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calzone_24

caught ya! (follow up to ber, bird damage, other) (video)

calzone_24
17 years ago

I want to say "thank you" to all who have responded to my post(s) with helpful advice. It has helped a lot.

If you have read my post about BER and/or bird damage, you know that I have been observing sparrows ripping leaves off my tomato plants. Well, earlier today I managed to catch them doing it on video! This bird wasn't as zealous about ripping the leaves off as the other one I saw, but you can see him picking at them. I think they were looking for caterpillars, as they would perch on the lower sections of the cages and the plants themselves, and look up (the video I got shows the bird on the top of the cage working on the top leaves).

Anyway, the video is short, and it was taken while my husband was lecturing our kids about responsibility, so you might want to turn the volume down. I don't care if you listen to it or not, he's just talking, but it is a little distracting!

Thanks again!

Michelle

Here is a link that might be useful: bird video

Comments (5)

  • gardeninggrrl
    17 years ago

    LOL, pretty funny! I have a love/hate relationship with the birds right now. They're pretty and cool and all that and I have lots of feeders out for them.....but do you think in return they could refrain from sitting on and breaking branches on my tomato plants?? Is that too much to ask? Sigh.....

    GG

  • anney
    17 years ago

    Well, that solves one question, doesn't it? Sounds like your hubby oughta' be lecturing those birds, too! What kind are they? They don't stay still long enough for me to identify them -- maybe you can.

    I do wonder if the birds originally began messing with your tomato plants because of insects. Not all are pests and some must just fly to the plants to rest in their daily rounds or to look for other insect meals.

    Another thing I wonder -- tomato plant vegetation is said to be poisonous to humans, so I wonder why not birds? But they don't actually look like they're eating the leaves but are just grabbing them and tearing them off. Maybe they're avian juvenile delinquents...

  • torquill
    17 years ago

    Keep in mind that birds are different enough that they don't react to capsacin -- they can eat habanero and scotch bonnet peppers without blinking an eye. I think the alkaloids in tomato foliage would still be toxic to them, but I don't know for sure.

    I guess you have an answer, anyway -- if the damage is a real problem, net the plants. :/

    --Alison

  • calzone_24
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    I think they are sparrows, but I'm not a bird expert. I'm fairly certain they are scoping out the insects, particularly the hornworms, as they seem to know that they hide out on the underside of the leaves, as evidenced by the fact that the birds like to get inside the plant and look up (in additokn to ripping the leaves off the top).

    What I would really like to determine is if the birds are pecking at the fruit. I have not seem them do that, but that doesn't mean that they aren't. Today, at one point there were at least 6 birds on my plants at the same time (they brought friends with them). I got my camera, but when I got close to the slider to film them, they scattered and didn't come back (I tried to be slow and sneaky, but they spooked anyway).

    If the birdies are just looking for bugs, I don't mind losing a few leaves here and there. But if I see just one of them pecking at a tomato, I'm going to have to do something, like invest in some netting. I've tried putting out a saucer of water for them, but so far they show no interest in it.

    I enjoy watching the birds and am fascinated by their behavior, but I wish they would stop vandalizing my tomatoes! The way they have been adding to their numbers, it's like they've started a gang!

  • lazylady
    17 years ago

    House finches are eating my tomatoes. Awful. My husband threatens to kill them.

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