While it's nice to have rows of flowers in the garden, it's not so nice to watch flocks of birds destroy your hard work. Without effective bird control, pest birds such as sparrows, swallows, pigeons and crows can and will invade your yard or garden to feed themselves and their young. Blackbirds, starlings, and robins will waste no time yanking out tasty corn seedlings, or chewing into ripening cherries, peaches and blueberries. They also won't hesitate to crater your lawn while they dig for bugs.

 

Depending on the weather and the surrounding food supply, birds will have a field day in your garden. In dry years, for example, birds will eat many different fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes and melons. In the absence of bird control, some birds can quickly wipe out an entire berry patch or grain field, aggressively attacking a particular crop they happen to fancy.

 

And as much as we love to hear them sing, even songbirds will attack your garden at various times of the year. These birds will go after broccoli, corn, green peas, snap peas, apples, apricots, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, currants, grapes, peaches, pears, plums, raspberries and strawberries. You'll know you have a problem if patches of young seedlings completely disappear, or the tops of your young plants are chewed off, or if you notice bites taken out of the berries as they ripen.

 

Time to Defend your Garden!

 

You don't have to resort to poisons, firearms or deadly traps to keep birds out of your garden. Today, you can avail yourself of many highly effective and humane bird control measures. Some of the more popular approaches are listed below:

 

Bird Sonic Systems

 

These handy devices strike fear in birds' hearts but they won't harm a feather on their little bodies. Unlike "loud bang" noisemakers that only scare birds temporarily and do nothing to prevent them from returning, Sonic Bird Deterrents offer an effective solution. They broadcast predator and distress calls that make pest birds feel threatened. They recreate the sounds of Peregrine falcons defending their territory (very scary if you're a pigeon); or they imitate predator hawks screeching and gulls under attack (equally frightening if you're a starling or seagull). These sounds persuade birds to leave post haste. The best sonic bird deterrents can be programmed to emit distress and predator calls day and night. It is suggested to continually alter the frequency, timing and intensity of their sounds, which prevents birds from becoming too accustomed to the threat.

 

Hawk Decoys

No bird likes to eat while a predator is watching. Fortunately, most birds have a natural fear of hawks, which hunt during the day--the time most birds like to feed. Hawk Decoys work quite well in gardens. They're easy to mount and display, and the better designed ones look very real. Made of heavy duty plastic, quality hawk decoys are weather- and water-resistant. They can be hung from rafters or overhangs, or simply placed anywhere your garden is being threatened by pest birds. Some decoys are hollow, so you can fill them with sand for added stability.

 

Bird Netting

If they can't get at your garden, they can't eat or destroy it. Bird netting uses the exclusion principle of bird control to humanely deter birds from your garden. To stop a full variety of birds, bird netting now comes in many types and mesh sizes.

One type of bird netting that's ideal for protecting gardens is Ultra Net. This low-profile netting is designed to keep pest birds away from fruit trees, bushes and gardens. The lightweight netting is constructed of tough, U.V.-protected polypropylene, yet it blends in aesthetically with its surroundings. Ultra Net comes in 3/4-, 1/2-, and 1/4-inch mesh sizes and is available in bulk rolls or pieces to suit a specific area requirement. The netting has been widely used to stop pigeons, swallows, crows, gulls and sparrows from invading and destroying gardens and trees.

Setting up an Ultra Net barrier is quite simple. If you want to protect your vegetable gardens, wrap individual plants in netting or suspend the netting around the entire garden area to lock out pest birds. For blueberry bushes and grape vines, suspend the netting about six inches over the bush or vine. This will prevent pest birds from perching on the net and eating fruit through the mesh. Another way to suspend Ultra Net is to attach it to a series of poles surrounding the perimeter. To protect fruit trees, cut the netting one-foot wider than the diameter of the tree's crown and secure the netting with twine, zip ties or hog rings.

 

Scarecrows

 

For gardens and yards, there's one high-tech bird control device you simply can't overlook--the Scarecrow. Basically a motion-activated sprinkler, no pest bird alive will ever stand up to its intimidating yet harmless deterrence. Any bird that dares to wander within its radius of protection (approx. 25 fee out and 35 feet wide) will trigger a motion-activated and very sobering blast of water. Perfect for gardens, backyards, pools, spas and other outdoor areas, Scarecrows get the job done. The sudden water spray, realistic moving bird head, and sprinkler sound combine to create one effective bird control deterrent. Best of all, the Scarecrow is both an energy and water miser, protecting your garden day and night for up to 6 months (or 3000+ activations) on one 9-volt battery.