Pests & diseases › Birds
Birds
Robins, mockingbirds, starlings and grackles 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.
What to do
- Net soft fruit — the only reliable answer
- Walk-in fruit cages for serious growers
If it's bad
- None — most birds are federally protected
Stop it coming back
- Bird netting on hoops over berries
- Net cherries and other tree fruit if feasible
- Scare-eye balloons (rotate position weekly)
Crops it goes for
Blueberry (Northern Highbush)
Blueberry (Rabbiteye)
Cherry (Sour)
Cherry (Sweet)
Grape (Table)
Grape (Wine)
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.