While they may not be as vicious as the ones featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 classic movie “The Birds,” crows have taken the Iowa State campus by storm.

After many complaints from students, faculty and Ames residents, efforts have been made by ISU’s campus services to limit the number of these feathered friends — or enemies.

Some students have faced the inconvenience of cleaning up the sticky residue frequently left on car windows, hoping that windshield wiper fluid will do the job.

Others fearfully walk through central campus under trees, praying that they won’t be bombarded by the bird droppings.

“I’ve seen swarms of them where they blacken the sky,” said Adam Clarke, sophomore in graphic design.

“One day I was walking from the [Memorial] Union to [Richardson Court Association], and all of a sudden I heard droplets hitting the ground, which I thought were rain at first. I had to run to stop from being rained on by crow poop,” Clarke said.

Despite horrible experiences that some students may have had, Campus Services has implemented several plans to control the crow population.

Dennis Erickson, manager of Campus Services, said population control has been going on for several years.

“[Crows are] very difficult to remove from campus. Campus is a safe haven with a lot of trees, so it is easy to see why they are attracted to it,” Erickson said.

Estimates of the number of crows inhabiting the Ames community range from 8,000 to 10,000.

Erickson said since crows are smart and adaptable animals, Campus Services has been challenged to come up with a large variety of techniques to scare them away.

Balloons shaped like intimidating eyes hang in trees, waving in the wind to ward off crows. Other scare strategies have included placing artificial owls on rooftops and planting tape players.

Erickson said the solar-powered tape players send out a noisy distress call, which have been effective in frightening the birds.

He also stressed that Campus Services has not resorted to harming the animals in order to reduce their numbers.

James Dinsmore, professor of animal ecology, said he sees the crows in a different way.

“Crows are very intelligent birds. When birds get very abundant in a small area, to me it is fun,” Dinsmore said. “Up to a point, they are not a problem. They’ve been here for a long time, and someone’s got to provide a space for them.”

Some people have expressed concern about crows becoming a health hazard. But Dinsmore said the crows do not carry disease and cause no health threat.

He said the majority of crows present in Ames have migrated here from northern Iowa, Minnesota and Canada to spend the winter.

According to Dinsmore, the population of crows fluctuates throughout the year. The numbers of birds increase during the months of August and September and stop increasing in October. Numbers then pick up again in November.

Students who wish the myriad of crows would disappear may not have to wait much longer. Crow population will begin to decrease in about two weeks, Dinsmore said.

Until then, he said, students can have fun washing off sticky windshields and dodging bombardments of bird droppings.