Caw-tion …

... is what all rescues require. Animal safety is always our prime consideration, and we are always aware that we must reduce the risk inherent in every attempt to trap a wild animal. But not all rescues involve captures, such as these stories of two American Crow rescues.

The traps and techniques employed to capture birds of prey simply do not work with Corvids (crows, ravens, jays, and their relatives). They are “neophobes,“ i.e. wary of new things, and are highly intelligent. They are careful approaching traps, and in past attempts to capture them, I saw how they were able to take the food offered as a lure while avoiding entrapment. The only success I’ve had removing crows from buildings required time to accustom the crow to taking food progressively closer and closer to an exit, so the crow could get outside under its own power and volition.

In the first instance, two weeks before Shelter in Place orders, we had a phone call from the San Jose Unified School District asking for help with an American Crow that flew into an elementary school cafeteria and had been there for days. (Food galore!) Like most birds that fly into buildings, its impulse is to fly upwards to escape, even though the door it entered is located much lower, down a human level, which it wants to avoid. This crow was most comfortable perching among the ceiling tiles 18 feet above the floor when people were around. Because the school was closed due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, I had control of the environment so the crow was not distracted by nearby humans.

Success took three days and a total of nine hours or so, most of which I spent hiding behind a folded cafeteria table and beneath a movable whiteboard so the crow wouldn’t know I was in the room. I remained out of sight by holding my phone camera below the whiteboard to view what was happening. All the curtains were closed, and early in the morning I opened one door in the bird’s line-of-sight, with daylight streaming through it. After making a show of putting new food on the floor near that door, I made sure the crow saw me exit through it, and then I sneaked in a back door, out of sight of the crow, and quietly slid into my hiding place to keep an eye on things. The video below shows the crow after it flew down to the floor to investigate the food (artfully presented in an authentic torn lunch bag). I love when it notices the open door, and moves increasingly faster toward it. What a relief when it strolled out that exit on the left (behind the scissor lift) and finally graduated from sixth grade.

The second incident was similar, but occurred in an active East Bay grocery store. Days were spent accustoming the crow to accept food placed on a green towel, and gradually moving the towel closer to an open pair of entry doors at the front of the store. Shoppers and staff complicated the training, but eventually a lucky combination of no human foot traffic, the noisy parking lot presence the crow’s clan, comprising a dozen of its fellows, and the crow perching on the towel in front of the open doors did the trick. By feeding the outside, cawing flock (and moving the closer to the door and indoor crow by throwing peanuts toward the open door), our crow spied his family getting peanuts, and saw his opportunity to fly outside through the open doors to reunite with them.

Thanks to Los Gatos Birdwatcher and their generous customers, whose kind donations underwrote three round trips from San Francisco to San Jose to make the school rescue possible, and to Gail West, whose generosity subsidized six round trips to Albany to bring a crow freedom from the grocery store. We appreciate the support.