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By Angela Brown

For the birds

City to discuss how to address crow and raven issue after receiving complaints

Jul 28, 2020 | 2:22 PM

North Battleford city council will look at the city’s ravens and crows in the months ahead after receiving some complaints about their activity in the area.

Mayor Ryan Bater said he heard about people with issues of the ravens and crows apparently attacking songbirds in the city.

If the city decides the number of crows and ravens needs to be better managed, the initiative would need to start early in the year.

“To be effective at this, you have to address the issue in the spring while they are nesting,” Bater said.

He said in the past firearms were used to eradicate ravens and crows.

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“There are some concerns about the use of firearms to do that,” Bater said. “So this will be a conversation that happens in the coming months in preparation for next year.”

The crow and raven problem in the city was much worse several years ago when the city had open garbage bins or dumpsters in the back alleys, which attracted birds to the refuse.

“Now that we don’t have that, it tends to be a lot less frequent,” the mayor said. “But I have heard complaints about the effect that those birds are having on songbirds in the city.”

The city changed to roll-out closed garbage bins in 2013. The mayor said previously the city had many issues with crows and ravens. Now that the bins are sealed there is less garbage for the picking, so the crows and ravens don’t have the easy food source available to access.

While the issue is being reviewed for next year, the city will need to consult with a number of people and experts in the field during the process.

“I think the work right now is to look at what other communities are doing,” Bater said.

According to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, crow and raven populations vary from year to year in the province. All bird species are monitored annually through the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS.) Data related to crows and ravens is available online. The data is compiled by both the Canadian and U.S. federal governments.

The province said unfortunately the COVID-19 situation prevented the survey from moving ahead in 2020, although the Ministry of Environment reported it has not seen any indication of a significant increase in either crows or ravens this year. It was noted an increasing number of ravens are spending their summers in southern Saskatchewan however.

In the meantime, the ministry is encouraging residents to keep garbage bin lids closed to prevent the birds from feeding on garbage.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW