Do Birds Eat Tomatoes? (How to keep them away?)

I was wondering who was eating my tomatoes during the day, which was really frustrating. To find an answer, I installed a camera in the garden and was shocked by what I discovered: it was the birds. Yes, you heard it right, birds.

Once I identified the tomato thieves, my next step was to find a solution to keep them away. Luckily, I successfully found some hacks to protect my tomatoes and enjoy my homegrown produce.

To discover these solutions, read through this guide from start to finish without skipping any parts, ensuring your tomatoes stay safe from birds. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get started!

Key takeaways:

• Birds are often seen eating tomatoes, especially when they ripen properly.
• The tomatoes then have maximum juice, soft skin, and a bright red color that no being can resist.
• It’s a common problem of getting tomatoes spoiled by the birds like blue jays, mockingbirds, and sparrow love, etc.
• Some different ways to keep the birds away to eat tomatoes are Birdbaths, Planting the other favorites of birds, Bird netting, Bird feeders, scarecrows, Wind chimes, etc.
• It is not only the birds from whom you need to protect your tomatoes other living organisms like groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits, and aphids also eat them.
• Not just this, some birds like hummingbirds also like getting some nectar by pecking at the petals of tomato flowers, which gives you minimum fruits. 

But how to save your tomatoes or even the tomatoes from the attack of thirsty birds who are eating your food already? Here are the ways that are easy and still won’t harm the birds, as they are beautiful creatures of the world. 

Do Birds Eat Tomatoes? – How do you keep the birds away from the tomatoes? 

Birdbath 

The birds usually don’t feed on the unripened tomatoes, they prefer red tomatoes only because they are juicy. Birds feed on tomatoes when they are thirsty. You can use an alternative for the juicy tomatoes so that birds don’t stay thirsty and the tomatoes stay safe. The bird bath is the right option. The bird bath gives the bird enough water to quench its thirst. When they get full they will fly away and your tomatoes will stay out of sight and safe from the birds. 

Planting the other favorites of birds 

Coneflowers, viburnum. etc plants can be planted in the garden, what’s special about these plants is that the birds love feasting on these plants. You can plant them in the garden. The birds will be attracted to these plants and the tomatoes will be least attacked. You should plant them away from the tomato plants otherwise the tomato plant will also be these birds’ food which you didn’t want. 

For more such plant related-articles, you may also read, Do Squirrels eat Tomatoes? (Tips to keep Squirrels out of your Garden)

Bird netting 

Bird netting is one of the best ways to prevent birds from eating tomatoes. You need to buy a bird net which is also not expensive and drape that over your tomato plants. The net needs to be placed gently making sure the fruits and the plant are not getting harmed. Another option is placing or wrapping the bird net over the cage, there are negligible chances that birds will eat them. The staked tomato plants can also be covered easily by using the bird net, without damaging the tomato plants. 

Cages 

The cages are a great bird deterrent. The cage can be placed around the tomato plant, make sure the top is there and the plant will also get support from it. The cage can be made of wire, cement, or even collapsible square cages, or plastic net, the choice is all yours. 

Hanging Lights, CDs, DVD

The shiny materials can do a great job in repelling the bids away from that spot or area. The Christmas lights can be placed or hung in the garden or near the garden, which will scare the birds. Other than this, hanging the CDs, and DVDs with a thread or string will also keep the birds away during the daytime when the sunlight will be reflected greatly by the CDs. not only this at night the house light or bulb will also be a source of light to be reflected by the DVDs.

Bird feeders

The tomatoes are getting attacked only because the birds are hungry. Provide them food using the bird feeders where they can munch whenever they want and for any duration. The tomatoes will not be attacked then if the birds will get their favorite snack open, freely, and easily available to them. 

Scarecrow 

This method is used by most rural to urban farmers, gardeners, etc. The scarecrow is used to frighten the birds. The scarecrow is made by using twigs, hay, and dried bushes. They are effective in deterring the birds as they look as if a human is there in the garden already and birds stay away from the garden. 

Cloches

The tomato cloches are available in the market that you can buy and use to cover the plants. They are the covers that create a barrier between the pants and the attacker. The cloche also can be made by using a plastic bottle, placing them by cutting the bottom portion, and keeping the lid or cap on top. They also keep the plants warm and protect them from the cold weather. 

Wind chimes 

The wind chimes are weird but another cool way to get rid of birds from the tomato plants. You can hang the wind chimes near the tomato plants, the wind will influence the chime and noise will be produced that will keep the birds away. The noise can frighten the birds if there is something suspicious near them. 

Types of bird-eating tomatoes:

There are various bird-eating tomatoes such as:

• American Robin
• Blackbirds
• Blue Jays birds
• Brown Thrasher
• Crows
• Horned Lark
• House Sparrow
• Magpies
• Pigeons
• Sparrows
• Starlings
• Woodpeckers
• Quail
• Finches

Which Parts Of The Tomato are eaten by the birds?

When we talk about which part of the tomato plant birds eat, they are able to eat both ripe and unripe tomatoes with the leaves and stems of the tomato plants. The birds also eat the tomato seeds that they are used to get from the inside of the tomato fruit. During the stage of ripening up on the vine and here birds get attracted to them by pecking through the skin of the tomato and are used to get the juicy flesh inside them. To avoid eating tomatoes from the birds you need to protect them so that you can follow the tips that I have mentioned in the article.

Why Do Birds Eat Tomatoes?

Now as you know birds do eat tomatoes but have ever wondered why they eat them here are a few reasons behind it:

• Tomatoes are plants that are good and rich sources of nutrients having vitamins A and C with some minerals like calcium and potassium and birds always need these nutrients to maintain their health and energy levels.
•  They are plants that are very easy to spot and access due to hanging on a vine or bush which makes them easy to find out. The birds are used to getting attracted to bright, colorful objects due to which the birds eat tomatoes easily.

Wrapping up the context

Don’t worry anymore about the birds eating the tomatoes because we have unleashed the secrets that will keep them far away from fruits and you will be able to move them from the garden to your kitchen. to get rid of them you need to follow the above-mentioned way to keep them away from the birds and help to increase the yield of tomatoes in tough conditions. Providing support will help to avoid the dappling of the plant when the weight of fruits starts to increase with the mature stage. We hope this article was helpful to you. We are happy to help. Enjoy your tomatoes! 

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