Last Updated on April 11, 2024 by Real Men Sow
It’s always a joy to see birds flying into gardens to capture caterpillars or other insects. Our wild bird friends can become foes if they begin to eat berries or pick up seedlings. Sometimes you have to step in when it comes to birds living in summer gardens.
Methods That Do NOT Keep Birds Out Of Gardens
There are a few bird control methods that don’t work. Although hot pepper sprays are popularly recommended as a bird repellent due to the fact that 30 years worth of research has proven that birds lack sensory receptors that can detect capsaicin, which is the active principle in hot peppers. Hot pepper brews can deter birds, but not mammals like squirrels, dogs, or rabbits.
What Device Works To Keep Birds Out Of Your Garden?
Ultrasonic devices are useless for bird control because birds can’t perceive ultrasonic sounds as well as we can. Garlic oil is in a marginal category. New York University researchers found that European starlings who were fed garlic oil-scented bird seed reduced their food intake. They also started to look for other food options. But, who wants strawberries that smell like garlic!
Keep Birds Out Of The Garden With Bird Nets and Other Barriers
The best way to keep birds away from blueberries and raspberries is to put them under a net barrier. Bird netting is effective in keeping birds away, but it has two issues. The netting can catch on brambles and other thorny fruits easily, and sometimes hummingbirds get caught up in it.
These issues will not be relevant if the netting is attached to a rigid frame so that it forms a tight enclosure around plants. However, building a walk-in berry cage that can withstand wind and weather is difficult. You can also try using lengths of tulle (or voile) fabric to drape over the plants. Then, fasten them with clothespins. These featherweight fabrics can be used to temporarily protect ripening strawberries.
Do Birds Eat Fruits
However, not all fruits can be considered at risk. All continents recognize cherries and strawberries. However, non-native red raspberries in the US are not as popular as native black raspberries or blueberries. Wild birds have eaten these fruits for thousands of years. The birds of the UK can’t get enough redcurrants and blueberries, but they rarely touch golden raspberries or gooseberries.
Scaring Away Hungry Birds
You can use inexpensive and simple bird control methods in a small yard, such as trimming fruit trees and berry bushes with reflective tape, small windchimes with metallic surfaces that reflect light and making noises, old CDs, and mirrors. Bright yellow items, such as plastic streamers, are a concern to blackbirds. To deter pests and birds, some people use plastic grocery bags to cover their gardens’ edges. Flash tape or mirrors are more attractive.
How To Keep Birds Out Of The Garden
These low-grade repellents are good for one week. After that, you will need to switch to another product. You can use small stuffed animals to deter birds. Scarecrows are a great way to keep them away.
Also, you can make scare-eye balloons with a beach ball or other similar objects that look like scare-eyes. It will deter birds as long as it is unusual, quivers, or moves, and has circle-in-a-circle markings that look similar to a hawk’s mouth, and bright yellow.
However, if you don’t want hostile-looking objects in your yard, you can just stick to netting, shiny items, and the occasional scarecrow to ensure peaceful coexistence with wild birds.
