How to protect cherries and cherries from birds (how to scare away): saving the harvest from starlings and sparrows

Unfortunately, sweet cherries (and cherries) are very fond of pecking birds (especially starlings and sparrows). And if you do not want to share with these feathered thieves, then you will have to fight quite fiercely and protect your crop.

So how do you save cherries and sweet cherries from birds?

There are quite a few ways invented, let's figure out which of them really work.

The essence of the problem

Many gardeners are faced with the fact that their early cherries and cherries are pecked by birds, at best spoiling a good half of the crop. And it may be not only starlings and sparrows, but also blackbirds, as well as the main owners of the garden - woodpeckers.

May beetles and gold beetles can also eat cherries.

As a result, after many years of unsuccessful struggle, many summer residents even abandon the early varieties, and some even get rid of the fruit trees themselves.

Ways to protect cherries from birds

If you do not want to wake up early in the morning with the beginning of cherry berries ripening and every day to sit near a tree with a stick and chase the birds away, then you can try to save the berries in other easier ways.

There are many ways to scare birds away, but, unfortunately, many of them are actually not as effective as they seem at first glance, especially with regard to various visual and dynamic scarers.

Unfortunately, birds either do not notice them at all, or rather quickly adapt to such sparkling or rustling "scarecrows".

In other words, most folk methods are purely calming for the soul. You can also decorate your garden this way (if you make really beautiful scarecrows or dress up your cherries like a Christmas tree).

Of course, you can bring a cat to the dacha and somehow make him climb up and sit on the cherry, but is it possible?

Is that to dig up valerian on the trunk ...

Here's what you can do to scare birds away from cherries and protect crops from being pecked by these feathered bandits:

Shiny objects: rain, ribbons, CDs

Perhaps the most famous way is to hang various shiny (reflective) elements on the cherry branches:

• New Year's rain;
• cassette tapes (from video cassettes);

• and the most popular is computer disks (CDs)on which some gardeners even additionally paint eyes (to heighten the effect).

Opinions:

• “Neither tape nor discs help. For 7 years I have not harvested cherries even once. Begins to blush, and a week later, next weekend, there is none. "
• “My birds are sitting near the tape, and they don't care about the light. Only the network helps! Even an expensive device with the voice of birds of prey did not help. "
• “This year I tried the discs on cherries. I also drew eyes with a marker. DOES NOT WORK!"
• "I hung about 20 discs on one cherry (with one eye, with two eyes), the tree sparkled and shone cooler than the New Year tree in the Kremlin, but the starlings didn't care."
• “Hanging discs on trees is like hanging signs saying“ Bon appetit ”or“ You can't peck! ”.
• “Are they listening to CDs? Advanced Starlings ”.
• "Modern starlings are familiar with digital media - they are not afraid."

Video: how to protect cherries from birds (starlings) using discs

Scarecrow

Sure you may make and put a scarecrow, and it is not at all necessary that the scarecrow has a human appearance: birds today are not so afraid of people. Much better to use images of their natural enemies. For example, next to or right on the tree you can install:

• a kite in the form of a hawk;

• a cat (soft toy);

A minute of country humor:

Interesting idea! Take an old fur hat that the moth has eaten a long time ago, plant it on a long stick, and then tie it to the tree trunk so that the hat is in the upper part of the cherry crown. The starlings will mistake the hat for a cat and will not dare to approach the tree!

• owl.

For information on how to make an owl from a plastic bottle, see the next video.

Video: guaranteed protection of wild garlic and cherries from starlings

Opinions:

“Poor starlings laughing probably died when they saw such a“ creation ”.

"I made such an owl, just more natural, fixed it on a cherry ... a neighbor's cat attacked."

Whispering (thundering) objects: turntables

Another common method of protection is to hang on a branch or place various rattling objects next to a tree (so that they dangle in the wind and create noise):

• children's turntables;
• tin aluminum cans;
• cut plastic bottles.

However! As practice shows, rain, CDs, all kinds of stuffed animals, plastic bottles, cans and other shiny and rustling (rattling) objects do not scare away birds, but as it seems, on the contrary, they even attract (make them pay attention).

Special protective bird net

Perhaps this is one of the best and really working ways to protect the cherry crop from birds. In this case, you do not scare away the birds, namely, you do not allow them to get to the harvest, because the net is a real defensive structure.

By the way! It is not necessary to cover it to the ground, the main thing is that the top and the sides are closed, the sparrows do not have enough intelligence to fly up from below, and they are afraid of flying inside.

However, it is quite difficult (troublesome) to put on a bird net and it is no less dreary to remove if the tree is tall (over 3 meters). In other words, you need to initially plant low-growing cherries so that it is convenient to put a bird net on them.

Opinions:

“They are not afraid of anything! Only the mesh helps. "

“The bird net really helps. This year I didn't want to mess around, so birds ate it in two days. "

“The neighbors have wrapped their trees with a net, since they are not tall, but they did not save a single berry, the birds manage to crawl under the net”.

Fishnet

In general, in order not to overpay for a special bird net, you can use a fishing net.

How to hang on a tree? You can do it straight with a fishing rod or a long stick with a hook at the end. In principle, it should hold on on its own, somehow additionally it is possible not to fix it.

In general, in a similar way (together the grids) you can use tulle.

By the way! Similarly, you can protect grapes from pecking by birds.

Radio receiver and recording of sounds of birds of prey

You can try hanging a radio on a tree so that it works from dawn to dusk.

Or better yet - portable speaker and include sounds of birds of prey (kites, hawks).

Only now the birds get used to this over time and cease to be afraid. In addition, the device must be protected from rain somehow.

Special sound devices for scaring away birds

Now on sale you can find various special devices that are designed to scare away starlings (as well as crows, rooks, blackbirds, jackdaws, magpies, gulls). For example, the bird scarer "Kite".

The principle of operation of the device consists in the cyclic reproduction of special sounds after certain pauses.

As evil, such devices usually do not work against sparrows at all.

However, the effectiveness of such devices is very, very controversial. After all, birds get used to monotonous and repetitive sounds and cease to perceive them, they begin to peck, simply not paying attention to them.

Is it possible to somehow come to terms with the problem

Of course, you should not resort to any radical measures (even in extreme cases): the birds need to be protected, because they are real orderlies of the garden who help you in the fight against various caterpillars.

In other words, you need to try to make friends with the feathered bandits, so to speak, tame them. Namely to make and hang in the garden bird feedersso that they lose (or at least reduce) interest in berries.

And don't forget to put on drinkers so the birds can get drunk!

Video: how to protect cherries and cherries from birds - the best methods