How to protect cherries from birds: which birds are pecking, how to save the harvest of berries with your own hands at their summer cottage

Content

1 Do birds peck at cherries
2 What birds peck cherries
3 What to do if birds peck at cherries
4 Original ways to scare away birds eating cherries
5 A few words in defense of the feathered gardener's assistants
6 Conclusion

After a successful struggle for a crop with all sorts of pests, the gardener faces another task: saving ripe fruits from flying gangs. Protecting cherries from birds is both easier and more difficult than protecting them from pests. Chemicals are not needed here, but some species of birds are difficult to scare away from fruit trees.

Do birds peck at cherries

Feathered ones are a real disaster for ripe cherries. They can "harvest" the crop instead of the owners. But birds also eagerly eat cherries. In addition, birds often "drink" cherries in hot weather. That is, they peck at it, not for food, but trying to quench their thirst. In this case, even those birds that are usually not fond of fruits will peck the cherries.

What birds peck cherries

Berries in their diet consistently include sparrows, starlings, blackbirds, magpies.

These species of birds eat the flesh of the cherry. But in some regions, grosbeaks cause significant harm to berries. Cherries and bird cherry are the main components of their food supply. The grubs do not eat the pulp, they are interested in the seeds of berries. But for the gardener it makes no difference what part of the berries the birds eat. The harvest will be destroyed.

Mostly cherries and cherries are pecked by starlings and blackbirds

Comment! Sometimes the titmits also bite the cherry.

What to do if birds peck at cherries

To prevent birds from pecking cherries, gardeners have come up with many ways, but they all have their pros and cons. They try to protect the crop with the help of:

reflective items;
pulling various types of ribbons or hanging them on branches;
sound devices;
special drugs;
various sharply smelling "folk" means.

There may even be some inventions of their own. But, as always, if there are many ways to cure a disease, then none of them work.

Fighting flocks of birds is further complicated by the fact that animals have the rudiments of intelligence, and they are able to learn from each other.

How to save cherries from birds with shiny objects

With reflective objects, you can protect cherries from sparrows. It is not a fact that starlings with blackbirds will be scared. Magpies, most likely, will first steal the shiny things and only then tackle the cherries.

To scare away, use a special tape with a reflective layer or a garland of discs. Both are hung on the branches of trees. Swaying in the wind, reflectors give off glare that birds are afraid of.

A similar repeller can be made from old laser discs. The surface of these storage media is mirrored and the sunbeams of the disks are also good. Although worse than those specially made for this.

Comment! In cloudy weather, these scarers are useless.

How to keep the cherry crop from birds with fabric strips

To protect the crop with fabric strips, they are tied to branches. Moving from the wind, the ribbons should scare away birds. In fact, the fabric quickly becomes entangled in branches. You can also tie the bands to your bike rim and attach it to a long pole. The structure must be raised above the tree crowns. In this case, the ribbons will more effectively protect the crop. But you will have to attach such a device to each tree.

How to scare birds away from cherries with sound

In fact, constant sound is unreliable. Birds quickly get used to it and stop paying attention to the hindrance. They are much more afraid of movement. Various wind turbines and turntables can be purchased in stores. As they rotate, they make sounds that theoretically should protect the cherry from birds. You can make such a turntable yourself from a plastic bottle.

Birds are afraid of rustling packages. Flying snakes designed to scare away are made of light rustling plastic. This material enhances the fear of the silhouette of a predator. But this is for dull sparrows and blackbirds. After a while, starlings will begin to ignore rustling objects. And magpies will figure it out instantly.

Tubular Chinese bells "windmills" scare away birds with sound and, in part, brilliance. Hollow tubes sway even in a light breeze and emit melodious sounds. But, given their price and the required quantity, this pleasure is expensive.

In order not to spend money on "windmills", some summer residents replace them with a pan lid with holes drilled around the perimeter. The latter are needed in order to hang various kitchen utensils on strings: knives, spoons and forks. It turns out a very massive analogue of "windmills", which will also ring when the wind is strong enough.

How and how you can hide cherries from birds

A fine-meshed net protects well from sparrow plaque. If you put it on top of the trees, the sparrows will not be able to penetrate the cherries. The main problem is that it is very difficult to cover a tall tree with a net. For felt or young cherries, this method is suitable.

