The ruffians of the avian world

An impressive pattern of decoys is just the ticket to lure in those wily crows feasting on maize seeds

- Mark Ripley

Through the early-morning mist came the unmistakable “caw, caw, caw” of a crow coming in from behind me. The sun was yet to rise and this bird was one of the first to lazily spread its wings and make the flight from the distant treetops bordering the farm to head out to the fields to feed.

It drifted in low to observe its feeding friends and called again, but it received no response from the ‘breakfast club’ already out in mass among the young maize shoots. Clearly my hide, built hastily in the predawn darkness, was doing a good job of obscuring me from view as the young crow set its wings and dropped its landing gear in preparation for touchdown among its motionless brethren.

Unfortunately for this individual, landing wasn’t as smooth as expected as 32g of No 6 shot collided with him in mid-air, sending him tumbling to the ground in a crumpled heap of feathers. This was the first time the barrel of the old Beretta semi-auto had been dirtied in several months, and despite this being a very straightforward shot, I was pleased that I wasn’t too rusty given my lack of shotgunning since the end of the season.

At this time of year, crows and especially rooks can become quite the nuisance to the farmer planting maize. The birds will walk down the rows, plucking out the new shoots in order to get to the sown seed below. During the spring there is also an abundance of young birds around with limited flying hours to their name, which are more easily fooled having yet to learn the dangers presented by the cunning ‘chameleon’ humans with their leafy skins and boom sticks.