Christopher,

With corn, I mulch the area lightly with hay. You also could use grass clippings except they're less likely to be available at spring planting time, although they would be for fall planting time. The corn grows up through the hay, but the crows don't seem to recognize green corn seedlings in the middle of tan-to-buff-colored hay the same way that they recognize green corn seedlings in bare soil. I almost never lose a single corn seedling.

Another old trick, but one that I think is much harder to pull off is to sprout garlic cloves indoors in flats early in spring and transplant it to the area where you're going to seed corn. The birds see the garlic sprouts, think they are corn (especially if you grow the corn in the same place every year), pull them up and discover--yuck!--they are not corn. Then you come back a couple of weeks later and plant corn which the birds leave alone because they think it is garlic. I think the success of this is more variable because you could have birds visit your corn who missed the round of garlic earlier. Some people swear by it though

Beans are harder because everything here in the country wants to eat beans, and if I mulch them with hay, it just gives bean-sprout-eating insects a place to hide. So, I start every single bean inside in paper cups and transplant them outside. Tedious? Definitely. Time-consuming? Absolutely. However, as long as I put Slug-Go Plus or an equivalent product on the ground around the newly-transplanted seedings, the pillbugs and sowbugs (my biggest pest in spring) don't eat the seedlings. I do put a toothpick very close to each seedling at planting time to deter cutworms too. And, the garden is fenced, so rabbits generally can't get the bean seedlings. I don't think I've ever had birds bother bean seedlings. If I transplant carefully and I don't lose any seedlings due to my own clumsiness, then I have nice full rows with no gaps so that is a plus too. Until I started transplanting bean seedlings I had a huge problem with all the wild things getting the beans and/or young bean seedlings. I don't have those issues now.

One way to protect any newly seeded bed from birds is to hammer in a few stakes and string fishing line in a random pattern (imagine a man-made spider web although not with the precision patterns seen in many spider webs) between the stakes. The lighter/less visible the fishing line the better because you want the birds to fly down to steal the seeds or seedlings and be 'spooked' by hitting the fishing line instead. This works best if the line is fairly close to the ground to the birds cannot land on the ground and walk under the line. After the seedlings are up and rooted well enough that the birds can't yank them up out of the ground, you remove the fishing line and stakes.

I also 'bribe' wild birds of all types to leave my garden alone by putting little piles of bird seed just outside the garden fence. They feed daily at the seed and leave my plants alone, although some of them stick around, sit on the tomato cages and catch bugs. I use hen scratch, cracked corn and black oil sunflower seeds in rotation so the birds never know exactly what to expect, but you could use any wild bird seed mix.

I have a scarecrow--in fact, 2 of them, made by a friend with whom I've shared garden produce for years and even though the scarecrows are a nice addition to the garden, the birds are not the least bit afraid of them.

With some birds, one of those sprinklers that is motion activated scares them off, but I think other birds set it off on person so they can play in the water.

Anything that moves, like bird flash tape, pinwheels, fluttering pieces of surveyor's tape, dangling aluminum pie pans or CDs, etc., the birds seem smart enough to figure them out and lose their fear of them after a while.

My cats don't even keep all the birds out of the garden. I think it is because I feed a lot of wild birds and scold the cats if they 'stalk' them, and my cats know they shouldn't bother the birds. Some people have garden cats that keep birds out of the garden, but my cats just don't do that, although they do keep rodents away.

That's about all I can think of other than bird netting, which is moderately effective, but sure can be a hassle for the gardener.

Good luck--I hope you find some workable solutions.

Dawn

I was at Bartlesville's farmer's market last weekend and there was a woman selling blackberries. I was standing there when someone asked her how she manages to keep the birds and squirrels away. She told them they have put up flags all over their fields and that the wind keeps them flapping enough that it scares away the critters.

Adopt a couple of cats from your nearest animal shelter. They will control birds, rabbits, voles, moles, gophers and other stray cats. They will need in return, love, shelter, love, yearly vet visits for their shots and love. Oh yes, and you can cuddle with them alot easier then bird netting....Gosh I just noticed Dawn covered cats in her answer. My cat however does a good (but unfortunately indiscriminate job) of discouraging birds (and all other critters named above). And since birds are daytime creatures we are able to make sure he has a safe place to sleep inside the house at night. Of course Yardley is not perfect, but he's good enough at his day job for me to suggest adoption to you and to show his picture (she said beaming with pride).

My cat is claiming "heat stress" this year so I was looking for something to "help" him out. 8)

Christopher
S.OKC
{{gwi:1116771}}

Christopher, that is so funny. I think I have his twin. Buster comes inside under the A/C and is totally not a catcher of anything other then naps:

Mary and Christopher,

The cats are adorable.

Keep in mind that my cats don't keep birds away because we feed the birds so they've been trained to leave the birds alone.

They do consider everything else like rodents, squirrels and rabbits to be under their "control" though.

I join the cats in claiming heat stress. I think I need to stay inside and lie on the sofa, or even on a shaded patio, more often.

Christopher, I know you're in town, so this won't work for you, but here in the pecan orchards some people use these little cannons that fire off some kind of loud noise every few minutes to keep the crows and other birds out of the trees.

And, I forgot to mention that sometimes the birds are thirsty and attack the produce (especially tomatoes, strawberries and tree fruit) in your garden just to get the water, so having a birdbath or shallow dish containing water for them can help....especially if they get used to drinking from it early in the season before you have any produce to meet their water needs.

Dawn

Dawn, Ilene and Mary,

Thank you so much for your input. I have some new ideas thanks to you for next year. I will be looking this winter for a bird bath, some flags on strings and a new cat. Well, maybe not a new cat.
Thank you,

Christopher
S.OKC

I have heard that if you hang up wind chimes that it keeps them away that the noise and the movement scares them. haven't tried it yet but that is what i heard. good luck....