How to protect cherries from birds and preserve the fruits, effective repellent methods with photos

After successfully fighting for the harvest against all sorts of pests, the gardener is faced with another task: saving ripe fruits from flying gangs. Protecting cherries from birds is both easier and more difficult than from insect pests. Chemicals are not needed here, but some species of birds are difficult to scare away from fruit trees.

Do birds peck cherries?

Birds are a real disaster for ripe cherries. They can “harvest” the crop instead of the owners. But birds eat cherries no less willingly. In addition, birds often “drink” cherries in hot weather.That is, they peck at it not for food, but in an attempt to quench their thirst. In this case, even those birds that are not usually keen on fruits will peck the cherries.

What birds peck cherries

Sparrows, starlings, thrushes, and magpies regularly include berries in their diet.

These types of birds eat the pulp of cherries. But in some regions, grosbeaks cause significant damage to berries. Cherry and bird cherry are the main components of their food supply. Grosbeaks do not eat pulp; they are interested in the seeds of berries. But for the gardener it makes no difference what part of the berries the birds eat. The harvest will be destroyed.

Mostly starlings and blackbirds peck cherries

What to do if birds peck cherries

To prevent birds from pecking on cherries, gardeners have come up with many ways, but they all have their pros and cons. They try to protect the crop with:

• reflective items;
• pulling various types of ribbons or hanging them on branches;
• sound devices;
• special drugs;
• various strong-smelling “folk” remedies.

There may even be some of your own inventions. But, as always, if there are many ways to cure a disease, then none of them work.

The fight against flocks of birds is also complicated by the fact that animals have the rudiments of intelligence and are able to learn from each other.

How to save a cherry tree from birds using shiny objects

Using reflective items you can protect the cherry tree from sparrows. It is not a fact that starlings and thrushes will also be frightened. Magpies will most likely steal the shiny things first and only then move on to the cherries.

To scare away, use a special tape with a reflective layer or garlands of disks. Both are hung on tree branches.Swaying in the wind, reflectors release glare that frightens birds.

A similar repeller can be made from old laser discs. The surface of these storage media is mirrored and the sunbeams on the disks are also good. Although worse than items specially made for this purpose.

How to protect the cherry harvest from birds with fabric strips

To protect the crop with fabric strips, they are tied to the branches. Moving in the wind, the ribbons should scare away birds. In fact, the fabric quickly gets tangled in the branches. You can also tie ribbons to a bicycle rim and attach it to a long pole. The structure must be raised above the tree crowns. In this case, the tapes will protect the crop more effectively. But such a device will have to be attached to each tree.

How to scare birds away from cherries with sound

In fact, constant sound is unreliable. Birds quickly get used to it and stop paying attention to the obstacle. They are much more afraid of movement. You can buy various windmills and turntables in stores. As they rotate, they make sounds that should theoretically protect the cherry from birds. You can make such a pinwheel yourself from a plastic bottle.

Birds are afraid of rustling bags. Flying snakes designed to scare away are made of light, rustling plastic. This material enhances the fear of the silhouette of a predator. But this is the case with dull sparrows and blackbirds. After some time, starlings will begin to ignore rustling objects. And magpies will figure everything out instantly.

Tubular Chinese windmill bells scare away birds with their sound and, partly, shine.The hollow tubes sway even in a light wind and produce melodious sounds. But, given their price and the required quantity, this pleasure is expensive.

In order not to spend money on “windmills”, some summer residents replace them with a lid from a saucepan with holes drilled around the perimeter. The latter are needed to hang various kitchen utensils on strings: knives, spoons and forks. It turns out to be a very massive analogue of “windmills”, which will also ring when the wind is strong enough.

How and how to protect cherries from birds

A fine mesh net protects well from sparrow attacks. If you throw it on top of the trees, the sparrows will not be able to get to the cherries. The main problem is that it is very difficult to cover a tall tree with a net. This method is suitable for felted or young cherries.

Birds do not climb to the cherries from the sides or below. But the net is not able to protect the cherries from long-billed starlings and blackbirds. They get the berries through the cells.

