Pests & diseases › Birds
Birds
Blackbirds, thrushes and starlings raid soft fruit. Sparrows tear pea seedlings.
Symptoms
- Pecked or vanished berries — strawberries, raspberries, blueberries
- Currants stripped from bushes
- Cherries gone before they ripen
- Lettuce and pea seedlings shredded
Lifecycle
Year-round, worst as fruit ripens June–September.
What to do
- Net soft fruit — best long-term answer
- Walk-in fruit cages for serious growers
If it's bad
- None — most garden birds are protected
Stop it coming back
- Bird netting on hoops or framework over berries
- Net cherries and other tree fruit if feasible
- Decoy scare-eye balloons (rotate position)
Crops it goes for
Plan the plot, track every sowing, cook the harvest
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.