Birds Stealing Seeds and Damaging Seedlings in May? 3 Simple Ways to Stop Them Without Damaging Your Garden
Experts reveal their trusted ways to keep your precious plants safe
Birds, for all their many positives, can be a nuisance when they decide to eat newly sown seeds or nibble on seedlings. They are only after an easy, convenient food source, but it is a pain. Thankfully, there are some easy ways to stop birds from eating seeds and seedlings.
As a gardener who has seen seeds disappear and lost brassica seedlings to hungry birds before, I know the frustration. But I have also found simple ways to prevent it from happening again. Planting seeds deeply, covering seeds and seedlings, and using deterrents are proven ways to prevent pigeons, sparrows, blackbirds, finches, and more from targeting your new plants.
How to Stop Birds From Eating Seeds and Seedlings
Birds can wreck new seeds and seedlings, especially in a kitchen garden where the likes of peas, beans, and brassicas are always a temptation for them. Fresh seeds are attractive as an easy food source, especially when sitting on the surface, and tender seedlings can be a target as they provide valuable nutrients.
The simplest ways to stop birds from eating seeds are easy to achieve, and here are three expert-approved methods:
1. Always Cover Seeds When Sowing
When you sow seeds outdoors, undoubtedly the easiest way to stop them becoming an easy snack for local birds is to make sure they are covered.
Seeds just scattered onto the surface are an easy win for the birds that will love to target exposed seeds, so don’t play into their hands and make that basic seed-sowing mistake, as you can all too quickly lose all those potential plants.
‘It’s beneficial for gardeners and plants to cover seeds lightly, so they’re not tempting birds,’ says Patricia Schnieder, senior horticulturist at Newfields in Indianapolis, Indiana.
‘Potting soil can be sprinkled over top if something light is needed (sometimes soil is too heavy), otherwise you can rake your seeds in with the back side of a rake or run a garden weasel cultivator over the surface for shallow coverage.’
You can get organic potting mix at Burpee to cover seeds if you want to try this tactic.
For added protection, some larger vegetable seeds can be planted slightly deeper than the recommended rate to protect them from being eaten, including pea, bean, corn, pumpkin, and squash seeds. It is not advisable to sow smaller seeds too deeply, as they won’t germinate when buried.
An alternative is to sow seeds indoors and transplant the seedlings out into the garden once they are larger. This will depend on how much space you have to start vegetable seeds indoors, and even when transplanted, seedlings can still be at risk of birds.
Unless you use method two.
2. Use Physical Barriers
This is one tactic I have religiously done for many years, especially when planting brassicas (after previous disappointments), but really for most of my crops.
Vegetable garden netting is not only an essential way to keep caterpillars away from plants, but it will stop birds from eating seedlings after you transplant your cabbage, kale, or broccoli plants.
‘One of the best things you can do to keep birds away from your seeds is to install netting over the area,’ says David Joles from PURCOR Pest Solutions. ‘With animals like birds or squirrels, physical barriers tend to be the most effective.’
This opinion is echoed by Patricia Schnieder, who admits that birds don’t respond to some triggers that work on other animals, such as using cayenne pepper to deter squirrels or using spices to deter garden pests.
‘Birds don’t respond to deterrents that rely on a trigger response as a repellent because their receptors are designed differently from those of mammals,’ she says. ‘Generally, physical barriers are going to be the most consistent and environmentally friendly option for most home gardeners.’
Fine garden netting allows light, water, and air to reach seedlings but provides a valuable physical barrier preventing unwanted visitors from getting in and nibbling the plants. However, it is important to securely peg down the edges to stop birds from getting in or getting stuck in the barrier.
Garden netting (such as this ultra-fine netting at Amazon) or lightweight row covers are the best materials to put over crops to stop birds from eating seeds or seedlings. The material should be laid over hoops and then secured to the ground. You can use landscape staples like these at Amazon.
3. Install Deterrents
While smell or taste repellents don’t work in deterring birds, what is more impactful is using light, noise, or decoys as a deterrent.
An old-school tactic for vegetable gardens is to hang shiny objects over seeds or seedlings. You can use old CDs, DVDs, mirrors, or aluminum foil to deter pests.
It shouldn’t be treated as an absolute failsafe method, but reflective surfaces catch the light as they do spin in the air, and this scares away birds – at least for a time.
You can get spinning bird deterrents at Amazon to hang around the garden to scare birds away.
Decoys can also be placed around the vegetable garden to deter birds. These include fake predator birds or rubber snakes, such as this two-pack of fake owls at Amazon.
The key aspect with any of these lights or decoys is moving them regularly. Otherwise, the birds learn not to be afraid if they never move.
This garden hoop kit is made of heavy-duty fiberglass. It has 35 17" lengths and connectors that can be combined to make different sizes of hoops.
This row cover has 70% light transmission. It will allow light, water, and air to reach your plants, but also act as a barrier against pests that may want to eat your seedlings.
The presence of fake rubber snakes can deter birds. This set of three plastic snakes has different sizes and colors. Move them around the garden to scare birds away.
Maybe one of the easiest ways to stop birds from eating seeds or seedlings is to add more ways to feed birds to your yard. Providing readily available food can prevent them from targeting things you’d rather they didn’t. Maybe the best place to start is this guide on where to place a bird feeder.
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