So why are birds pecking my plants apart?

[DelawareJim]

I've put my VFT's and pitchers out for the year last month and they're putting on new growth.

I fed them a couple of flies from the barn to help give them a little jump start and now the birds are pecking them to pieces.

So why are the birds pecking them apart? Are they after the flies?

Thanks.

Cheers.
Jim

[Fred P]

Jim,

I have the same problem every year except the birds aren't after the plants or insects, they are after the wet soil and moss for nest building. The plants just get in the way of them pulling out chunks of soil so they pull them out too. My Sarrs seedlings always take a beating every spring. I have to keep an eye on them for about 3 weeks or so until the birds are done home building. Could be the same problem you're having.

Good growing,
Fred

[fredg]

Have either of you considered making guards for the plants until the birds (or other critters) lose interest?

Apart from CPs, I also grow terrestrial orchids.
Many of these I have outside, however, this winter I acquired a friend, Skwirl.
She is a very friendly squirrel and has just presented the world with a further three of her kind.



As my orchids would not appreciate constantly being uprooted ( or consumed) I constructed temporary (removable) cages for a 3 x 2ft set of troughs.
It only took a couple of hours total.

[mabudon]

I have a cage over my outdoor bog too- not as high-tech as that one but between birds, possums, skunks and squirrels I wouldn't have anything left- the horror I experienced when I found my original bog-bucket completely ruined by some critter made me build an impregnable fence (with roof) around my plants very early on

[fredg]

Meet Tom, Dick and Harry, three cages to keep things out.

[RL7836]

May 8, 2008 0:33:31 GMT DelawareJim said:

So why are the birds pecking them apart? Are they after the flies?

I've seen the birds trash pots of plants as they search for "just-the-right-piece" for their nest. In this activity, small plants like pings, baby Sarrs, & VFTs are collateral damage in their quest. I've also had some birds learn that the tubes of Sarrs are filled with bugs. Once one or two learn this, they tear apart the tubes until their hunger (& their babies) is satiated.

[Not a Number]

I've noticed a few crows hanging around the buildings near me and copious amounts of large bird droppings on the walkways.

I've also recently found one of the hoods of my Darlingtonia caved in and red bruises on several of them.

I suspect the crows are the culprits. They're probably attracted to the hoods when the hoods are brilliantly back lit from the low afternoon sun.

[fredg]

Proof the 'cages' do their job





Several hundred £worth of orchids undisturbed ;D

[rhillier]

At one point, my problem got so frustrating that I considered a shotgun as a solution. I built a custom fence around my bog out of that black plastic stuff that you throw over fruit trees to keep the birds away. The mesh is fine enough that it doesn't overly obscure the appearance of the bog with the exception of the frame to which it is mounted.

[Not a Number]

Restaurants with open roof dining areas often use a wide open mesh of monofilament fishing line. It's virtually invisible and keeps the birds out