Bothersome Birds

Well, "tis the season", and we're not talking about the jolly holiday time. Tis the season in which our gardens are planted and our lawns are nurtured. Spring is also the time in which our native wild birds begin nest-building and their annual courtship ritual. Alas, we stand knee deep in mulch while he wildlife have their fun!

However, once in a while, the wild birds infringe upon our lifestyles, liberty and pursuit of a little peace and quiet here in the country.

Calls to our facility this time of the year include problems with woodpeckers attacking homes, swallows building nests under eaves, and crows, ravens and songbirds invading our newly planted flower and vegetable gardens- eating newly sown seeds and munching young crops and plants.

A few simple solutions may help alleviate these problems. Keep in mind that these problems are, in fact, seasonal and will go away in their own time anyway. Birds, possessing little or no sense of smell, rely on their visual and auditory senses to warn them of possible dangers. Therefore, any deterrent measures should take this into account.

For those pesky woodpeckers who insist on hammering away at the wood siding of our homes, and for those persistent swallows who attempt to build their nests under our eaves, we have a couple of ideas that might deter them. Try hanging wind chimes and/or aluminum pie tins dangling from strings in the area of the birds' interest. The wind chimes will create an auditory disturbance and the pie tins waving in the breeze will create a visual disturbance.

When dealing with swallows, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. If they complete their nest, they will lay eggs. Your deterrent measures should be done prior to the completion of the nest. In addition to the auditory and visual deterrents, you may also hose down the nests while they are under construction. To do so after the nest is built will only create heartache for you and the swallows. Keep in mind, we are suggesting deterrent measures, not methods of eradication of these birds. Swallows consume enormous quantities of flying insects and are, in fact, an asset to our area.

The old ‘scarecrow' isn't a bad idea when dealing with crows and ravens who invade our vegetable gardens and fruit orchards. With their keen senses of sight and hearing these birds can be deterred by an unfamiliar moving object or a portable radio placed in the garden. Adorn your garden with a unique scarecrow and hang a few pie tins from his arms for further effect. Crows and ravens are extremely intelligent and may get wise to your scarecrow. The secret is to keep them wondering. Shift the position of your scarecrow periodically, or dangle something different from the arms once in a while. If you use a portable radio, change the channel once in a while. Don't let them become too accustomed to Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern. If that happens, we'll have a real problem to deal with! Give them a little Willie Nelson one day and a little Mozart, the next.

Crows and ravens, being walking rather than hopping birds, apparently like to feel the earth beneath their feet. Before planting, lay sheets of plastic over your garden and puncture or cut it as necessary to sow seeds or plant seedlings. The unfamiliar sound and feel of the plastic is often an effective deterrent to these birds.

Small birds are attracted to our gardens generally by one of two things. The insect eaters are attracted to the insects and the seed eaters are attracted to the freshly sown seeds. The insect eating birds are obviously an asset to our gardens. However many birds consume both insects and seeds, among other things.

The first thing to do in your new garden is to deter the insects. To do this, make sure your soil is health, as insects do most of their damage on unhealthy crops. Mulch, weed, water and rotate your crops. This will deter the insects and promote healthy crops. With no insects to eat, those insect eating birds will have no need to frequent your garden.

Next (and this is the fun part), plant a separate garden for your birds. Wild birds prefer the tartness of wild fruit, so encourage the growth of native, berrying plants, or sow some millet and sunflower seeds. Provide elevated, shallow dishes of water for use as birdbaths in this "designated area". By doing this strictly for the birds, they won't be tempted to invade your garden.

Don't forget to net your fruit trees this time of the year. This will allow you to reap your harvest without losing it to the birds. When you drape your netting, it is important to secure the netting to the trunk of the tree rather than allowing it to hang on or near the ground. This will prevent animals from becoming entangled in the loose netting.

Enjoy our native birds, and at the same time, enjoy the fruits of your labor by employing these few "common sense" and humane deterrent measures.

— Cindy Traisi