Want to deter birds from fruit trees without harming the birds? This safe and easy solution uses objects you already have around your house.
How to Keep Birds Away From Fruit Trees
Updated on Oct. 08, 2024
On This Page
Mesh Netting May Harm Birds
I enjoy welcoming birds to my garden. I usually have bird seed available for them and grow a few sunflowers just so they can enjoy their seeds.
What I don’t particularly enjoy is when birds descend upon my fruit trees and start to eat my ripening fruit. Faced with this problem, many gardeners will head to their local garden center and buy fine mesh netting to cover their trees with in order to protect them from birds. But this is not a bird-friendly option. Often, birds can find their way into the netting and get caught without being able to escape and may eventually die.
So, are there any options available that won’t harm birds? Absolutely! What is even better — you probably already have what you need to keep birds away from your fruit trees.
Try a Shiny, Safe Solution
Yes, those shiny circles are CDs hanging from a citrus tree and believe it or not, they do help keep birds away from the fruit. You see, birds don’t like reflective surfaces, like those on CDs. Metal pie plates and foil strips also work well when tied in a tree.
Birding experts Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman say, “A company called Bird-X makes a product, Irri-Tape, designed to scare birds away from spots like this.”
When my newly planted peach tree started producing peaches, the birds soon started eating the fruit. So, I headed indoors and grabbed some old CDs that I no longer listen to and tied them to my tree.
It worked like magic. I never saw another bird near my peach tree, and I later had a nice harvest of delicious peaches.
Remove Shiny Objects After the Harvest
Once you harvest your fruit, remove your shiny objects and save them for the next year. This is a great solution to deterring birds, while not harming them, using items you already have.
Other Ways to Keep Birds Away From Fruit Trees
If you don’t want shiny things in your fruit trees, you can try offering them an alternative food source like bird seed, oranges or grape jelly in another area of your garden, far from your trees.