Attention! According to the observations of gardeners, it is enough to cover the trees only from above.

Birds do not climb to the cherries from the side and bottom. But the net is not able to protect cherries from long-billed starlings and thrushes. They reach the berries through the cells.

Lightweight non-woven fabric protects berries better. To prevent the wind from blowing away the fabric, it will have to be tied. The main disadvantage of the mesh or non-woven material is that only undersized varieties or young cherries can be covered with them. To protect a large tree, you need to have the skills of laying a parachute and several assistants who will simultaneously “open the parachute” from different sides so that the fabric will cover the tree.

Low-rise cherries can be easily protected from birds by covering them completely

How to protect cherries from birds with a repeller

Strictly speaking, all means of protecting cherries from birds are the very same repellents. The use of firearms outside the hunting season is prohibited, and in settlements it cannot be used all year round. And you won't be able to defend the garden with a gun. Flocks of starlings sometimes number several hundred individuals, and even more sparrows. As a scarer, a kite with a silhouette of a bird of prey is quite effective.

The advantage of such a scarer is that the birds are really afraid of him. They are unable to distinguish a living three-dimensional organism from a two-dimensional thing. And the minus: the kite cannot be launched without the wind. It cannot be left unattended, because if the wind subsides, the kite will fall to the ground and may become entangled in the branches of the tree. In addition, the snake protects the crop well, being high above the ground. Where real predators fly.

How to keep the cherry crop from birds with gas cannons

Quite an exotic and flammable way to protect the cherry crop. Timed gas cannon periodically produces a sound similar to a shot from a gun. It is effective enough to scare away sparrows, starlings and blackbirds.Magpies can figure out that the sound alone is not terrible.

The cannon is powered by a 5-liter propane tank. The advertisement claims that this volume will be enough for 5000 "shots". The frequency of claps is adjustable. One cannon is enough to protect 1-1.5 hectares of the garden. But the price of such a "tool" is from 22 thousand rubles. In addition, the birds get used to the sounds, and to maintain the effect, the cannon will have to be moved around the garden.

Here you will have to calculate whether it is profitable to scare birds away from cherries with a cannon

How to protect cherries from birds using folk remedies

Birds are not insects, but they also try to use repellent plant-based repellents for them. Often, an infusion of pepper, mustard or garlic is used for these purposes. It is believed that these compounds have an unpleasant smell and taste, which makes the birds stop pecking at the cherries.

In fact, these folk remedies have some disadvantages and no advantages:

the smell disappears after 2 hours;
the taste of soaked garlic is not so unpleasant, here the smell would be more active, which is no longer there;
the pepper begins to bake after a while, so a flock of starlings will have time to encircle the cherry;
the same with mustard;
all solutions are easily washed off not only by rain, but also by dew.

In addition, to scare away birds, you will have to use very concentrated preparations:

garlic in a state of gruel;
hot peppers at the level of the Tobasko seasoning;
mustard straight from the can.

And coat almost every cherry with these products. It's easier to remove all the berries at once. Herbal teas will not work at all. The smell is too weak, and the taste buds of animals are different. What people feel bitter is good enough for birds. In particular, the same grosbeaks eat the kernels of cherry pits, which have a bitter taste due to hydrocyanic acid. And they don't even get poisoned.

How to keep cherries from birds with natural gels

Calling any gel made in an industrial way, natural, somehow does not turn my tongue. And there are no other gels. But there are similar products that do not harm birds. One of them is the PSC Bird-Free optical gel.

PSC Bird-Free

In fact, it is a liquid analogue of reflective objects. Its components give birds the impression of a flame raging ahead. Naturally, not a single normal bird will climb into the fire.

The disadvantage of the gel is that it cannot be applied to trees. Its consistency is too thick. This tool is used on architectural rigid structures. It is impossible to apply gel to cherry leaves. But there is another remedy, the action of which is based on scaring away birds with a smell. This is Freitenavis repellent.

Gels are still not very popular in Russia, so it is impossible to say for sure whether a repellent is really capable of protecting the crop.

Freitenavis Repeller

The manufacturer claims that the drug protects trees from birds and rats due to the smell. Freitenavis has a scent of orange blossom, that is, orange flowers. The active ingredient is methyl anthranilate and it can be called natural at a stretch. On an industrial scale, it is synthesized from methanol and anthranilic acid. Methyl anthranilate is naturally found in oranges and grapes. The first are eaten with pleasure by rats, the second by sparrows.

