Birds are great to watch and can help keep the insect population in check. However, birds can be bothersome when they start eating from your fruit trees.
There are several ways to keep our feathered friends away from your fruit. This article will give you 7 simple ways that you can deter birds from your fruit trees, without harming them. You can buy a ready made solutions or build them yourself.
1. Put Up a Protective Net
If you have a smaller fruit tree, then you can build a frame around the tree with wood or PVC pipe. Then put a screen or net around the frame to keep the birds out.
Be sure to secure the frame into the ground with pegs and rope. You don't want the wind blowing your frame over and damaging your trees.
What if the birds are picking their way through the netting?
Then you can reinforce the net with fishing line. Simply tie fishing line at set intervals along the frame, then put the net over the fishing line. The distance between the lines will be determined by the size of the birds you are trying to keep out.
Related Tool: Electroculture Stakes for Potted Plants
Just be sure that the frame is easy to lift off the tree, so you can harvest the fruit. If you build a large frame, then you probably have to build a door.
Also be sure that the netting lets in enough light for the tress.
2. Create an Alternative Food Source
Putting out bird feeders in the area can keep birds away from your fruit. Since the feeder is a more plentiful food source, birds will generally prefer the feeder over doing the work to pick through your fruit.
This creates a win-win for both you and the birds.
While you're at it, you might even add a bird bath next to your feeder. The more you can divert the birds away from the fruit on the trees, the better.
3. Create Shiny Decorations
Another thing that's very effective in deterring birds is shiny objects on the trees. The flashing and fluttering scares them without harming them.
You have several options here:
- Pie tins
- CDs or DVDs
- Artistic solutions on Etsy
- Flash Tape
- Old mylar balloons, cut into strips
Basically anything that's shiny and will flutter in the wind. For best results, attach these items near the end of the branches, where the fruit will grow.
It's also worth considering the aesthetic value of some of these solutions, before you pick one.
If you don't mind having pie tins and CDs hanging from your trees, then that's a great way to recycle those items. On the downside, it can look a little like you're in a junkyard.
So if you want a solution that's more pleasant to look at, then consider going with the other options on the list. When you use those options, they can turn a regular fruit tree into a year-round “Christmas tree.”
4. Put Up Windmills
Next, you could put up small windmills that create motion to scare birds away.
Obviously, there needs to be a fair amount of wind to get even a small windmill going. But they are also great for decoration and can add another layer of deterrent, when there's a nice breeze.
Sure, you can get a nice one from Amazon, but you can also use a simple plastic bottle to make your own. Again, it's all a matter of how pretty you want your windmills to be.
Here's an easy tutorial on how to make one with a plastic bottle.
5. Use Recordings
If you have wireless outdoor speakers, you can record the sounds of predators and broadcast them to deter the birds.
Just be sure that the timing of the sounds is as random as possible. If the same sounds play on a regular basis, the birds will become accustomed to them and eventually ignore them altogether.
Also move the speakers around occasionally to keep the birds guessing. If they hear sounds coming from the same spots, they will eat the fruit in areas away from the speakers.
Consider sounds from owls, hawks and other birds of prey. This can be quite pleasant to people, so your neighbors might not object to this method.
You could also experiment with other sounds like booms and crashes. These sounds aren't pleasant to human ears, so this is only an option in remote areas.
6. Balloons With Eyes
Another way to simulate the presence of predators is to put out balloons with eyes drawn on them.
Be sure to draw the eyes on two sides of the balloon, so they are visible when the balloon is spinning around. Then use a string to tie the balloons to the ends of the branches of your fruit trees.
When the wind blows, the balloons will move around, making them even more scary.
As you can see from the picture above, you might even deter some humans from picking fruit from your tree. 🙂
If possible, use old mylar balloons because they have the added benefits of being shiny and recyclable. Latex balloons are not recyclable.
…and when you have balloons tied to your trees, it always looks like there's a party going on.
7. Put Out Predator Decoys
If the balloons don't work, then consider getting decoys that look like predator birds. There are inflatable solutions out there that don't cost a lot and are easy to move around.
These decoys could be owls, hawks or any other bird in your area that smaller birds would be afraid of.
Like with the predator sounds, be sure to move these decoys around every few days so the birds think that they are the real thing.
Combine Several at Once
For best results, consider using more than one method at the same time.
The bird deterrents that will work best for you will depend on several factors, such as:
- The type of birds in your area
- What the birds are already accustomed to
So test a few ideas and see which ones work best for you!
