Scarecrows are for the BirdsScarecrows are for the Birds
by Patricia Diaz, from the December 2001 Newsletter
If you have marauding birds robbing your fruit trees, there are several things you can do. The easiest thing is to let the birds eat what they want and accept what's left over, if there IS anything left over. You can also enclose each tree or plant with a screen cage, gauze, yarn, or netting.
That's rather problematic if you have really big trees.
Or you can attempt to scare them away with devices that frighten by shape, motion, or shininess. You are essentially pitting your wits against the birds' appetites. Here are a few methods to try, and information on how effective each method may be.
Posterboard Hawks are hawk-shaped pieces cut out of black posterboard. Begin with an enlarged drawing or photograph from bird books. Then once you have traced and cut out your shape, string the bird shapes with fishing line. Thread the fishing line in a needle strong enough to pierce the posterboard and tie a secure knot in the end.
Start from about 2/3 of the way out on one wing on the outside, go underneath to about 2/3 of the way out on the other wing, come out on the top of the body. Go to the top of the head, pierce through and go to the base of the tail. Come out there and go back in the middle of the bird's body. When you get there, pull all the threads together in a central knot. Really make sure that knot is secure.
Then tie another length or if you have enough, just continue on to the end of a pole and secure the line to the pole. The poles need to be really long (about thirty feet) bamboo poles or poles made out of some other kind of flexible material. Once the bird shapes are tied to the end of the poles, position them so they soar above your trees in different areas. You'll want to slant the poles over the trees as much as possible so the lines won't wrap around them. The hawk shapes will glide and soar in circles with the lightest of breezes. The air currents are unpredictable enough so that the birds don't get used to them. Plus they cast shadows of a scary predator which seem very real to the birds.
Or try changeable scarecrows.
Research conducted at the University of California at Davis showed that birds avoid anything new which shows up in their environment only for 5-7 days at most. Then if the unfamiliar thing doesn't harm them, they learn to ignore it and continue on. Therefore, one of the best things you can do is provide a changeable scarecrow.
A changeable scarecrow is a running stick figure created out of wood. Start with a long stick body with a pointed end so you can move it, a rounded head shape on top, and jointed arms and legs so you can re-position the scarecrow every so often. (The joints pivot on carriage bolts with wing nuts.)
Then every few days, attach different devices to the ends of the arms and legs, like pie pans, tin can lids, pinwheels, plastic streamers, or anything else you can find that moves with the wind or is shiny.
You can also confuse the birds even more by moving the scarecrow to different parts of the garden area and by arranging the jointed limbs in new positions.
Plastic owls are everywhere. They're sold specifically to scare birds but they seem to have really limited effectiveness. Researchers found that they sometimes scared messy birds away from deck areas but failed to protect any ripening fruit. For better results, try hanging them from branches so they move with the wind. Reposition them occasionally.
Some gardeners use stuffed predators. This method works but first you have to have some old stuffed predator hanging around. If you're an animal lover (like I am) you have to get over the problem of using some poor animal's dead body in your garden.
One gardener used an old stuffed fox that she perched in her fruit trees (changing trees occasionally) and it worked quite well. So if you have one of these in your attic or find one in a second-hand store, you could always try it.
The traditional scarecrow that you see everywhere, the stick figure adorned with old clothing and a hat, works for a few hours or a few days at most.
Birds become too used to it because it's unchanging and unmoving. If you've tried this before and really like a scarecrow in your garden, at least put some stuff on it that moves with the wind, and move it occasionally.
Pat Diaz lives with her husband, Tom, and schnauzer, Gus, on 6 acres in the woods near Dworshak Reservoir. She reports that the snowshoe hares are almost white now, the chipmunks are settled in for the winter, and all the deer, elk, and turkeys are hiding from the hunters.
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