Light non-woven material protects berries better. To prevent the wind from blowing away the fabric, it will have to be tied. The main disadvantage of mesh or non-woven material is that they can only cover low-growing varieties or young cherries. To protect a large tree, you need to have the skills of laying a parachute and several assistants who will simultaneously “open the parachute” from different sides so that the fabric covers the tree.

A short cherry tree can be easily protected from birds by covering it completely

How to protect cherries from birds using a repeller

Strictly speaking, all means of protecting cherries from birds are the very same repellers.The use of firearms outside the hunting season is prohibited, and in populated areas they cannot be used year-round. And you won’t be able to protect the garden with a gun. Flocks of starlings sometimes number several hundred individuals, and sparrows even more. A kite with the silhouette of a bird of prey is quite effective as a repeller.

The advantage of such a repeller is that birds are really afraid of it. They are unable to distinguish between a living three-dimensional organism and a two-dimensional thing. And the downside: the kite cannot be flown without wind. It cannot be left unattended, because if the wind subsides, the kite will fall to the ground and may become entangled in the branches of a tree. In addition, the snake protects the crop well, being high above the ground. Where real predators fly.

How to protect the cherry harvest from birds with gas guns

A rather exotic and flammable way to protect the cherry harvest. A gas gun with a timer periodically produces a sound similar to a shot from a gun. Quite effectively repels sparrows, starlings and blackbirds. Magpies can figure out that sound alone is not scary.

The gun is powered by a 5-liter propane tank. The advertisement claims that this volume is enough for 5000 “shots”. The frequency of clapping is adjustable. One gun is enough to protect 1-1.5 hectares of garden. But the price of such a “weapon” is from 22 thousand rubles. In addition, the birds get used to the sounds, and to maintain the effect, the gun will have to be moved around the garden.

Here you will have to calculate whether it is profitable to scare birds away from cherries using a cannon

How to protect cherry berries from birds using folk remedies

Birds are not insects, but they also try to use repellents of plant origin against them. Often an infusion of pepper, mustard or garlic is used for these purposes.It is believed that these compounds have an unpleasant odor and taste, due to which birds stop pecking at cherries.

In fact, these folk remedies have only disadvantages and no advantages:

• the smell disappears after 2 hours;
• The taste of soaked garlic is not so unpleasant; the smell, which is no longer there, would be more effective;
• the pepper begins to bake after some time, so that a flock of starlings will have time to surround the cherry;
• the same with mustard;
• all solutions are easily washed off not only by rain, but also by dew.

In addition, to scare away birds you will have to use very concentrated preparations:

• garlic in a state of pulp;
• hot pepper at the level of Tobasco seasoning;
• mustard straight from the jar.

And coat almost every cherry with these products. It’s easier to remove all the berries at once. Herbal infusions will not work at all. The smell is too weak, and animals have different taste buds. What is bitter for people is quite good for birds. In particular, the same grosbeaks eat cherry pit kernels, which have a bitter taste due to hydrocyanic acid. And they don’t even get poisoned.

How to keep cherries from birds using natural gels

To call any industrially produced gel natural is a bit of a stretch. And there are no other gels. But there are similar means that do not harm birds. One of them is PSC Bird-Free optical gel.

PSC Bird-Free

Essentially, this is a liquid analogue of reflective objects. Its components give birds the impression of a flame raging ahead. Naturally, not a single normal bird would climb into a fire.

The disadvantage of the gel is that it cannot be used on trees. Its consistency is too thick. This product is used on architectural rigid structures. It is impossible to apply the gel to cherry leaves.But there is another remedy, the action of which is based on repelling birds with smell. This is the repellent Freytenavis.

Gels are still not very popular in Russia, so it is impossible to say for sure whether the repellent is really capable of protecting the crop

Repeller Freytenavis

The manufacturer claims that the product protects trees from birds and rats due to its smell. Freytenavis has the aroma of orange blossom, that is, orange flowers. The active ingredient is methyl anthranilate and it is a stretch to call it natural. On an industrial scale, it is synthesized from methanol and anthranilic acid. Methyl anthranilate is naturally found in oranges and grapes. The first are eaten with pleasure by rats, the second by sparrows.

In this regard, the effect of Freytenavis as a repellent is questionable. The advantage of the product is that it is safe even for pollinating insects.

