Green leaves emerging from the branches of bare trees and birds returning back to their nesting ground marks the beginning of spring. If you’re a blueberry farmer, spring brings back birds trying to snack on your ripe blueberries. To prevent pesky birds from damaging your crops, we’ve compiled a few tips to help you protect your blueberry bushes from pest birds.
Plant Additional Berries
Birds will go to great measures to eat your blueberry crops. One solution is to simply plant more blueberries. Growing more berries than you need in anticipation that some will be eaten by birds is proactive strategy that some farmers use.
While this might seem like an easy fix, it can take three to four seasons for berry bushes to bear fruit. There is also the extra expense of planting and managing more blueberry crops.
Employ a Predator
The use of decoys can be an inexpensive solution to keeping birds away. Using scarecrows or plastic predatory animals will make birds less likely to feast on your blueberry bushes. Keep in mind that using decoys is only a temporary fix. Birds are often smarter than people give them credit for and will eventually realize that the decoys aren’t real. One way of resolving this problem is to continuously move your decoys, but over time this becomes ineffective as well.
Build a Bird Bath
Birds often flock to berry bushes not because they are hungry, but because they are thirsty. Due to blueberries high water content, if there is no safe source of water for birds, they will often find other ways to hydrate. Building a bird bath near your crops can help prevent birds from munching on your berries. Keep in mind that the bird baths will need to be refilled and monitored because once birds realize there is a clean water supply, they’ll invite their friends to their new watering hole.
SEE ALSO: How to Bird proof Hanging Baskets Around the Home
Use Avian Control to Protect Your Blueberry Farm
While these methods may temporarily deter birds from eating your blueberry bushes, Avian Enterprises offers an easier, more effective solution. Our liquid bird repellent Avian Control can be directly sprayed or fogged on your berries, eliminating pest birds without harming the taste, growth or appearance of your fruit. To find out more about Avian Control and other products that Avian Enterprises has to offer, check out our product comparison guide.