We go into their area and harass them with tools like pyrotechnics, high powered lights, distress calls, remote-controlled aircraft.
(01/10/12) In Watertown, wildlife biologists will be out "crow hazing" tonight. They're trying to scare away the city's huge winter population of the birds. It's estimated there are as many as 30,000 crows roosting in Watertown right now. Nora Flaherty has more.
The city considers the birds pests—they’re loud, they’re messy, and they sometimes pick at the shiny metal parts of cars and other property.
Cody Baciuska is a wildlife biologist with Loomacres—the firm Watertown’s hired to take care of the problem. He says his team doesn’t want to hurt the birds. They just want them out of Watertown:
Our goal is to disperse the birds outside the city, make their flock size smaller. And we achieve that through harassment—we go into their area and harass them with tools like pyrotechnics, high powered lights, distress calls, remote-controlled aircraft.
Baciuska says his team’s not using any quote “lethal control methods.” And he says they’re not looking to get rid of all the crows:
I think a few thousand birds distributed throughout the city would be a tolerable amount, but the key is dispersed throughout, not all in one location.
Watertown has been “hazing” crows for the last few years—Tonights/Tuesday night’s outing will be the second this season. Baciuska says teams will be out several more times this winter.
St. Lawrence University, Canton,
New York 13617 • phone: 1-877-388-6277 • email
radio@ncpr.org
National Public Radio • 
American Public Media • 
Public Radio International
Comment on this story
