Eating grapes from birds, help me, how can i stop definitely?!

[TurkeyHollow]

I'm really surprised that @BigDaveK hasn't fermented grape-eating birds yet (purely an assumption)!

 

[ChuckD]

I’ve seen a lot of vineyards here use the Mylar ribbons.

 

[BigDaveK]

I'm really surprised that @BigDaveK hasn't fermented grape-eating birds yet (purely an assumption)!

How embarrassing! An example of so-obvious-why-didn't-I-think-of-it.

 

[JBP]

Another option: Find a local falconer to fly/hunt your vineyards - more effective than plastic models or shotguns. Falconry for abatement is becoming more common. Depending on where you are in the world, falconry may be practiced locally.

 

[David Violante]

Just picked my concords. Stems were turning brown, seeds starting to turn, yellow jackets on the grapes. SG not as high as I wanted but there was starting to be more bird damage and it’s going to rain like heck. Falconry you say… that’s pretty interesting! We’ve had hawks help suppress the smaller animals like squirrels and chipmunks but the birds... I had the nets out to put on and then just thought it was time.

 

[JBP]

Just picked my concords. Stems were turning brown, seeds starting to turn, yellow jackets on the grapes. SG not as high as I wanted but there was starting to be more bird damage and it’s going to rain like heck. Falconry you say… that’s pretty interesting! We’ve had hawks help suppress the smaller animals like squirrels and chipmunks but the birds... I had the nets out to put on and then just thought it was time.

Buteos (red-tailed hawks and similar) and owls prey on small mammals. Falconry abatement is done with bird predators (falcons of various species/hybrids). Quite effective.

 

[vtoddw]

Perhaps the amount of damage birds can do on dozens, or hundreds of aces of grapes just isn’t significant compared to a small home vineyard. That and the effort to protect them with netting isn’t cost effective.

Possibly, there's only so many grapes a flock of local birds can eat I suppose. They'd certainly decimate my 30 vines...

I actually just visited Hawk Watch winery today in Warner springs and they had the same side netting on their vines in that Plantra link I posted. They are much smaller production but they are commercial as well so it may come down to acreage and local environment. specific to Dave's situation, I still think the netting is the best way to go.

 

[ChuckD]

Possibly, there's only so many grapes a flock of local birds can eat I suppose. They'd certainly decimate my 30 vines...

I actually just visited Hawk Watch winery today in Warner springs and they had the same side netting on their vines in that Plantra link I posted. They are much smaller production but they are commercial as well so it may come down to acreage and local environment. specific to Dave's situation, I still think the netting is the best way to go.

My 98 vines are adjacent to hundreds of acres of sedge meadows and marsh. I’m already starting to see flocks of redwing blackbirds numbering in the hundreds. When my vines start producing next year I’ll be using bug netting… did I mention the wasps everywhere this year too.

 

[vtoddw]

My 98 vines are adjacent to hundreds of acres of sedge meadows and marsh. I’m already starting to see flocks of redwing blackbirds numbering in the hundreds. When my vines start producing next year I’ll be using bug netting… did I mention the wasps everywhere this year too.

Oh man, It'll be interesting to see how much bird pressure you'll get when the grapes start smelling sweet, I'm guessing you must be dropping all your clusters at this point? I consider myself lucky that I haven't really had a wasp problem yet, I saw a couple eating some of the ppat harvest clusters id left on the vines last October but for the most part I've dodged any real wasp pressure here. If that changes in the coming years I'm gonna have to upgrade to insect netting as well.

 

[ChuckD]

Oh man, It'll be interesting to see how much bird pressure you'll get when the grapes start smelling sweet, I'm guessing you must be dropping all your clusters at this point? I consider myself lucky that I haven't really had a wasp problem yet, I saw a couple eating some of the ppat harvest clusters id left on the vines last October but for the most part I've dodged any real wasp pressure here. If that changes in the coming years I'm gonna have to upgrade to insect netting as well.

Yes I’ve dropped everything this year. I should get a Marquette and Petite Pearl harvest next summer. This has been a really bad wasp year so I’ll just go straight to the fine mesh netting