Corvid is a scientific group name for the crow family. It is not in this case a typo of Covid 19!

It includes; Carrion crows, rooks, magpies, jays, hooded crows, ravens and jackdaws but why do we want to control their numbers? Some we do not. Ravens for example are granted full protection in th UK and are not very common in most areas, and in places without nearby woodlands, jays are usually not present and thus not an issue.

But you should only kill something if you intend to eat it!

Not true, sometimes conservation work is greater that our own needs, even if we aim to eat as much of nature's harvest as we can. But we'll get to the eating corvid part later...

The UK has no truly untouched wild ecosystems in tact, we have deforested (much like the situation currently unfolding in the Amazon) our countryside over the last few centuries. We have made way for towns, small holdings and trails which have turned into roads and farms and cities etc. With a booming population, we need bigger towns, more fields and more roads. We make the biggest impact on our surroundings than any other species. 

With all of this going on we have sculpted a more fragile countryside, albeit very productive. We have removed most of our varied ancient woodland habitats, we have worked arable and urban land into wildflower surrender for the most part. We have have made linear hunting paths for our natural (or wrongly released alien) predators, which puts our ground nesting birds many of which are now red-listed or absent such as curlews, bustards, and corn rakes. We have created a system where prey are more exposed and can struggle to stay afloat without our continued support. We have even drained most of our insect rich marshlands and wetlands and redirected natural water courses into ditches and underground pipes.

This article isn’t about our impact, its about managing what we have today. Grouse moors and a lot of lowland shooting estates do a fantastic job of habitat preservation through the financing of sporting interests.

When you think about that and the presence of robust and extremely adaptable predator species’ we have in the British isles such as foxes, mustelids (including badgers), feral cats and corvids who find food and breed here easily, we need to step in, monitor and manage. The balance of prey, predators and land uses is in our hands (although some of these species are protected by law and we cannot currently prevent any damages that they cause).

Corvids eat agricultural drillings, they are extremely smart and work systematically down the rows of seeds, they present a real problem some would argue on par with that of pigeons for crops. Much to the despair of the farmer they also rapidly clock any fallen crops from strong rain or winds and will eat the grains. Still not limited to that, they also hang onto strong stemmed crops like maize and strip all the sweetcorn/grains off of the pods of healthy standing crops. They have incredible eyesight which enables them to spot hidden nests of other small birds to eat. They will attack aggressively sometimes killing, a broody hen on her nest, to access her eggs and chicks to eat. You may have seen this before in your own garden (magpies being the boldest in proximity to our gardens). 

Unnatural numbers of thriving corvids who cannot self regulate and who have no natural predators, (in fact crows even regularly attack birds of prey who are much bigger than them! If you live near the Chilterns like us where raptor numbers are very high you might have seen this before too) cause untold damage to vulnerable wildlife and crops. 

But it doesn't stop there!

Corvids will also attack and mob young livestock! There a uncountable cries of farmers who are distraught to see lambs and piglets having their eye balls torn from their heads while they are fully conscious and left bleeding and blind in a great deal of pain... Corvids also often attack the mother in a similar way to prevent her from aiding her young. Corvids will also mob small wild mammals like deer fawns and kids as well as leverets (baby hares) for example. They present a real problem and benefit greatly in our man made landscape. Only we humans can inter-vein to keep a fair balance between the vulnerable and the thriving. 

This is where your rough/pigeon shooter can offer help. 

Corvids can be managed with some traps (following all relevant laws and best welfare practices) and in much the same way as pigeons with the use of decoys on tender crops or near livestock. However corvids are extremely intelligent and deserve our respect, but that’s also the reason why they can adapt so readily to our ever changing landscape. They can quickly figure out whether a place is dangerous to stay around if they can see other corvids dead position. More regular collection of dropped corvids is necessary when decoying, compared to shooting pigeons, and decoys need to look as much like the real McCoy as possible (a quick wipe with some WD40 on the smooth decoys when setting up, helps give them that pristine sheen real corvids have on their well preened backs). We also strongly recommend against using a dog to pick up the shot corvids, if any of them are injured, whether you know it or not, can attack dogs’ eyes and latch onto their muzzles. This either results in a dog forever afraid to pick up corvids and possibly worse, birds in general, or a hard mouthed dog that will squeeze any future retrieved birds in an attempt to kill any injured ones to protect itself. Neither are desirable outcomes an best avoided. Gloves should be worn to dispatch any wounded, or a humain dispatch shot before picking them up. Trust me when they bite, it does hurt!

Although the general public and many shooters are not willing to eat corvids anymore, knowing full well that their diets consists of smelly carrion, roadkill, treated seeds, pig eyes, day old chicks and mother hen’s tears. They are ways to dispose of a successful days vermin control without waste. Any one who keeps and raw feeds ferrets, birds of prey (like falcons or owls) and even reptile collectors are happy to take any shot birds as free food. Some dead corvids may be put out as a visible warning to live corvids to avoid the area. The latter is a short-term solution to a long-term problem but can help to buy estates and farms valuable time to get wild chicks, livestock and crops up and away in a safer time window.

As gamekeepers, land managers and recreation shooters try to maintain a natural balance or ratio of species that struggle and others who thrive, they are wrongly and frequently demonized by our often biased media reporters and editors. This not only falsifies our reasoning but harms the ongoing conservation work that must continue for the sake of the vulnerable habitats and species.

We must try to maintain a balance in a world that we are all responsible for, whether it's because you live in a new build plot of houses over a green belt site or when buying groceries, think of the pest control required to bring that product to the shelves, using public highways or rail systems to go to work, or playing football on a Saturday on you local playing field! Not everyone want’s to shoot and thankfully there are good Samaritans who carry out this necessity on non shooters’ behalves.

All we ask is that the public understand and respect this vital work.