My Mom in northern AZ has a 'common raven' problem. Those big, scary birds know that she feeds the local quail and sparrows -- early every morning -- with bread, and they (or at least one "spotter") wait in local tree, and then pounce when they see the goodies on her lawn (yup, she has a small patch of grass), scaring the other birds away.

She won't use a firearm/airgun. Is there anything she might do, or use, to to scare them away without also scaring off/harming the quail and sparrows?

Thanks in advance for your comments. And, again, firearms are out of the question.

how to get rid of ravens?
send em back to cleveland and rename them the browns

ok, sorry, i can't answer your question.

CHOOT 'EM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Forum consigliere

Tell 'em "Nevermore!"

LOL!!I like it!
And so does [R.I.P.] Edgar Allen Poe!

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WALSTIB

How about a garrote?
Cheap, quiet, efficient.
Tell her to shoot some video!

Grenades work too, but WILL scare the other birds...

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In dog years I'm dead.

Ravens can't legally be killed in AZ, there is no open season. Even the common crow is protected by a January thru August closed season.

This situation can be blamed on Mexicans, who refused to ratify an international migratory waterfowl treaty unless ravens, and I think, other corvidae, (which includes ravens, crows, magpies, jays, etc.), were protected. Evidently ravens have some superstitious/"religious" significance in some elements of Mexican culture.

Yeah, or they could leave Baltimore in the middle of the night and move to Indianapolis.

Can anybody explain the difference between a crow and a raven? I mean, in terms of being able to differentiate in the field. I know, I should just Google it, but then some future employer is going to ask some question about search engines I'll have to answer.

...and Native American culture too, if I'm not mistaken. They're all over the place up here. I was out working on my trailer one sunny day and when I would turn my back they would come after my socket set...guess they liked the shiny metal in the sunlight. They usually disperse somewhat when a Bald Eagle visits the neighborhood.

She can get a cat.
Sometimes a decoy owl will keep them away.
How about an Airsoft gun, it won't kill them but should sting them and teach them they are not welcome.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Ravens are bigger than crows..which only helps if they're together.

We saw some pretty predaceous ravens at Lassen National Park; practically take the food out of your mouth...

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I used to be disgusted..

They are very similar in overall appearance, i.e., all black, similar shapes, and so forth, but ravens are about half again the size of crows, 24" vs. 18" +/-. What birders call "GISS", or General Impression Size Shape, behavior, and vocalizations are clues, if you don't (and probably won't) have specimens to compare, side by side. Crows are often very gregarious, foraging, roosting, etc., in large flocks, whereas ravens often are seen in pairs (commonly engaged in seemingly playful aerial acrobatics --- the avian equivalent of the Blue Angels). Their vocalizations are also distinctive --- the crow's "caw", vs. the raven's more guttural grunting calls. The distinction is difficult, and when I once asked an AZ Game & Fish LEO about this very matter, he told me, "As far as I'm concerned, any large, black, dead, bird, is a crow." This is the same officer who told me, with a wink, that he had, never, in his long career, found time to investigate the alleged shooting of a feral burro, an animal that is unfortunately offered Federal protection, prompted by "Wild Horse Annie" and her misguided, ill-informed followers, and is the equivalent of the environmentally ruinous feral hogs that plague other parts of the country.

Thanks for the info. I had always assumed crows were bigger.

Two suggestions:

1, try a crow call. They are cheap and very easy to use. The ravens probably don't like crows.

2, get a dead raven (have her get one from a neighbor if she can't "find" one. Leave it conspicuously near the feeding area. If ravens react to dead brethren like crows do, they will vacate the area.

Our local city here has been having an ongoing war with crows and ravens for years, and I can tell you that so far the best way to deal with these things is a rifle or shotgun. Be careful though because here in NY ravens are protected, so you might want to check the local laws. However you can always say that you thought they were big crows. A .22 Hornet should do (works well on crows).

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Vaya con Dios

I heard that feeding birdys uncooked rice will kill them (accidentally Heh Heh)

Firecrackers? Of course, that will scare off all the birds....

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Insert short witty words here

Benjamin(Crosman)'s Marauder .22 airrifle is totally silent and effective to 100+yds on varmint ofall sorts. It is so quiet that the loudest sound you hear is the pellet hitting the target. Shot from a 'hide' in your home/garage, no one will ever know that the raven/crow didn't die of a heart attack/old age/drive-by shooting/hit-and-run driver/sonic boom/whatever. Try it--it works GREAT!

