Birds

Birds

Birds and vegetable gardens have an ambivalent relationship. Though many birds are important predators of garden pests, some will eat your precious crops.

Some birds will dig around in the soil to find newly planted seeds (this often explains why the seedlings just never appear). Smarter birds wait until the newly germinating seeds show themselves above ground and then pull them out and eat them. Many birds relish the tender growth of new seedlings and this can be a big problem in early spring when other foods may be scarce. In my garden the quail are looking for tender green foliage all summer (I never get the succulent weed Purslane in my garden, because they eat it all). They also love Brassicas and in winter they may strip whole plants. At my last garden they got so bad I had to net 3 ft tall plants.

Prevention

If birds disturb your seed beds, you will probably have to net them, otherwise you may lose the whole planting. This is a pain to erect and deal with, but don't neglect it. To simplify this you could make some wooden frames covered in bird netting or chicken wire, Make these the same size as the bed and just drop them on. You can also make individual wire cloches.

Some people suggest putting out a little old seed in the paths for birds to eat, so they won’t bother the crop. However if you don’t explain this to them very clearly, they will probably just eat it in addition to the seedlings.

You only want to keep certain birds out of the garden at certain times. For most of the year birds eat enormous numbers of pests and should be actively encouraged. Attract insectivorous species with nesting boxes and feed them in severe winter weather.

Control

The best way to keep birds out of the garden is to be working there, or have dogs or cats working there, but of course this isn’t possible for all daylight hours.