Birds that consume ripening fruit can be a significant problem for home plantings of cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and grapes, and sometimes for apples, peaches, and plums. Some of the more devastating birds are robins, flickers, red-winged blackbirds, crows, cedar waxwings, blue jays, common grackles, and European starlings.
Hanging aluminum pie pans that blow in the breeze, stretching Mylar reflective tape over the tops of plants, placing rubber snakes and owls on or above the plants, using bird scare balloons with large eyes on their sides, and several other techniques prevent bird damage to some extent. The devices are more effective when employed before the bird problem develops and if they are moved and repositioned frequently.
However, birds eventually become accustomed to the scare devices. The most effective means of bird control is to exclude them with netting. The netting must be placed completely over the bush or tree and pinned to the ground or tied to the trunk.