Thank you for the comments!

Down here in Tennessee, lead poisoning works pretty darn good.

I've heard the dry white rice thing works too, however, it won't differentiate between ravens and quail...those that partake in the rice, swell up, and die.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ..."ERIN GO BRAGH"

I don't know about the ravens out west, but we have some in the mountains in GA and on up into NC, etc. I have never seen them anywhere except at high elevations. They are much larger than crows and are usually seen singly or in pairs at most.

Also, unlike the varied vocabulary of crows, their one sound is pretty much "gwark".

Anti freeze and cheap dog food mix on a platform feeder. eep your pets safe.

The difference is the number of pinon feathers, a crow has 4 and a raven has 5.

I know you have heard all your life "it's a matter of a pinion"

The problem is what she is feeding the quail & sparrows. Bread is not that good for the birds and it is large enough to attract ravens. She should try using chicken/hen scratch (wheat & cracked corn) from your local feed supply house. It will bring in lots of quail and other birds but it's too small for the ravens to bother with and they will eventually go somewhere else.

Also, a bird feeder LIKE THIS ONE is a good idea when using grain feed.

Good tip about changing the feed that is put out for the smaller birds. Ravens won't eat finch food any more than a lumberjack eats quiche or sashimi.

Ravens are bright birds, crows not so much. Around SoCal, the ravens are twice as big as the crows. Crows in flight have squared off tails, and ravens have diamond or kite-shaped tails. Also, raven beaks are proportionately larger than crow beaks. If you see a young raven beside a mature crow, the size of the beak will distinguish them. And ravens, for want of a better word, often look "shaggy." It's tough for them to get all their feathers to lie down neatly, though some can manage the trick.

Ravens have a variety of calls. They can talk about their world in greater detail than crows can. I have had ravens talk back to me when I imitate that strange wood-block noise they make -- "clock, clock." I wish I knew what I was saying, but the ravens seem to take neither pleasure nor offense in it. Maybe it just means, "Well, here I am."

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David Wilson

You've never met Southern crows.
Trust me, they are smart- VERY smart!

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Doesn't work. If it did the rice fields and wedding chappels would be surrounded by dead birds. Their gullets are adapted for eating dried seed.

I'm a firm believer in the 3-S solution; shoot, shovel & shut up.

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Rick, W0FG
CTR2 68-72

I remember as a kid walking out of my house into a field and watching the Ravens watching me. Every time I carried my rifle, however, they took off as soon as I appeared. They learn very fast and are highly intelligent. They not only learn from experience but it appears they can convey this information to other Ravens (crows to a lesser degree). If you can't shoot them, the choice of feed is probably the best idea. Try different types of feed until you find the one the "good" birds like and the Ravens won't eat. Bread is not a good idea, that's a favorite for them.

Tokyo has a raven problem. They call 'em crows but they gotta be ravens 'cause they are twice the size of any crows I saw in the US. In the city they feast off the trash, and one needs to secure the garbage in a garbage can or under mesh when you put it out for the garbage trucks to pick it up. If you put it out in a vinyl bag alone, the ravens get on it and strew it all over the street, chowing down on what they like. Nasty things. But, very smart.

When I moved into this place a tree in my back yard had a raven nest in it. With two young ravens, and their mom. Maybe the dad, too. Ten years ago so I don't recall. The house was famous among the people who maintain it as "the house with the ravens." Ravens will divebomb you, and sometimes scratch people's heads with their talons. (There are warning signs posted in parks here.)

I have some airsoft guns, and I thought about shootin' the youngsters in the nest and their parents, too, but considered: They can't go anywhere for a while. So, we just eyed each other warily for a couple of months. But when they got big and could fly, the battle commenced.

I was shootin' ravens when they were in my garden and they were divebombing me when I was in the street. At one point the youngesters came back and i found them sitting side by sde on a branch in the tree. Like most youngesters they were green, and i popped 'em both, sequentially,"gawk!," right in their chests, and they took off, never to be seen again.

Anyway, nowadays ravens very rarely come, and when they do, I grab my airsoft Python (sorry!) from my bookcase, hold it hidden down along my leg, and ease my way to the French doors that open onto the garden. The smart ones, most of them, take off at that point. If I get that far and they haven't, I'll whip up the gun and get a shot or two off as they take wing. Haven't definitely hit one in flight yet though.

But these birds are smart. At this point they mostly stay out of my yard, and in the years since we went toe-to-toe, they've stopped divebombing me in the street.