Latest news with #crows
Malay Mail
4 days ago
- General
- Malay Mail
Singapore's National Parks Board hangs fake crows to spook the real ones after dive-bombing attacks
SINGAPORE, May 31 — In trees across Singapore, plastic crows are playing dead — and it's all part of a bold new strategy to outsmart some of the smartest birds around. According to The Straits Times, these lifeless-looking decoys, strung upside down from branches, are part of a National Parks Board (NParks) trial aimed at shooing off house crows, a highly intelligent and invasive species known for their noisy gatherings and the occasional aerial ambush on unsuspecting pedestrians. 'The effigies are placed at roost sites and positioned to resemble dead crows,' How Choon Beng, NParks' group director of wildlife management, reportedly said. 'The aim is to create a perception of danger and encourage the roosting crows to disperse to other locations.' It might sound like a scene from a Hitchcock film, but it's rooted in science. Studies from the United States have shown that crows, unnerved by the sight of one of their own hanging lifeless, tend to scatter — sometimes for good. Back in 2005, researchers from the US Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services tried the same trick in Pennsylvania, where up to 40,000 crows once roosted. By suspending crow effigies from tree branches, they managed to break up the massive gatherings over two winters. The tactic worked well — at least for a while. In Singapore, NParks has deployed 15 plastic crows at eight known trouble spots since late 2023. The effigies typically hang around for about two weeks at a time. One was spotted in April outside Katong V mall, complete with a sign that reassured passers-by: 'This is a plastic crow. Please do not be alarmed.' It's a response to growing public frustration. NParks received nearly 7,000 crow-related complaints annually in 2023 and 2024, with gripes ranging from screeching wake-up calls to full-on bird attacks. One of the most notorious incidents occurred in Bishan in early 2023, when at least 10 people were harassed by dive-bombing crows in under 20 minutes. Crow aggression typically spikes during fledgling season between May and June, when adult birds become fiercely protective of their young. It's also when the calls for intervention grow louder. Effigies are NParks' latest addition to a broader, science-based game plan. Other measures include nest removal, food source management, habitat tweaks, and, in some cases, trapping.
CTV News
4 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Dive-bombed or not, Vancouverites are still pro-crow, researchers say
Celina Slaght, a medical volunteer, feeds a fledgling crow at the Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C., in Burnaby, B.C., on Thursday, May 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck VANCOUVER — Along her journey towards understanding Vancouver's crows, psychology professor Suzanne MacDonald says she made a friend. It's a crow that brings her gifts after she set up a bird feeder at her home in the neighbourhood of Kitsilano. Once, it was a barnacle-covered shell, which MacDonald treasures. Other times, it was 'bits of garbage' that MacDonald doesn't fancy much, though she 'appreciates the sentiment.' 'I think he definitely recognizes me. When other people go out on my patio, he doesn't come to them. He knows me,' said MacDonald. Vancouver has long had a love-hate relationship with its crows, whose dive-bombing attacks on pedestrians are a sure sign of springtime in the city. But a new survey co-authored by MacDonald suggests that, on the human side at least, it's mostly love. 'I think that many people feel a deep connection to crows because they seem to see the world the way humans do: they are intelligent, excellent problem solvers, they recognize individual humans, and they are highly social, culturally complex beings,' said MacDonald, a psychology professor at York University, who divides her time between Toronto and Vancouver. MacDonald and Laura Adams, who teaches psychology at Langara College, teamed up to survey hundreds of people in B.C.'s Lower Mainland to examine their relationship with crows. They said 67 per cent of people had positive feelings about crows, compared to only five per cent with negative feelings, in findings released this month that the researchers hope will inform an academic publication later. As for the crows, many make their feelings known during the spring nesting season, when the Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C. says 'overprotective' parent birds swoop on anyone who gets too close to a nest. It's a common experience across Vancouver — an online crowdsourced map of crow attacks in Vancouver is dotted with red crow symbols marking swooping sites gathered over several years. But Adams said most people felt 'very positive' about crows, even if they had been dive-bombed. 'We were really hoping to compare the types of people who loved crows and the types of people who had very negative opinions on crows because talking to the general public, people seem to be in both camps,' said Adams. But it turns out most respondents were crow fans. 