ROCHESTER N.Y. — The city of Rochester announced Monday the USDA wildlife management program will disperse a murder of 20,000 to 30,000 crows.

The continuing goal is to minimize damages to the downtown area, which Karen St. Aubin, director of Operations for the city of Rochester, says seems to be effective.

“The efforts are working. We did a little bit of preliminary work a couple of weeks ago where we had a big issue and we’ve been staying with it and the USDA is going to help us through this next couple of days,” says Aubin.

In past years, fall and winter crow roosts have caused serious problems in the area, from the odor of the droppings, health concerns, noise and damages to trees.

Justin Gansowski, a district supervisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says once the methods are in progress, the crows will disperse into smaller groups that will spread out over a broader area, reducing the crows’ damage and mess.

“We will be out firing pyrotechnics, which looks sort of like a bottle rocket, but they are made to harass birds, and we will be using distress calls and lasers to disperse the birds throughout the city. This is a total non-lethal program,” said Gansowski.

The city released a statement on the program, saying:

City and Wildlife Services representatives recognize the management project techniques may be disruptive and respectfully request public cooperation as crews work throughout the city. Residents are asked to assist the effort by calling 311 (428-5990 outside city limits) to report the locations of large groups of crow.

Though techniques used may be loud and disruptive, the city has requested public cooperation as crews work to disperse the crows.