Bird Food: When birds come after your grapes...
Birds do love grapes... Blackbirds and thrushes come from below, starlings from above. They like to come as a family, talking loudly to each other while eating, and leaving their colourful droppings before departure, often on drying laundry or the terrace... If they are permitted a discrete approach, and the darker the berries, the more brazen the unwelcome guests become. What can be done to prevent bird attacks on grapes?
What can I do to detract birds?
Consider also the following: open spaces without bushes or trees, or with lot of human or cat presence means that the birds won't be so eager to approach. Green grapes hide easily among the leaves and are less attractive to birds. If you don't have time to shoo birds away night and day, then plan to harvest the Grapes early. For a late harvest, nets can be used to protect the grapes--small vines can be wrapped completely; for large stocks, only the grape zone is covered with a 1 metre strip on both sides. The birds will avoid the grapes because they risk becoming entangled in the nets.
