Owl Decoys.

Similarly, there are decoys like a coyote decoy, a fake dead crow, an eagle decoy, etc. By using these, you can make them fly away instantly. We suggest you change the decoy position more often as crows are sharp, and they get to know soon that you’re trying to make them fool by fake owls and dead crows.

So be extra careful about the placement, unlike these decoys create trouble for the crows, and they might feel unsafe in your yard, so they’ll avoid coming around.

Use Reflected deterrent:

An alternate way to scare crows to keep them away from your birdfeeder is to hang some shiny or reflected objects like CDs and aluminum plates in your garden that can swing in the wind and make noises.

So far, what we come to know about is that these crows get frightened by shiny kinds of stuff, and they think this is some weapon to kill them, so as soon as they hear and see the objects, they’ll fly back and would never return.

This technique will help you to get rid of other annoying birds as well. One con of using this is that it may scare those birds along with whom you are trying to attract in the birdfeeder.

Keep your place clean:

Crows don’t like tidiness or clean places. They are much likely to attract dirty areas where they can quickly gather their meal without much effort. So in a manner to keep them away, maintaining cleanliness is one of the best options. The more dirtier place you have , the more guests you will have.

Grab the fallen seeds, food items, garbage, and smelly food sources that may attract them and throw them out of the yard. You can also put dustbins. In search of food, they can go anywhere except the clean places. If crows don’t find any food at your home, they won’t bother to come again.

Likewise, cover the bird feeders although their beaks are too small to feed on birdfeeders, but who can trust crows in that? Indeed none of us so eliminate any possible chances for crows to eat anything from the garden.

Cover Your Bins:

So after cleaning the yard, you should also check either your trash is easily accessible to crows or not. If yes, then what are you doing right now? Go and cover them up with heavy lids and put them in a secure place. Crows won’t poke their beaks again and fly right away as they don’t want to die in hunger.

It would be best if you also disposed of rubbish as quickly as possible. Otherwise, crows will enjoy a buffet in the morning as your beloved pet left the garbage uncovered at night.

Eliminate all the sources of food and water:

After taking care of cleanliness and trash, if you reencounter crows in your poor yard, there must be some food sources available for them because there is no convincing drive for the crows to be in your region if there is no food around. Search out all the possible edible items for crows and remove them ASAP.

Remove birdbaths from the yard and if kibbles are also there for your pets, remove that too. Similarly, don’t allow trash to gather in the plastic bags. These bags are quickly ripped apart by crows and create a mess. This is one of the reasonable method to get rid of crows.

Use Noisemakers:

Birds get disturbed when they hear loud noises. Fortunately, crows dislike them too. They are not supposed to listen to alarms or sirens. To annoy crows, one can use different noisemakers and keep them miles away.

While doing this, you have to inform your neighbors because these sirens can be so annoying for the people around you, and they can call up for help to avoid such a mess. Take their consent before and going for this technique.

It would work for mice, rats too. Here we suggest a few noisemakers that would cause a significant impact, i.e., Fireworks, Air horns, recorded eagle, and owl distress calls.

Avoid using Feeders for Large Birds:

As you want to keep crows away, the next suggestion is to install feeders specifically designed for smaller birds like sparrows, house finches, cardinals, and more. You can easily buy birdfeeders which get close as soon as large birds with more weight sit on them and don’t allow crows to feed.

Amazon has a great variety of feeders like wire mesh. Meanwhile, a DIY wire mesh feeder is also available. For that feeder must be surrounded with wire mesh. Use wire to tie the upper and lower edges of the feeder and attach the mesh around.

Permit only a tiny 2-inch hole in each side to give access to smaller birds. Don’t forget to clean the feeder every time you refill the box.

Apply Bird Netting:

Another good option to prevent crows away from your yard is to use bird netting. It is known to keep unwanted birds away. Crows are endangered by bird netting and feel the threat as they don’t want to get caught in this net and die.

While choosing, prefer net with smaller holes or 4-inch netting is recommended—small netting works best for this situation. The mesh should be stretchy or flexible, so if crows get stuck, they can quickly get out without any harm.

Installing sprinklers with motion sensors:

A very harmless yet effective solution is to introduce motion sensor sprinkles in your yard. This machine detects movements and sprinkles water, so if any unwanted bird tries to invade your yard, it’ll get wet immediately. In this way, no crows or other insects, pests would be able to feed.

We recommend you to prefer Enforcer Motion-Activated Sprinkler by Amazon. It covers the large area where this sprinkles up to 70 feet in diameter, covers 3,840 square feet when set to a full circle. It also saves battery life and water.

One cons of using this is that it will deter other birds. But if you are attracting other birds that love to take bath . This is the best option.

Pepper smell can keep the crows away

What smells do Crows hate? Essential Oils, Garlic, Cayenne Pepper , onion smell and pepper smell are mostly hated by the crows. Whenever these smells are around it would deter them. Instead of buying any smell from the amazon, use home products . These are cheap and easily available at the home.

What do crows hate the most? They hate the shiny surfaces and sudden noise like firecrackers. These things keeps them away. Dog is also their main enemy which helps you to deter them. CDs and shiny aluminum plates are hated by the crows.

Conclusion

As now you know plenty of ways to get rid of this annoying bird, you can add the mentioned harmless tools and techniques in your yard and maintain crow free zone. Fake dead crow hanging in the garden is the best option to keep them away.

Sometimes, some or all of these ideas may work due to the situation and weather. Or, none of them may work. If you fail in getting rid of crows, let the bird empty your birdfeeder, clean it carefully and leave it that way for a month. Start filling the feeder again when at least no bird has visited for 10 days or more.