Comment! Rodents also do not refuse grapes, but this is not so noticeable.

In this regard, the action of Freitenavis as a repellent is in question. The advantage of the product is its safety even for pollinating insects.

How to keep birds away from cherries with a scarecrow

This method has probably been used since the beginning of agriculture. In the role of a stuffed animal, not even a stylization under a person can act, but a figurine of a bird of prey. But birds quickly get used to stationary objects, and the scarecrows cease to perform their function.

Another disadvantage is that the scarecrow must be taller than the protected plant. If it is not difficult to install a scarecrow over the beds, then it is very difficult to pile it on a cherry, which often grows up to 6 m.The video shows a rather original version of the scarecrow, which combines sound and reflective scarers. On a stick, such a stuffed animal can be placed over the top of a cherry.

Protection of cherries from birds using modern technologies

Modern technology usually refers to ultrasonic devices that are supposed to scare birds away. For orchards and vegetable gardens, low-power devices are produced that are triggered within a radius of 10-20 m.

In theory, these devices should scare away not only birds, but also moles, cats and dogs. The main disadvantage of these devices: they do not work. At least if you read reviews on sites like Aliexpress, you can find a lot of complaints about the inefficiency of the devices. The fact is that on such sites, only the person who bought the product can leave a review.

However, even powerful scarers are ineffective, as the case of the plane crash in Zhukovsky showed. If there are a lot of birds and they want to eat, they will not pay attention to the sounds.

Original ways to scare away birds eating cherries

Perhaps the most original way to scare away birds from cherries is to have your own tame crow on the site. It is difficult to implement, but people who had a nest of crows near the garden did not know problems with raiders on the crop.

Of course, the ravens would also love to feast on the berries, but they are too heavy to stay on the branch. Unless they pick one or two cherries flying by.

Comment! Some keep tame birds of prey.

But this pleasure is expensive, often judgmental and difficult: captive birds of prey need a special diet. Ravens do not suffer from this drawback, they eat whatever they find.

The second rather original way is a balloon in the form of a SpongeBob. According to the testimony of gardeners who tested this scarecrow repeller, no birds were observed near the garden. Most likely, the case is due to the fact that sponge Bob is very similar to a person. Moreover, it has well-defined eyes.

It is not necessary to look for just such a ball, ordinary ones will do, but with drawn eyes

If old audio and video tapes have survived, their tapes can also be used to scare away birds. The magnetic foil is stretched between the rows as high as possible. If you can stretch the ribbons over the treetops, the effect will be better. The ribbons gleam slightly in the sun and vibrate in the wind, creating frightening sounds. But their advantage is only that it will be possible to get rid of old trash in the house. This is a disposable product. The disadvantages are that such strips tear easily, they are difficult to pull at a height, not all of them have survived.

Another non-trivial way to protect cherries from sparrows is to feed the birds with grain feed. Gardeners say that well-fed sparrows do not peck cherries. The problem is that if there is enough food, a lot of birds will appear on the site. All the same it will not work to feed.

A few words in defense of the feathered gardener's assistants

Cherries are included in the diet of the main gardener's assistants: starlings and sparrows. But don't kill these birds. On the contrary, they must be welded with all their might. You can scare off birds with berries when the time comes. If the starlings are omnivorous, then the sparrows are classified as granivorous birds. But both those and others feed their young growth only with insects. Parents bring 80-100 insects to the chicks per day. If sparrows destroy only small and soft garden pests, then starlings gradually harden their young. Starting with small insects, as the offspring mature, starlings begin to feed them with beetles, locusts and snails.

Cherries ripen just at the time of the emergence of the first generation of chicks. It is better not to destroy the birds, but to prepare in advance for their invasion of the berries. The benefits of birds are much more than harm.

The benefits of birds are much more than harm

Conclusion

It is almost impossible to protect cherries from birds in any one way. The types of repellents need to be changed to prevent birds from becoming accustomed to sounds, shine or movement.You can also apply immediately a set of protective equipment.

How to protect cherries from birds and preserve fruits, effective ways to scare away with a photo