The Indian House Crow is an invasive species in the region.  It is a very clever and aggressive species.  They chase away and eat the nestlings or fledglings of local species creating an imbalance in the environment and endangering the populations. Over the past two years there has been an increase in the number of attacks by House Crows on children and elderly people.  The Israel Nature Reserves and Parks Authority, Municipality of Eilat and the IBRCE reached a solution wherein we (the IBRCE) would remove nests in the areas populated by crows. Two of these areas are close to schools. The idea is to restrain the population by preventing, or minimizing, recruitment of young into the existing population.

The first area to be "cleaned" of nests was in the Yaelim neighborhood. Jill lives in this area and has observed upto a hundred Crows that come to roost each evening in the tall trees lining the road and park.  The children in the school near by were afraid of the Crows. They had heard stories of how Crows attack children and some were scared to walk alone on the road to school.

Noam Weiss is incharge of the project. He scouts the area to find the nests.  The municipality supplies the crane that lifts Noam into the trees to remove the nests and their contents. The project has been very successful but has to be ongoing in order to be successful.  As soon as nests are rebuilt Noam has to remove them again.  The Crows recognize him and it is evident in that when checking the trees around twenty Crows circle overhead squawking constantly in an agitated manner.  He is sure they recognize his car too. And yet he believes that they love him!