FILE: A murder of crows flies around an apartment building in downtown Sunnyvale on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022.
MediaNews Group/The Mercury News/MediaNews Group via Getty ImagesA laser pilot program implemented by the city of Sunnyvale to deter its growing crow population has been eliminated after the birds apparently outsmarted the system.
“The crows are considered to be a nuisance because of their noise and droppings,” Jennifer Garnett, a communications officer for the city, told SFGATE in an email. They’re ranked as the second-largest problem among constituents just behind speeding drivers, and last month, the Sunnyvale City Council also listed the birds as the study issue of second-highest priority for potential funding as it continues to seek out a nonlethal solution to their boisterous presence.
But for now, these crows won’t be gulled.
The saga began in January 2022, when officials in the South Bay city equipped a public works employee with a handheld $20 green laser to flash at the birds that had been swarming the downtown areas of Plaza del Sol and historic Murphy Avenue, as the Mercury News first reported. Initially, the crows scattered. A little over a month went by, and the program was deemed a success, especially after previous efforts to use reflectors and introduce falcons to the area yielded little to no results.
Then October arrived. So did the crows. City officials brought the lasers back, but they were no use.
“The lasers seem to be less effective than they were last year,” Garnett said. “Crows are very intelligent, so they get used to deterrents or change locations to avoid them.”
FILE: A crow vocalizes while standing on a fence.
Sundry Photography/Getty Images/iStockphotoThe problem is that crows are creatures of habit, and once they’ve established themselves in a favorable roosting area, they’re not going to be inclined to leave, as Glenn Phillips, the executive director of the Golden Gate Audubon Society, previously pointed out.
“The issue is that they’re really smart birds,” he told SFGATE by phone on Thursday. “It’s hard to fool a crow, and they pretty quickly learn what a real threat is and what might be something perceived as a threat. The fact that the lasers didn’t work doesn’t surprise me in the least.”
Their numbers are also rapidly increasing. While the Golden Gate Audubon Society won’t release the compiled data from its most recent Christmas Bird Count until June or July, observations tallied at the end of 2021 revealed an all-time record of 1,710 crows in San Francisco.
“The population throughout the Bay Area has certainly been trending upward for the past five years, and I would expect that trend will continue,” Phillips said.
FILE: An American crow lands on a tree near the San Gabriel River on July 10, 2004, near Pico Rivera in Los Angeles County.
David McNew/Getty ImagesIt’s easier to ward off the crows when they first start to form their communal night roosts, which can happen as soon as late summertime.
The Humane Society recommends methods such as playing recorded crow distress calls, using pyrotechnics or making other loud noises that sound like fireworks, or hanging effigies of crows to keep the birds at bay.
It remains to be seen what the city of Sunnyvale will try next. If the study issue is approved in this year's budget, staff will begin working on it later this year, Garnett said.
SFGATE tech editor Joshua Bote contributed to this report.
