Protecting Fruit Trees and Berries From Birds in Montana

Which birds eat fruit in the Bitterroot?

The Montana Field Guide describes the cedar waxwing's diet as fleshy fruits and insects and lists farms, orchards and suburban gardens among its habitats. It gives the American robin's food as invertebrates and fruit. Both are native birds that nest here, and both arrive at a ripening tree in numbers.

European starlings are the third regular. A Utah State University Extension publication prepared with USDA APHIS Wildlife Services lists cherries, apples, strawberries, blueberries and grapes among the fruit crops starlings feed on, and notes that they damage quality as well as yield. The University of California's integrated pest management program adds house finches and crows to its list of common fruit raiders, and says large starling flocks are often seen feeding on ripening fruit. Magpies and crows get their own treatment in our guide to magpies, crows and ravens on Montana property.

Why are cherries and berries hit hardest?

Timing and location. UC IPM observes that early ripening fruit such as cherries is often the most extensively damaged, and that damage is usually most severe at sites next to wild or brushy areas where birds find refuge, nesting sites and other food. That describes a great many Bitterroot properties. A few trees beside a cottonwood draw will see more pressure than the same trees in the middle of a larger orchard.

UC IPM also recommends watching for the first damaged or knocked-down fruit as it begins to ripen, because that is the signal that protection needs to be in place now.

What mesh size keeps birds off fruit?

UC IPM calls netting the most effective way to reduce bird damage to small orchards and isolated trees, and specifies plastic netting with a mesh of one quarter to one half inch. Washington State University Extension's strawberry bulletin is stricter for low plantings: mesh of one quarter inch or smaller, with no holes.

Check the mesh size on the package before you buy, because garden netting is sold in many sizes and not all of it falls in that range. A net with openings wider than the extension sources specify is not what they tested or recommend.

How should netting go over a tree or berry row?

On a frame, not draped. UC IPM says it is best to attach netting to a frame that holds it away from the tree, so birds cannot reach fruit at the outer edge of the canopy. WSU makes the same point for strawberries: suspend the net above and away from the plants, or birds will walk across it and pick through the mesh. Clemson Cooperative Extension adds a practical reason, which is that netting laid directly on blueberry bushes tangles in the fruit clusters and tears them off.

Clemson's design for home plantings is a light frame about a foot larger than the bushes on every side, with netting large enough to reach the ground all the way round and pinned with sod staples every two to three feet. UMass Amherst describes a taller post and wire frame for mature blueberries so you can walk under the net to pick. Both stress the bottom edge. WSU says to secure all edges to the ground, and UMass notes that birds will tunnel under a net that is not held down.

How do you keep netting from harming birds?

A net that traps birds is a failure even when it saves the fruit, and with native species it is also a legal exposure. A University of California extension article warns that birds have been known to get tangled in bird netting, and advises checking the netting frequently and keeping it taut. Clemson warns that if any gap is left, birds will find their way inside and become trapped.

So the wildlife-safe version comes down to four habits drawn from those sources: small mesh, a taut net on a frame, edges closed to the ground with no gaps, and a daily look while it is up. We would add taking it down promptly after harvest and storing it, because a net left sagging into the fall has stopped protecting anything.

When should netting go up and come down?

Clemson's author installs the frame and net near the end of flowering. Fruit is not really at risk until it starts to ripen, he writes, but the job gets harder as the berries size up. Waiting until bloom is over also leaves the flowers open to pollinators. UMass times its repellent sprays to when fruit begins to color and attract birds, which is the same window from the other end.

Clemson also advises leaving the net in place until harvest is over and picking from underneath, to avoid repeated tangles. The net is a short seasonal job for each crop, timed to that crop's ripening, and it does not need to stay on the tree for the summer.

Do scare devices and sprays work?

For a while. UC IPM says the most effective frightening approach combines noisemakers with visual repellents, rotated so that no combination is used for more than a week, and that even a well-run rotation controls birds for a few days to perhaps a few weeks. It notes that crows and magpies can learn to ignore noisemakers within hours, and that loud devices are often not appropriate in residential areas.

WSU is blunt about scarecrows, which it says become roosts after a few days, and about ultrasonic devices, which it says have not been proven in the field. It does credit reflective tape strung tightly beside strawberry rows, if it is monitored and replaced as the coating wears.

Repellent sprays containing methyl anthranilate are registered for cherries, apples, blueberries and grapes, according to UC IPM, which reports that they reduced damage in some studies and showed little effect in others. Cornell Cooperative Extension reaches a similar conclusion. Our wider review is in do bird scare devices work.

What can you not do to protected birds?

Robins, waxwings and finches are native migratory birds. UC IPM states that robins and house finches can be removed only under a depredation permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Service's own guidance says it is illegal to destroy a nest that has eggs or chicks in it. The Montana Field Guide puts robin eggs statewide from mid-May into mid-August, which overlaps the whole cherry and berry season.

In practice that means no trapping, no harming, and no clearing an active nest out of the tree you want to net. Net around it or wait. Starlings are the exception at the federal level, since UC IPM notes there are no federal restrictions on them, but state rules are a question for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. See which birds you can remove in Montana and our guide to migratory bird depredation permits.

Why tree size decides whether netting is possible

A cherry that has been allowed to reach the height of the house cannot be netted by anyone. A tree kept low and open can be framed and covered in an afternoon. That is one of the quiet benefits of regular fruit tree pruning: our ISA Certified Arborist can bring a tree down to a size where the fruit is reachable and protectable.

Where the birds are also using a building, a shed roof or a pergola beside the garden, that is bird mitigation work and we can look at both together. More guides are in the Montana Bird Control Guide.

Call HJ Property Care & Tree Service at (406) 215-7319 or request a bird assessment and we will identify the species, the access points, and what will actually stop them.

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