How to keep birds away from a cherry tree with a scarecrow

This method has probably been used since the beginning of agriculture. The role of a stuffed animal may not even be a stylization of a person, but a figurine of a bird of prey. But the birds quickly get used to stationary objects, and the scarecrows cease to fulfill their function.

Another disadvantage is that the scarecrow must be taller than the protected plant. While installing a scarecrow over the beds is not difficult, perching it on a cherry tree, which often grows up to 6 m, is very difficult. The video shows a rather original version of the scarecrow, combining sound and reflective repellers. On a stick, such a scarecrow can be placed above the top of the cherry.

Protecting cherries from birds using modern technologies

Modern technologies usually mean ultrasonic devices that are supposed to scare away birds. For gardens and vegetable gardens, low-power devices are produced that operate within a radius of 10-20 m.

Theoretically, these devices should repel not only birds, but also moles, cats and dogs. The main disadvantage of these devices: they do not work. At least, if you read reviews on sites like Aliexpress, you can come across a lot of complaints about the ineffectiveness of the devices. The fact is that on such sites only the person who purchased the product can leave a review.

However, powerful repellers are also ineffective, as the case of the plane crash in Zhukovsky showed. If there are a lot of birds and they are hungry, they will not pay attention to the sounds.

Original ways to scare away birds that eat cherries

Perhaps the most original way to scare birds away from cherries is to have your own tame crow on your property. This is difficult to do, but people who had a crow's nest near their garden had no problems with crop raiders.

Of course, the crows would also not mind eating the berries, but they are too heavy to stay on the branch. Unless they pick one or two cherries as they fly by.

But this pleasure is expensive, often judicial and difficult: birds of prey in captivity need a special diet. Crows do not suffer from this deficiency; they eat whatever they find.

The second rather original way is a balloon in the shape of SpongeBob. According to the testimony of gardeners who tested this scarecrow repeller, no birds were observed near the garden. Most likely, the matter is due to the fact that SpongeBob is very reminiscent of a person. Moreover, he has well-drawn eyes.

It is not necessary to look for just such a ball; ordinary ones, but with drawn eyes, will do.

If you still have old audio and video tapes, their tapes can also be used to scare away birds. The magnetic film is stretched between the rows as high as possible. If it is possible to stretch the ribbons over the treetops, the effect will be better. The ribbons sparkle slightly in the sun and vibrate in the wind, creating scaring sounds. But their only advantage is that it will be possible to get rid of old trash in the house. This is a one-time use product. The disadvantages are that such strips are easily torn, they are difficult to tighten at height, and not everyone has them intact.

Another non-trivial way to protect cherries from sparrows is to feed the birds grain feed. Gardeners claim that well-fed sparrows do not peck cherries. The problem is that if there is plenty of food, a lot of birds will appear on the site. It won't be possible to feed everyone anyway.

A few words in defense of the gardener's feathered helpers

Cherries are included in the diet of the gardener's main assistants: starlings and sparrows. But you shouldn't destroy these birds. On the contrary, they need to be encouraged with all our might. Birds can be scared away from trees with berries when the time comes. If starlings are omnivores, then sparrows are classified as granivorous birds. But both of them feed their young only with insects. Parents bring 80-100 insects to their chicks per day. If sparrows destroy only small and soft garden pests, then starlings gradually harden their young. Starting with small insects, as their offspring grow older, starlings begin to feed them with beetles, locusts and snails.

The cherry ripens just in time for the first generation of chicks to fly out.It is better not to destroy the birds, but to prepare in advance for their invasion of the berries. The benefits of birds are much greater than the harm.

The benefits of birds are much greater than the harm

Conclusion

It is almost impossible to protect cherries from birds in any one way. The types of scarers need to be changed so that the birds do not get used to sounds, shine or movement. You can also immediately apply a set of protective agents.

Recommended Posts

Felt cherry Natalie

Cherry Turgenevskaya (Turgenevka)

Felt cherry Ogonyok

Cherry Zhukovskaya

Cherry Saratov Baby

Cherry Bolotovskaya

Cherry Garland

Cherry Khutoryanka: variety description, photos, reviews, pollinators

Columnar cherry Delight: variety description + photo, yield