# Are crows protected by a treaty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 24, 2002, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-crows-protected-by-a-treaty/138547 "2002-11-24T23:42:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2002, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-crows-protected-by-a-treaty/138547/1 "2002-11-24T23:42:40Z")
The crows are passing through; the ones that fly south for the winter, that is. Anyway, when I left my car at Ralph’s overnight for service the next morning, I noticed thousands of crows roosting in the trees next door. When I picked up the car the next day, the car and Ralph’s entire lot were polka-dotted with crow poop. I mentioned to Ralph that the crows had not been kind to him, he scrunched up his brow and told me of his conversation with city officials. (Anderson, Indiana, USA) They told him he was not allowed to kill any of the crows. They were protected by a treaty with Canada, they said. They said Ralph could use noisemakers unless the neighbors objected. If they complained, he’d have to stop that, too. What’s the deal? Crows have never been endangered, at least until West Nile virus began to decimate them. They’re not songbirds. Nobody eats them, except as a figure of speech. They’re a pest to grain farmers. They hang out in crowbars, then they go out and gangpoop somebody like Ralph. Why on earth would we protect them? –Nott, who shops at Krogrrrr ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-crows-protected-by-a-treaty/138547/2 "2002-11-25T00:12:30Z")
[“Regulations for Crows”](http://www.crowbusters.com/begart5.htm) from [Crow Busters - The Complete Resource For Crow Hunting and the Crow Hunter](http://www.crowbusters.com/) discusses the applicability of assorted international treaties and Federal laws to crows. More generally see also [Birders and U.S. Federal Laws](http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tools/birdlaws/birdlaws.htm) from a U.S. Geological Survey website, or search on the “Migratory Bird Treaty Act”. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-crows-protected-by-a-treaty/138547/3 "2002-11-25T00:17:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AskNott \* > \*\*Why on earth would we protect them? > > \*\* Because they’re sociable, intelligent, fierce and cute birds. I’ve a soft spot for crows. My preferred birds actually. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-crows-protected-by-a-treaty/138547/4 "2002-11-25T00:23:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clairobscur \* > \*\*My preferred birds actually. \*\* You’d love Tokyo, then. Almost every building is home to dozens of crows; they’re as prevalent there as pigeons are in North America. Once, sitting on a deck at a Starbucks (in Azubu-Juban), I fought a crow for my muffin. It was not at all intimidated by human presence, and was almost as anxious to eat the muffin as I was (waving my tray within a half an inch of its beak finally convinced it to hop to the next table). ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-crows-protected-by-a-treaty/138547/5 "2002-11-25T05:50:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clairobscur \* > \*\*Because they’re sociable, intelligent, fierce and cute birds. I’ve a soft spot for crows. My preferred birds actually. \*\* Hear, hear, I thought I was the only one! Fighting a pigeon for a muffin would be unpleasant. Fighting a crow is an anecdote, and there’s the difference. In my opinion it would improve (London’s) Trafalgar Square no end if they replaced all the pigeons with rooks. ---
**Author:** ![SavageNarce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@SavageNarce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SavageNarce)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-crows-protected-by-a-treaty/138547/6 "2002-11-25T14:20:03Z")
Crows are protected in many areas because they are carrion-eaters. Whether or not carrion is preferable to crow crap is probably a subject better covered in Great Debates. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-crows-protected-by-a-treaty/138547/7 "2002-11-25T14:40:19Z")
Every kind of bird with the exception of sparrows and grackles (I think—or is it pigeons?) are protected. There used to be a bounty offered for crows. You could shoot 'em, then take 'em to your sheriff and get some money for each body you presented. No more. ---
**Author:** ![Doctordec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Doctordec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctordec)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-crows-protected-by-a-treaty/138547/8 "2002-11-25T15:00:10Z")
It’s legal to hunt them in Ohio. From the Ohio Department of Natural Resources… “Crow hunting is open only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through March 25. There is no daily bag limit for crows and shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.” We used to have quite a few around but I think the West Nile virus got most of them. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-crows-protected-by-a-treaty/138547/9 "2002-11-25T15:50:35Z")
Please clarify- is it crows per se that are protected in your area, or ALL birds? It makes a bit of a difference, you see. Crows are not endangered, so I’d be a BIT surprised (not astonished) fhere were laws designed specifically to protect crows. It’s more likely that your entire region is recognized as an area that MANY species of birds (including endangered species) migrate through in the winter. If that’s the case, ALL birds in the region are protected, and the crows just happen to benefit from laws designed to protect other species. We have a similar situation here in Austin- the grackle population is huge, and NOBODY likes the dang things. But since many different species of birds pass through Central Texas on their way South, many parts of Austin are deemed wildlife habitat, and it’s illegal to use standard methods of killing birds there. The idea was probably to protect the cuter, more-endangered birds, but the grackles have been the primary beneficiaries of the policy. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-crows-protected-by-a-treaty/138547/10 "2002-11-25T16:09:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > **Every kind of bird with the exception of sparrows and grackles (I think—or is it pigeons?) are protected.** I think you mean starlings. They are a non-native species.