Magpies, Crows and Ravens Around Montana Homes and Ranches

Which is which?

The black-billed magpie is the easy one. The Montana Field Guide describes a medium-sized, boldly patterned bird, largely black with white shoulders and belly, iridescent blue-green wings and a long graduated tail.

Crows and ravens are both all black. USDA APHIS Wildlife Services says ravens are about one and a half times larger than crows, with a thicker, longer, more curved bill. In flight a raven shows a wedge-shaped tail and a crow a more rounded one, and ravens soar more and flap less. The raven's typical call is a throaty croak, against the familiar caw of the crow.

The three use the valley differently. The Field Guide says the American crow favors open landscapes with scattered trees, uses cities and farm fields, and generally avoids large areas of forest. The common raven lives in a broad range of habitats including towns and the highest mountains, and descends into valleys in winter. Magpies nest in riparian thickets and are frequently numerous near livestock feedlots, barnyards, landfills and grain elevators. The Field Guide even cites a nesting study south of Missoula, which found about 55 pairs per square mile.

What attracts them to a property?

Food that is easy and repeatable. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) calls magpies omnivorous and very opportunistic, feeding most commonly on insects, fruit, baby birds and roadkill. It notes that as numbers rise there is more foraging in gardens, fruit trees and garbage, and that magpies will easily tear open plastic trash bags and spread the contents, which in turn attracts dogs, raccoons and skunks.

The Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management (ICWDM) says crows eat more than 600 different food items and that garbage is a primary food source, particularly in urban areas. APHIS lists the raven's diet as small mammals, eggs, birds, insects, human garbage, plant matter, road-killed animals and livestock carcasses. On a ranch, the Field Guide's list for magpies says it all: carrion, seeds and ground insects, around feedlots and barnyards.

What problems do they actually cause?

FWP is fair to magpies. It says insects and small rodents are the most important items in their diet, which makes them more beneficial than destructive to agriculture. The complaints it lists are scattered garbage, raids on gardens and fruit trees, bullying at feeders, noise and droppings at winter roosts, and nests that can reach four feet high. During nesting, FWP says magpies become aggressive and mob pets and people, which is common but usually harmless for people.

For crows, ICWDM says large roosts are the main urban issue, objectionable for the odor of droppings, noise and damage to trees. For ranchers, APHIS reports that ravens prey on newborn lambs, calves and goats and take poultry and eggs, and ICWDM notes that attacks on newborn livestock are more often associated with magpies or ravens than with crows. FWP also notes that poultry losses to magpies often rise in the breeding season.

Are magpies and crows protected in Montana?

Federally, yes. FWP states that magpies are protected as migratory nongame birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, including their eggs, nests and feathers. ICWDM says the same of crows, and the Montana Field Guide flags the magpie, the crow and the raven as Migratory Bird Treaty Act species.

Both sources then describe an exception. A federal depredation order covers blackbirds, cowbirds, crows, grackles and magpies, and FWP quotes its older wording about birds committing or about to commit depredations on trees, crops, livestock or wildlife, or concentrated so as to be a health hazard or nuisance. We read the current regulation text. It allows control without a federal permit only in listed circumstances, such as serious injury to crops or livestock feed, a health hazard or structural property damage. It requires that nonlethal methods be attempted first each calendar year, sets conditions on ammunition and trapping, and calls for an annual report.

State law is a separate layer. Montana's wild bird protection statute does not apply to crows or magpies, or to their nests and eggs. That removes the state prohibition only. The federal rules above still apply, and ICWDM adds that state or local laws may restrict methods. The practical reading: lethal control of magpies or crows is a narrow, conditional federal allowance with reporting duties. It is not something HJ does. The people to ask are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and USDA Wildlife Services, whose Montana office FWP lists as a contact.

Are ravens treated differently?

Yes, and this is the mistake to avoid. The common raven is not among the species named in the federal depredation order, which lists American, fish and northwestern crows. It is not named in the Montana statute's exemption either. APHIS states that ravens may only be lethally removed or live trapped with a permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, that a state permit is occasionally also required, and that permits are issued only after dispersal and other nonlethal methods have been used and proven ineffective.

APHIS also says what needs no federal permit: frightening ravens or mechanically excluding them. So before anyone acts on a large black bird, be sure whether it is a crow or a raven. Our guide to migratory bird depredation permits in Montana explains how the permit route works.

What can you do about nests?

FWP gives magpie-specific guidance. It advises removing old nests to prevent re-nesting, and says nests may be removed during construction or as nesting begins to encourage the birds to build elsewhere. Then it draws the line: these are protected birds, and you cannot destroy their eggs or young. The Montana Field Guide gives statewide magpie egg dates from March 28 to May 26, so the window for an empty nest closes early in spring.

For crows, the Field Guide's earliest egg record near Fortine is May 5. For ravens it suggests early April to mid-June. For all three, our rule matches the general one in Montana bird nest removal law: do not disturb a nest with eggs or young, and deal with the site before nesting or after it ends. Dates by species are in the Montana bird nesting season calendar.

How do you make a property less attractive?

Remove the food. FWP's first control measure for magpies is keeping property free of waste, food materials, carrion, pet food and open garbage. ICWDM says to secure trash cans, dumpsters and transfer stations and to remove carrion quickly. APHIS recommends dumpsters with secure lids and removing or burying dead livestock. For a restaurant or an apartment complex, a dumpster lid that actually closes is the single most useful change.

Protect what cannot be removed. FWP recommends nylon or plastic netting over fruit trees and vegetables, and fenced coops for poultry with mesh no larger than an inch and a half. Our guide to protecting fruit and berries from birds covers netting in detail.

Roost trees are the third lever. FWP says removing or thinning roost trees will force magpies to new roosts and that taking out only a few trees usually works. ICWDM suggests thinning up to a third of the branches of crow roost trees. That is arborist work, and our tree services crew checks for active nests first.

Does hazing work on birds this smart?

Early, and for a while. FWP says nonlethal harassment and scare devices can be effective before magpie numbers build, and lists water spray, chasing, loud noises, scarecrows, hawk kites and reflective tape. It adds that there are no effective chemical repellents for magpies. ICWDM says combining several frightening techniques and varying their location works better than one, that ultrasonic sound is not effective, and that crows used to people may not respond at all. Lasers move crows off a roost, but they return quickly.

In short, scare devices buy time while the food and roost changes take effect. They do not replace them. See do bird scare devices work for the evidence by device.

Where does HJ fit in?

We handle the nonlethal side: finding what is feeding the birds, netting fruit and garden areas, excluding them from structures, lawful removal of old nests, thinning roost trees and cleaning up afterward. That starts with a bird mitigation assessment. Livestock predation and anything involving a permit belongs with USDA Wildlife Services and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. More species guides are in the Montana Bird Control Guide.

Call HJ Property Care & Tree Service at (406) 215-7319 or request a bird assessment and we will identify the species, the access points, and what will actually stop them.

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