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["Kieran &/or Donna" <holycow@frontiernet.net>]

I grew field corn in town one year in the backyard which was hit by redwinged blackbirds.  They simply started at the tip of the ears and pecked their way down.  It probably wouldn't have been much a of a problem in sweet corn that would have been harvested very soon, but I needed the shucks to keep rain out of the ripening grain.  They kept coming back, so I found that masking tape to hold the shucks closed was easily pecked apart.  In the end I pulled old socks down over each ear, there were about 80 ears but I tend to hang onto old socks, you never know when you might need them for something....   There wasn't a lot of damage done, it was only at the tips, and there was no attempt to tear the ears off the stalks.  Sounds the same as what you have, experienced birds.   Donna