Crow cawing at dusk (photo by Jennifer Aitkins via Flickr Creative Commons license)

15 December 2025

Now that it’s really cold — 10°F this morning — Pittsburgh’s winter crow flock roosts in the warmest areas of city street trees and building roofs. The “poot” they leave behind is so unpleasant that people brainstorm about ways to scare crows.

Evidence that crows roosted in the trees above this sidewalk, 7 Nov 2020 (photo by Kate St. John)

In the city it’s not as simple as putting up a scarecrow. This one is scary to humans!

Scare crow in Mozambique (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

These “clappers” used to be effective at moving the crows away from Univ of Pittsburgh campus, but the crows are bored by them now.

Clappers used to disperse crows in 2020 (photo courtesy Alex Toner, Univ of Pittsburgh)

In 2023 Pitt played a scarecrow recording in the trees near the Cathedral of Learning. Alas it doesn’t work as well now. See a video of the recording here at Trying to Move the Crows.

In 2015 in Japan people put up signs on a building saying “Crows Do Not Enter.” It worked because people read the signs and stared into the building looking for crows. Crows hate to be watched that intently. See Crows Do Not Enter! for more details.

Here’s what crows are perpetually afraid of: Great horned owls come silently in the night and they will eat crows.

Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) at Frick Park, 20 April 2019 (photo by Steve Gosser)

Good news! The great horned owl pair that nested under the Panther Hollow Bridge last winter is hooting nearby now. My friend Andrea B heard one making low pitched hoots from a roof on Parkview Avenue and higher pitched responses coming from Schenley Park Junction Hollow. (The low pitch is the female because she’s larger. The higher pitch is the male.)

Crows in the know don’t sleep in Schenley Park and they avoid flying over Parkview.

The crows don’t want to encounter this mother owl whose nest was a success last year.

Great horned owl on nest with chicks in Schenley Park, 11 Feb 2025 (photo by Kate St. John)