How To Stop Birds From Hanging Around Your Cannabis Plants

If you’re spotting birds around your cannabis plants, you don’t need to panic. They may even be helping to keep your plants healthy. Birds are natural predators who love eating common cannabis pests such as caterpillars, bugs, worms, and snails. On the other hand, you do need to worry about birds if you’re growing cannabis and you’re planning to preserve seeds.

This is because, aside from taking a liking to worms and other bugs, birds unfortunately love nothing more than eating seeds. What’s worse, some birds absolutely love cannabis seeds and prefer them over any other kind. So, if you want to keep your seeds but birds are becoming a problem, you need to take appropriate action. Here is how you can stop birds from hanging around your cannabis plants!

WHICH BIRDS EAT CANNABIS SEEDS?

Birdfeed almost always contains hemp seeds. Why? Because most birds you can spot in the wild really love them. Among the list of cannabis-loving birds are pigeons, doves, magpies, tree sparrows or starlings, and many other game birds. But your seeds are also a favourite among woodpeckers, nuthatches, English sparrows, and others still. Now, unless you’re an experienced bird watcher, you may not be able to identify birds when you see them. If you’re unsure, you can just assume that the birds you’re seeing are likely also very interested in your cannabis seeds.

SIGNS OF BIRD PROBLEMS

Again, for most home-growers, birds shouldn’t be a huge problem. But for breeders, birds are a threat to precious seeds.

There are a few ways you will be able to tell that you have a bird problem. Some birds will boldy pluck the seeds from your plants before your very eyes. Other times, you may notice a seed shortage, but no sight of the culprit. Even without the visual clarification, it’s still likely that birds are pillaging your plants.

Bird poop near your plants is also a sure sign that birds are behind the seed theft, and that they’ll probably come back in the near future.

HOW TO STOP BIRDS FROM LURKING OVER YOUR CANNABIS

Before you do anything to deter birds, make sure that birds are actually the perpetrators. After all, the less attention you attract to your plants, the better. For example, putting up a scarecrow may well be a good way to scare off birds, but it can also reveal your growing location. Think about the possible implications first before you take action.

• Scarecrow

Ever since people started sowing and growing crops, they’ve had to deal with annoying birds eating their seeds. And just like farmers have done for millennia, you could put up a scarecrow to keep the flying pests in check. Your scarecrow doesn’t need to be too elaborate. All you need are some old clothes or rags, some wooden sticks, a hammer, and a bunch of nails. Position your scarecrow near or within your crop for an effective bird deterrent.

• Reflective Objects

You can also put up a bunch of reflective objects in your growing area. Think about CDs, tin cans, and other shiny and reflective things. You can tie them to and hang them off trees or wooden stakes. The more reflective items you place in your growing area, the better. Hardware stores may also carry special reflective decoys in the shape of large owls or cats to help keep birds away.

• Bird Netting

If you can’t scare the birds off, look into bird netting. The nets will form a physical barrier so that they cannot get to your precious plants. These nets can also help keep other pests away.

• Birdfeeder

Put up a birdfeeder as an attractive distraction for the birds. The idea here is that they go to the feeder instead of your plants. This can work as well, but make sure that the bird feeder isn’t too close to your cannabis plants. Otherwise, you may just attract even more birds to your growing area. Place the feeder some distance away from your crop.

BOTTOM LINE

No matter what you do to keep birds away from your plants, think about the potential risks for your growing location. Some methods may be better suited than others if you want to keep your grow on the down-low.