Page 1 of 1
-
- 747_JK
- Member Since: 26 Jun 2018
- Location: England
- Posts: 495
Land Rover vs Crow: Currently 0–1
I've lived in the same house for 21 years and there's been a Discovery sat on the drive for the last 16 of them. During that entire time, not a single bird has shown the slightest interest in it.🐦⬛🐦⬛🐦⬛
Then, about 10 days ago, a local crow appears to have become absolutely obsessed with the car.
It started innocently enough. He'd sit on the wing mirrors and peck at his reflection in the glass, and then poo all down the side of the car. Fair enough, I thought. Existential crisis, territorial dispute, midlife crisis... whatever crows have. Annoying, but not damaging.
Unfortunately, he's now escalated.
Having apparently defeated the mirror-based enemy, he's moved on to attacking the rubber window seals along the top of the doors, the bit which the glass retracts down into. On the passenger side he's already pecked a hole right through it, and he's making encouraging progress on the driver's side too.
Things I've tried so far:
🟣Photos of eagles & owls birds taped inside the windows.
🟣Bird spikes.
🟣Better-secured bird spikes.
🟣Wrapping the windscreen and side windows in netting.
🟣Throwing buckets of water at him.
🟣Firing at him with a strong water pistol from my kitchen window like an overgrown six-year-old.
None of this has had the slightest effect.
The crow simply waits for me to leave, returns to the vehicle and resumes what I can only assume is a personal vendetta. His favoured hours are 4am - 7am.
I've considered buying one of those fake dead crows to hang nearby, but given the intelligence he's already demonstrated, I suspect he'd either laugh at it or recruit it as an accomplice.
The ultrasonic bird scarers on Amazon seem to have reviews ranging from "did nothing" to "birds moved in and started charging rent", so I'm sceptical.
So, two questions:
📍Does anyone have any genuinely effective ideas before this turns into an all-out corvid war?
📍Assuming I can stop him extending his renovation project, is the damage to the door seal something I can live with, or am I now inviting water into places Land Rover rover never intended and does this need a dealer visit for a fix (once I've fixed the crow)?
Tonight I've wrapped a couple of old double sheets around the car to cover the windows and wing mirrors. We'll see what that does.
Many thanks.
(P.S. Before anyone suggests shooting him, I live in Surrey, not the Wild West... or a countryside farm. Nor do I own a firearm - or want to go to prison when I miss and take out a neighbour)
MY23.5 D5 3.0 MHEV Metropolitan Edition – Santorini Black – Ebony Windsor Leather – 21” Style 5025 gloss black wheels – 21” full size spare tyre – Black roof rails – Black side mouldings - Williams Ceramic Coat. [Gone: D5 HSE @ 50,795miles: (now LH68 BYW)] -
- Whippetman
- Member Since: 16 Feb 2019
- Location: North Somerset
- Posts: 399
D5 HSE LUX, , 2 x RRS, Disco Sport,Freelander, Series 1 and Series 2 All Gone! -
- Chillyphil
- Member Since: 07 Jul 2025
- Location: Paignton
- Posts: 110
-
-
- 747_JK
- Member Since: 26 Jun 2018
- Location: England
- Posts: 495
-
-
- Chillyphil
- Member Since: 07 Jul 2025
- Location: Paignton
- Posts: 110
-
-
- Mole HD
- Member Since: 19 Nov 2024
- Location: Orkney Islands
- Posts: 867
It's a bit outside of nesting season so it's unlikely it's material gathering or a mating ritual. Mating is winter or early springtime, nesting is April or early May.
An old farmers trick to stop crows pecking at black silage bales...anything bright yellow. We paint yellow crosses on our silage bales, crows and seagulls tend to steer clear (no idea why, but it seems to work). A yellow kids pennant on a springy mount or yellow paper/plastic streamers attached to the roof bars should do it.
No guarantees of course...crows are devilishly intelligent...we tend to alternate the yellow shapes painted on the silage bags, circles, crosses, triangles etc to keep them guessing. They're also suspicious of man made objects that move or flap about.
Crows are a bane for farmers during calving or lambing time, they'll kill calves and lambs before they're even completely born by pecking their eyes out, bar moving the cows into calving sheds en masse which creates it's own set of issues, there's no humane solution to that one unfortunately...
Like urban foxes, crows deliberately target black refuse bags since they're guaranteed a feed...in your crow nemesis brain, he may be equating your lovely D5 to a hard shelled black bin liner...or he may be trying to set the crow he sees in the reflection free. Avian behaviour, especially crows, ravens or seagulls...who knows?
.
Last edited by Mole HD on 22nd Jun 2026 5:02 pm. Edited 26 times in total -
- 747_JK
- Member Since: 26 Jun 2018
- Location: England
- Posts: 495
-
-
- TomThumb
- Member Since: 17 Mar 2023
- Location: West Mids
- Posts: 77
-
There is also another option,
Also the additional bonus of being able to spot it more easily in any car park
Tom
MY2019 Hse lux in Indus Silver
Deployable tow bar, cubby fridge, side steps, black pack. -
- Mole HD
- Member Since: 19 Nov 2024
- Location: Orkney Islands
- Posts: 867
-
The phrase 'loud Disco' used to mean Donna Summer being belted out at full volume. -
- Beno2
- Member Since: 30 Aug 2025
- Location: South East (Essex)
- Posts: 88
-
-
- Wolfpack
- Member Since: 25 May 2019
- Location: Norfolk, UK
- Posts: 561
-
I had a Jay wedging peanuts in the recess to get better pecking purchase, a year back….i stopped putting peanuts out. Then the long tailed tits came to admire themselves or perhaps flirt with “themselves”.
A life size realistic stuffed cat model on the roof stopped them.
Whether it would deter a crow I don’t know. Maybe the crow would peck the cat for better nest material.
-
- 747_JK
- Member Since: 26 Jun 2018
- Location: England
- Posts: 495
-
-
- DieselRanger
- Member Since: 12 Oct 2017
- Location: God's Country, Colorado
- Posts: 808
-
- 747_JK
- Member Since: 26 Jun 2018
- Location: England
- Posts: 495
-
This has become the latest tactic. Bought it online, it's tailormade to the D5, fits like a glove, and just about covers all areas the crow has been attacking.
https://www.everycarcovered.com/
£59
MY23.5 D5 3.0 MHEV Metropolitan Edition – Santorini Black – Ebony Windsor Leather – 21” Style 5025 gloss black wheels – 21” full size spare tyre – Black roof rails – Black side mouldings - Williams Ceramic Coat. [Gone: D5 HSE @ 50,795miles: (now LH68 BYW)]
Page 1 of 1
DISCO5.CO.UK is independent and not affiliated to Jaguar Land Rover.