How to protect your garden from starlings without harm

With the arrival of June, trees and shrubs begin to bear abundant fruit, attracting starlings to our gardens, where they feed on the produce. Starlings are undoubtedly beautiful creatures, but they are also considered pests. How can we effectively deter these birds?

Starlings are small birds comparable in size to blackbirds. They eat small invertebrates, seeds, and fruits. Unfortunately, when they decide to visit our gardens, they can cause severe damage by consuming a significant portion of our crops. This article will suggest how to eliminate starlings from your garden effectively.

Starlings are omnivores. They eat fruits, seeds, and small insects. They particularly love cherries, sweet cherries, strawberries, and currants. With the arrival of June, you will notice increased activity from these birds.

Experienced gardeners often consider starlings to be pests because they can destroy a large portion of crops. However, it's worth remembering that starlings also feed on small insects and larvae, which means they help us naturally get rid of many pests in the soil.

Starlings are brilliant birds that are protected in the UK. Therefore, they cannot be harmed. The only solution is to chase these birds away from our gardens. How can we do this? Starlings are afraid of noise. If your garden is secluded and the noise won’t disturb other residents, you can scare starlings with loud music. You can also deter them by playing recordings of sounds made by birds of prey, which are natural enemies of starlings.

Another effective solution is to use a scarecrow, such as those used to deter sparrows. It's worth placing it on a fruit tree or right next to shrubs with ripening fruits, decorating it with old CDs or plastic bottles that make noise with every gust of wind.

You can also use protective netting, which can be bought at any gardening store, or an old curtain. The netting should be carefully draped over the trees and fruit shrubs. This will make it harder for the birds to access the fruits, and as a result, they will cause less damage.