North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Kathryn Mathews" <kathmath@charterinternet.com>]

My 'Red Arnold' ornamental honeysuckle bush ripens about the same time as my
cherry tree.  The birds seem to love the honeysuckle berries.  My cherry is
very small and produced just a handful of berries this year, so I did net
it, but I might leave it alone in a year or two and see what happens.
Kathryn Mathews
Zone 4 Minnesota

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-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of William C.
Garthright
Sent: 12/02/2007 11:17 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] decoy crops



> I definately want to try that brilliant fake cherry scheme mentioned
> earlier.


Yes, that really sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? If you've ever
put out bird feeders where birds have not been fed before, you'll note
that it can take them awhile to find it (especially if there are no bird
feeders in the neighborhood). And numbers will grow the longer they've
been fed there. I know people who've fed birds for years, and it's
really incredible the numbers they attract.

So I wonder how decoy crops would work for birds. (Admittedly, birds are
more territorial in the summer, so your local robins, for example, might
keep other robins from the bounty. In the winter, when most bird feeding
is done, birds tend to flock up.) But the fake cherry idea would
probably discourage local birds from re-checking a tree when the real
cherries get ripe. I like it!

I'd like to see a picture of the fake cherries sometime, though. I'm not
sure exactly how it is done, how closely they must resemble a real cherry.


> I watch the birds feeding on the blueberries from my living room
> window- the bushes pulsate with their frenzied feeding. This brings me
> and my family great pleasure even though I can't be sure these plants
> aren't luring more fruit lovers to my site.


Yes, I wonder. It might depend on what species you're feeding. Some
birds (cedar waxwings, for example) are wide-ranging and feed in flocks,
even in the summer. Once they discover a food source, you may get large
numbers swooping in. Others (like robins) are fiercely territorial
during their breeding season and might keep rivals out themselves.

On the other hand, where food is abundant, territories are generally
smaller. You'll have more 'local' birds packed into a smaller area.
Also, your local robins will lay more eggs and raise more young. I think
it was a single large family of young robins that wiped out my black
raspberries this year. And I think that squirrels are the same way,
unfortunately. They are territorial, but if they get lots of food, their
territories will shrink and they'll produce more young themselves. At
least, I think so (I'm no expert).

I like to see wildlife in the yard, but I don't want to lose my entire
crop, either. I guess what I really need to do is to encourage predators
- owls, hawks (especially accipiters), etc.  If you've ever seen a flock
of birds really PANIC when a sharp-shinned or Cooper's hawk flies into
the area, you'll know how effective that could be. Unfortunately, birds
are too smart to be fooled by bird decoys (and we don't have any
accipiters around here in the summer - few enough at any time of the year).

Regarding squirrels, since smell is so important to them (they seem to
have very poor eyesight), you'd think that repellents would work to keep
them from certain trees. But I've never found any that seem to do much
good. Hmm,... wasn't someone here testing a new kind of squirrel
repellent? I seem to remember that from earlier this year. If so, how
did it go?

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)


--
Mythology is where all gods go to die. - Sam Harris
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