Bird Thieves

I'm in a war of attrition with the small birds again this year. Every year they keep eating my fruit - cherries, plums, pears, gooseberries etc. They don't eat my blackberries or crab apples. I've used netting, fruit sleeves and shiny things this year but they have developed the strategy of swinging on the netting and fruit sleeves to pull them off or to get fruit into the sleeve ends so they can hang on the end and eat the fruit. My cousin has given up with his cherries being eaten each year and has chopped down his trees. I'm getting to that stage myself. Can anyone please give me a good suggestion for this problem. Thanks

 

That's a bit drastic, cutting down the trees because your cousin doesn't want to share his cherries with the birds!
Try putting bird feeders out a bit away from the fruit. You might still lose some, but you've given them an alternative

 

I've just found my first ripe fig,half eaten, i do agree it's annoying when they take lumps out of each fruit instead of eating the whole one before moving on, but that's how they are.
Apart from netting kept away from the plant, or one of those guns that farmers use I think you just have to put up with it.
Birds are not stupid and soon get used to things put out to scare them.

 

@Greybelle
How big are your trees?

 

I was discouraged very much by pigeons having my black and red currants (birds are heavy and break branches too), and blackbirds - bluberries. So I hid bushes in full, or some partially, using white fleece, so that birds don't see berries at all. Ir paid off, I had some berries too . The problem with the fleece is that it's a complete rubbish, that desintegrates from uv impact, literally turning into dust. I was kindly advised that curtains will work. Looking to do this next year. Yes, my garden again will look summer ready for Halloween, but I love berries.

 

This type of mesh doesn't work unless you create a cage structure. Birds simppy sit on the bush and their weight is enough to press the mesh to branches and get berries.

 

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. My trees are now 6-12 feet high. I will get them all pruned back this autumn/winter if I don't cut them down.
My figs are covered with netting and seem ok except not ripening because of the cold wet weather this summer.
I wouldn't mind just some of the fruit being taken but this is ALL of it every year for years. Same with my cousin.
I gave up feeding the birds because the squirrels swung on the feeders and everything fell on the floor. This, along with windfall apples attracted rats.
I've bought some small trees to keep in pots to put in the greenhouse if they fruit but that's a wreck too now as some b'stard tried to steal it and broke a lot of the glass which is expensive to re-buy and get installed. I really am at the point of giving up

 

I'm beginning to think that everything that helps themselves in my garden were members of Mensa in a past life :-)

 

@Greybelle a few nears ago I invested in a 12 ft x 12 ft fruit cage and put all the soft fruit in there, keeps the birds off a treat and the squirels out so long as I fasten the bottom edges down.
The top fruit trees are grown as cordons on a wire frame and can be netted if required.

 

Dracir, sorry about your allotment. I might very well get out the blunderbuss or machine gun.
NigelJ I would have to put the fruit cage over the whole garden but its giving me ideas.
Thank you all. Lots to think about.

 

Just to let you all know that I have managed to pick figs, greengages, a few raspberries and have lots of pears ripening. Will re-plan and adjust the garden for next year based on all your helpful advice. Thanks a lot for your time, experience and expertise. :-)

 

I don't have too much trouble with birds as I have two cats. They keep the mice down too.
Unfortunately they don't like slugs. Farm cats will also go for squirrels and rats - my friend's cat has been known to catch weasels!

 

@Greybelle We have had similar issues over the years. We have tried hanging old CDs so that the swing and reflect the light, hung old white sheets torn into strips etc etc. Birds totally ignored them. We then made a model of a sparrowhawk that was hanging at the end of a flexible tube that moved in the wind. Ignored! The pigeons start first by eating the new young shoots on the plums, gages and cherries. Then they go for the blossom. The apples and pears are left alone. As the fruits develop (and we do have some) then they peck away and take the cherries when they are still green. The blackbirds are the main culprits for this. As the apples ripen the magpies come in and take no notice of the fallen ones just go for what is on the trees. We have a small orchard so netting would be far too expensive. The morello cherry is aways left alone so at least I can use these for cooking.