'We found that 64 per cent of people said that they'd been dive-bombed by a crow. So, when you put that in the context of 67 per cent of people feeling very positive about crows, that means there are a lot of people who've been dive-bombed but still love crows,' said Adams, 'We found that really interesting.' Many of the 468 survey respondents shared stories about their unique relationships with the birds. 'I think one of the interesting parts is just how much people wanted to talk about crows for no reward at all,' said Adams. Vancouver has even had its own celebrity crow, named Canuck, that was well known for riding the SkyTrain, stealing a knife from a crime scene in 2016, and forging an unlikely friendship with a mail carrier. Adams said the survey found 53 per cent of people felt crows were a symbol of Vancouver. Wildlife photographer Liron Gertsman has been fascinated with crows since he was five, and that obsession turned into a documentary, filmed with friend Jack Bailey. Their 10-minute production, 'The Commute,' captures the story of a massive murder of crows — up to 10,000 birds strong — that congregates at Still Creek in Burnaby at night. The huge flock is a familiar sight in Metro Vancouver skies, particularly in winter months. Gertsman called it an 'incredible phenomenon.' 'They're just so smart,' he said, as he described the challenge of locating the birds, only to turn up for more filming and 'they'd be nowhere to be seen.' 'So, they were playing games with us a little bit. They were taking us on a not a wild-goose chase, but a wild-crow chase around the city,' he said. Gertsman said that during filming he and Bailey were pooped on 'all the time,' but it didn't dampen their enthusiasm for their subjects and their 'beautiful daily commute.' He's still watching crows during the current nesting season. 'There's a crow nest that is just barely visible outside my window, tucked into the tree, which is fun to watch,' Gertsman said. 'I think it's a lovely thing to be able to look outside your window in the morning and see a crow because it represents that little bit of nature that is able to exist within even a pretty big city.' The Wildlife Rescue Association said nesting season lasts from April to July, meaning 'anxious bird parents are out in full force' to protect their young. The association said it's seeing a spike in reports of fledgling crows on the ground, and there are 11 injured and orphaned crows in Wildlife Rescue's care. The organization's co-executive director, Linda Bakker, said it's common to find young crows on the ground in late spring as they learn to fly. Not all need help, but if a grounded bird looks like it's in trouble, people should can take a photo and contact Wildlife Rescue, she said. She said the group often gets calls from people asking how to deal with crow attacks. But she said that when it happened to her, she wasn't worried. 'I was excited when it happened. I was like, oh, there's a crow, and he's protecting his nest. That's great. I will stay out of your way,' said Bakker. MacDonald said it's important for people to understand how we live with other species, particularly in an urban environment where many animals have been pushed out. 'But some of them, like crows, actually thrive with us, and that makes them very special,' she said. MacDonald says daily encounters with crows should be seen as a reminder that 'if we live in a city that has no wildlife, then we live in a dead city.' 'We want to live in a very vibrant city where nature is at our front door and our back door and everywhere, and crows remind us that is the case in the Lower Mainland.' This report by Nono Shen, The Canadian Press, was first published on May 30, 2025.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- BBC News
Billingham residents 'attacked' by crows as they tried to save bird
A community has described how they were "viciously attacked" by two crows while trying save a baby bird that had fallen from its living around Rievaulx Avenue in Billingham, Teesside, first spotted the chick on Tuesday morning and began to put out food, with children also laying jumpers to keep it of those who helped said "anybody walking past the nest" was running the risk of being chased by the adults, as they tried to defend the young bird, which has since RSPB said during breeding season, crows will attack when there is "a threat towards their chicks" and warned people to keep their distance. One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "Any time somebody approached the baby the big ones would viciously attack them."I saw them chase one man the whole way down the street and he wasn't even doing anything."A lot of people have been trying to feed it. Some school kids put out jumpers to keep it warm." Another resident, who tried to look after the young bird, said she was "devastated" to find out it had died."It is just so sad, I didn't see it this morning and I did worry," she said."Hopefully they have other babies and they don't just have one at a time."An RSPB spokesperson warned members of the public to "keep a distance from any nests during breeding season"."Crows only tend to attack humans when they get near to their nests during the breeding season," they said."[They] usually keep to themselves and will only attack when they feel threatened themselves, or a threat towards their chicks." Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
