Hey Willie,

No, it is not legal to kill crows. They are protected under the
Migratory Birds Act as a native species. By the same token, it is
perfectly legal, pending firearms regulations in your area, to kill
European Starlings, English Sparrows and Rock Doves (aka "Pigeons"),
all non-native and invasive species). I'm not necessarily advocating
that you do so, however.

Robert Pisano
Seattle


On Dec 27, 2007, at 1:44 PM, Brett Wolfe wrote:

> Hi Willie,
> ?
> First off, I hope you and your family never kill any crows. Outside of
> mosquitos and flies, I can't think of anything that I would want to
> have gone simply because of it doing what it evolved to do. Yes, crows
> can be bullies, and they are nest predators, but there are bigger bird
> bullies, and crows have to worry about other nest predators themselves
> (ravens...).
> ?
> Anyway, on to the question: it has always been my understanding that
> it was illegal to kill gulls and crows because they are scavengers.
> That is what I was told as a kid, and it made sense: without gulls and
> crows, there would be dead animals, trash and offal everywhere! We
> need those scavengers! Matter of fact, one of my friends feeds all of
> the crows in his neighborhood, for one reason: they help him maintain
> one of the cleanest neighborhoods in the city! He feeds them enough to
> keep them around, and the rest they do on their own.
> ?
> I hope that you and your family can rewad books like "Mind of the
> Raven" by Bernd Heinrich, or perhaps one of the books by John
> Marzluff, who is a Professor at the University of Washington. Both
> books will educate you and hopefully, change your mind about these
> incredible, intelligent creatures.
> ?
> Cheers, and thanks for feeding the other birds, but please don't be
> too harsh on the crows - be harsh on the humans who have made things
> very easy for crows. And realize also that crows are one of the few
> native species that has actually been 'helped' by man (others include
> Purple Martins and Wood Ducks).
> ?
> Brett A. Wolfe
> Seattle, WA
> m_lincolnii at yahoo.com
>
> willie peters <willielad at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Around the xmas dinner table, the topic of crows came up. At least
>> half of the group puts out bird feeders, but there was no love
>> expressed for possibly the most intelligent bird of all! In fact, it
>> was announced that it was now legal to kill crows again and most?
>> seemed more than happy about that!!
>> Is this correct, are there no protections for crows? I always have
>> mixed emotions about this increasingly common bird. A great respect
>> for it's intelligence, but a fear over it's impact on the rest of the
>> birding populations!
>> Any info or thoughts appreciated.
>> Williebbb
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