Have you set up a birdbath intended for little birds, but it ended up with crows? Yes, I know, it’s disappointing. Now you may force them away, but you may also end up scaring other birds. Now, there’s no need to sulk. There’s something you can do to keep crows out of your birdbath without disturbing other birds.
Without further ado, let’s get on with it.
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Keep crows out of your birdbath with these five easy ways
The primary problem when it comes to keeping crows away from birdbaths is that it will also scare others.
Below are some steps you may find useful and practical to eliminate such birds while keeping others.
While crows get attracted to food sources such as trashes and scraps, small birds don’t.
They are omnivores, which means they would also feed on scraps scattered around the area.
By removing potential food, you can keep them away from your area, even if there’s a birdbath for them.
At the same time, you can still attract other birds to hang around in your birdbath setup.
Set up bird feeders designed only for small birds
Even though crows eat scraps, they can also eat bird feeds. Thus, feeding the small ones may also attract a murder.
To prevent such from happening, set up small bird feeders instead of a big one. There are bird feeders that specifically don’t allow large birds the access.
Now, that’s not the only thing. You should also be mindful of cleaning up scraps from the feeds.
The reason is that some small birds feed clumsily, and they end up scattering scraps on the ground. These scraps become potential food for these birds to hang around.
As much as you can, clean the surrounding area of bird feeders to ensure that they won’t have anything to eat there.
You May Also Read – Do crows like shiny things?
Secure your vegetable garden and other crops
Vegetable gardens also entice crows to hang around. Thus, if your birdbath has a vegetable garden near it, the corvid may end up getting on the birdbath as well.
Secure this garden with bird netting or fabric to prevent it from snacking.
Vegetables and crops don’t matter to smaller birds. But, the covers can also protect your crops from other birds who will.
Remove tall trees
One of the primary reasons crows gather around your birdbath is if there’s a tall tree nearby.
These animals prefer to roost on tall trees with many branches enough to accommodate a group of them.
As they roost, they might also hang around your birdbath.
Using a tree removal service, remove tall and mature trees. It will lessen the possibility of a murder of crows destroying in your area and your birdbath.
With crows hanging around in groups and cawing non-stop, you may find it a nuisance and wish to keep them away. The problem is that forcing them away may also scare the birds you want to hang around. While it may seem quite an effort, you can keep such birds out of your birdbath with these steps.
Watch out for dead or injured animals.
Aside from plant-based food, crows are likely to gather when they sight an injured animal or a carcass.
Such corvid animals are famous for eating dead animals and for taking the opportunity to hunt an injured one.
Thus, if you see an injured animal or a dead body, remove it immediately. Rescue an injured animal and bury a dead one. It will lessen the chances of a corvid getting near your area.
Do crows like birdbaths?
Crows don’t have any specific preference when it comes to water sources. Thus, they may or may not like birdbaths, depending on the availability of water.
As opportunists, they tend to go for whatever is more comfortable.
Crows will choose a dead animal over a live one, to save them from hunting. Further, they will also prefer smaller hunt than large but difficult ones.
The same principle applies to their water necessities.
A murder would often choose to roost near a place where there is a lot of water to accommodate them. With large numbers, they’ll likely select somewhere near a pond or a river.
For a pair or a group with only a few members they can go and survive on a birdbath.
Aside from birdbaths, they may also go for fountains, which is annoying for most people.
How to keep crows out of fountains?
Unlike birdbaths, fountains are for decoration purposes only, and not for birds. It’s not much more for crows.
To keep such birds out of fountains, you can do either of these two things. You can put a net, or you can use salt water.
Putting a net of the water’s surface in a fountain will prevent any corvid from drinking on it. Even so, they might sip on the flowing water.
The second way is to put salt in the water instead of just freshwater. Indeed, saltwater can destroy a fountain, but putting salt or salted water will not make it tempting for crows.
What does it mean when crows gather around your house? Learn here.
In Summary – How do you keep crows out of your birdbath?
Only a few people won’t mind crows drinking and hanging in the birdbaths they set. For the rest, they see such corvids as a nuisance.
Aside from their loud caws and gatherings, crows around birdbaths pose other problems. They don’t only scare the birds away, but they can also pest on nearby properties.
If they don’t bother you, you may want to set up another birdbath to accommodate both corvids and small birds.
However, if you see these corvids harming the birds you attract, you may want to take it as a responsibility to shoo them away.
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Image credits – Photo by Akshar Sarin and Luke Ow on Unsplash
