How can I keep birds off my berries for cheap?

Question

What methods have you seen work other than the standard netting over a plant for keeping birds off plants like blueberries?

Answer 1

I diverted the birds from my blueberries by placing them next to my cornus kousa tree which kept them fed. That fruit was much bigger then my berries.

Otherwise there's no realistic option other than building a cage and stringing bird netting over it.

Answer 2

I've never tried it myself, but they say you can paint strawberry sized rocks read and set them near the strawberry plants, the birds come in to try and eat them and find out they're no good. Then they avoid them for the rest of the season.

I would try this with the blueberries. Before they're ripe, hang some blue beads or something they wouldn't like in the bushes. That might help keep them at bay. But like another poster suggest, having an alternative bush nearby that has fruit you don't want seems like a good idea as well.

Here is one of the painted strawberries:

Also, something that may or may not work is called a scarecrow. It's a motion activated sprinkler. It's a better deterant for something like dogs, cats, deer, but it might work. When it senses movement it sets off a sprinkler blast to startle them. You're plants get watered at the same time. You probably wouldn't have to paint anything though, just go to a craft store and get some blue beads and tie them up with fishing line. You just have to let the birds think they're getting something and realize that those bushes' berries are "bad".

Scarecrows Sprinkler

Answer 3

Our blueberries are in pots (the soil pH is too high otherwise). With the pots at the far end of the garden near the hedge, losses were unacceptable despite a cat. Now I've moved the pots and they're against the house wall, the birds take very little. We do occasionally see blue tits, robins and even wrens in the bushes in the breeding season (which overlaps with the fruiting season), but they're all more likely to be going for insects at that time of year. We tend to have food out for the birds all year round, well away from the house and therefore the blueberries.

Answer 4

Check the price of tulle at the fabric store, maybe get a clearance color in bright pink or something. :) My friend uses that and it works great for keeping away insects and birds.

We made a hoop tunnel over each of my friend's raised beds out of PVC, then bought special clamps to clamp tulle over every tunnel. Clamps come in various sizes.

Spinning flashy pie pans or CDs also work well in most cases. My grandparents swore by them.

If English Sparrows are a problem they are considered an invasive species in the US and you might have to trap and kill them. A Google search for English Sparrow trap. AKA "house sparrow". English sparrows are a big killer of US native song birds, they kill for no reason at all.

• Managing house sparrows