Crows owls and decying.

[B B]

Walking the dogs tonight i could hear corvid activity in the distance, soon as i got out the car, walking up the track could see crows into an alder clump clearly upset about something .  There were about 7 mobbing a tawny owl . My presence did not seem to deter them at first but the dogs running around and the fact i was stood watching them they left off but circled around gradualy dispersing after a few mins.  The Tawny was not phased it just sat there moving into a thicker part of alder and i walked off left it to it. This time of year suppose crows on metal owl was in wrong place at wrong time. I then got to thinking the owl decoy i bought ten years ago and how it had never really proved that good as a decoy.

Why is this ? Is it me not sighting it right or is it that its not a tawny or anything they recognise as an owl, or are crows smart enough to know a lump of plastic from a real Tawny owl.

[Longstrider]

Stick your decoy atop a pole or dead tree near (ish) to a crows nest and you'll see them mobbing it in no time. High up in a tree looking at a rookery works well too.

The ruddy things know that they are bad news for nests and youngsters, so they know that others can do the same to their eggs and young. They hate to see any other predator near their homes.

 

Had on permission that was plagued by rooks from a nearby rookery but couldn't get permission to 'get under the bu88ers' so rigged an owl decoy up  dead tree 100 yds my side of the boundary. 3 visits later and no more problem.

[B B]

Thanks for reply, i never had much success with my owl decoy i might give it a try again, some videos on you tube seem to show them working , i think i have not been using it in the right situations.

 

[scolopax]

34 minutes ago, B B said:

Thanks for reply, i never had much success with my owl decoy i might give it a try again, some videos on you tube seem to show them working , i think i have not been using it in the right situations.

 

poor light and a very good decoy, looks like a stuffed eagle owl.

 

I have had carrion crows come straight in to attack a plastic horned owl decoy.

[washerboy]

A cuddlie toy works just as good as an owl decoy 

[steve_b_wales]

On 05/04/2019 at 12:46, Longstrider said:

Stick your decoy atop a pole or dead tree near (ish) to a crows nest and you'll see them mobbing it in no time. High up in a tree looking at a rookery works well too.

The ruddy things know that they are bad news for nests and youngsters, so they know that others can do the same to their eggs and young. They hate to see any other predator near their homes.

 

Had on permission that was plagued by rooks from a nearby rookery but couldn't get permission to 'get under the bu88ers' so rigged an owl decoy up  dead tree 100 yds my side of the boundary. 3 visits later and no more problem.

As above. If the Owl decoy is above where they are roosting/nesting, you should have a good chance. A year or two ago, I placed an Owl (European) decoy on a fence post, and attached a dead Crow to it's feet, with a few feathers scattered around. This worked for awhile and I shot quite a few.

[B B]

 What do you all think is key to making the owl decoy work well, is it possitioning of owl or a better looking decoy over the plastic decoys,  Would flocking or feathering a plastic help or is a stuffed owl needed for best results do you think.?

 Interesting you two had results with plastic decoys and i like the crow in claws touch that sounds it could be worth pursuing at some point.

[billytheghillie]

I looked on that big river site, asked for toy owl cuddly, some realistic looking ones on there.