Which species or type of bird give you a headache in your Grove

[bovine421]

I'm getting some damage on my Valencia Pride not sure who the Copart is but my list of suspects are Mockingbird blackbird blue jay. There is a dead pine tree about a thousand yards across the pond and I have heard a Rattata tat

[johnb51]

Flying squirrel.

[palmcity]

Small common woodpecker - most damage here flying/pecking sweettart to sweettart.
(Large endangered species woodpeckers do not harm mangos IMO)

Common bluejay - 2nd most damage here and is not endangered (aka open season).
(Not endangered scrubjays)

[achetadomestica]

I have problems with a woodpecker.
He pecks a whole in a mango and then he knocks it on the ground
and he eats the whole thing before he goes to the next one.
It takes 3-4 days for him to eat one mango
Last year I had 50 pickerings no problem this year I had 15
He ended up getting 3. I had to pick them green and they were not
as good. I left the last big one that was under the canopy and put an
apple under the tree. It didn't work and he got the last one.
He also loves sapodillas, mulberries and jabos. He likes to peck on the gutter at
daybreak also.

[Finca La Isla]

Parrots and Oropendula, a type of oriole that comes in large groups.
Peter

[W.]

None.

Now, I have some bird damage each year to various fruit crops: blackberries, tomatoes, etc. The usual suspects of cardinals, mockingbirds, catbirds, etc. are responsible. But, I try to grow everything in such abundance that it really does not matter what the birds do, they never make a dent in my crop, and I always have more than enough fruit after the birds take their share.

But... squirrels and chipmunks are a completely different story. They did up potted plants. They chew up plants, potted and in-ground. They waste fruit by pulling off unripe fruit and partially eating it. If my yard was the Old West, there would be posters hanging up everywhere stating, "Wanted: Dead or Alive. Squirrels and Chipmunks. Shoot on Sight."

[CarolinaZone]

Wrens but in general I hate them all.

[hammer524]

Wish I had bird problems instead of the bark scorpions and black widow spiders I see. Feels like every time i go to lift up a pot I'm risking my life

[TonyinCC]

I have a badass resident mockingbird that drives all the other birds out of my yard. Before he arrived I had more fruit damage. It is prime real estate for a mockingbird. He won some epic battles for his territory with nearby rivals. Pretty fierce little bird. I came home one day and he was attacking a possum I caught in a live catch trap. He got in a rat trap once and his beak got a little cracked but he survived. Now he follows me around the yard hoping I stir up bugs for him to eat. He gets a bit of fruit but he earns his keep and gives all the other birds headaches. At times he can get more aggressive than a red winged blackbird. I have seen him attack burrowing owls (3 nests within a hundred yards of my house) which are locally abundant.

[agroventuresperu]

I have a badass resident mockingbird that drives all the other birds out of my yard. Before he arrived I had more fruit damage. It is prime real estate for a mockingbird. He won some epic battles for his territory with nearby rivals. Pretty fierce little bird. I came home one day and he was attacking a possum I caught in a live catch trap. He got in a rat trap once and his beak got a little cracked but he survived. Now he follows me around the yard hoping I stir up bugs for him to eat. He gets a bit of fruit but he earns his keep and gives all the other birds headaches. At times he can get more aggressive than a red winged blackbird. I have seen him attack burrowing owls (3 nests within a hundred yards of my house) which are locally abundant.

How big of an area can it defend?

[TonyinCC]

I live on a corner lot with a vacant lot and a canal on 2 sides. .37 acres with close to 50 fruiting plants in total.

[palmcity]

I have problems with a woodpecker.
He pecks a whole in a mango and then he knocks it on the ground
and he eats the whole thing before he goes to the next one.
It takes 3-4 days for him to eat one mango
Last year I had 50 pickerings no problem this year I had 15
He ended up getting 3. I had to pick them green and they were not
as good. I left the last big one that was under the canopy and put an
apple under the tree. It didn't work and he got the last one.
He also loves sapodillas, mulberries and jabos. He likes to peck on the gutter at
daybreak also.

Well, someone (not I) must have trained these birds in my yard table etiquette....
There is no way mine would fly down to the grown to eat dropped fruit.... Why no way, that's just dirty.... It immediately goes for the next hanging sweet tart till it too falls off the tree.

I have heard them pecking fiercely on the neighbors gutter... lol... I'm hoping they will knock themselves out...

Luckily no sapodilla damage .... yet....

The mulberries I never watch and as W. mentioned, too many mulberries to notice any significant loss.

The birds are pretty smart here... As soon as they see me coming outside with my air powered lead shooter.... They take off and fly down 3 to 4 trees till I walk down and of course then they fly farther down from me.

[twotallgirls]

The Blue Jays are the only ones that I've found that will peck small holes in my hanging mangoes, not often but they always seem to pick out the perfect fruit I planned on picking that day.    However when they drop to the ground its a different story.   If I don't get out there early morning the mockingbirds, grackles, and crows are working them over.
   
The woodpeckers exclusively love to work over the coconut tree and our gutters.  Boat-tail Grackles are just as aggressive as the mockingbirds when it comes to territory.  My cat loves to garden with me so I'm yelled at all they time by whatever is nesting nearby.   

[K-Rimes]

American robin for me. They will gorge themselves on whatever fruit is available, berries being their favorites. They can get underneath the netting on a lot of stuff too and go to town before casually exiting beneath the nets. So very frustrating to put efforts into keeping them out and they still get around it!

Lately I've just accepted I need to bag stuff if I want to enjoy it and then further, I need to accept losses to birds if I want to not be totally stressed all the time.

[Calusa]

Do those fake owls with the solar powered motion feature do any good to keep these pests away from your yard?

[OCchris1]

Parrots for me. Not for the fruit thievery, but the annoyance while trying to catch some ZzZZzzz's. Once they land in my backyard it's over. I have more of a rat/squirrel problem with my fruits. FU vermin

[Daintree]

Ha! That would be my own grasskeets that live in my greenhouse!
For the most part they leave my plants alone, but every so often they go on a binge, and walk the tops of the banana leaves, eating the tasty, crunchy part where the leaves attach to the ribs. I come into the greenhouse in the morning and banana leaves are all over the floor, with just the ribs still attached to the plant like a giant yucca or something.

Carolyn

[Plantinyum]

Birds have been kind with me and i never had any problems, that is prolly becouse my fruit plants are all verry yound and they havent really noticed them. I'm glad they are leaving my blueberries alone ,first year that i have a good crop on them.
Now i do have my whole yard covered with hail net which prolly is making them feel like they may end up in a trap or something, so they do not visit ,like they used to....
Not having a problem with them yet ,apart from nesting under the eave of the house and the fact that they ate half of the almond flower buds in early spring, but i kinda hate sparrows.... 

[bovine421]

That does it I'm not renewing my membership to the Audubon Society

[W.]

Ha! That would be my own grasskeets that live in my greenhouse!
For the most part they leave my plants alone, but every so often they go on a binge, and walk the tops of the banana leaves, eating the tasty, crunchy part where the leaves attach to the ribs. I come into the greenhouse in the morning and banana leaves are all over the floor, with just the ribs still attached to the plant like a giant yucca or something.

Carolyn

Well, you can hardly complain about your own birds messing up your plants. That would have been like me complaining about my dog digging in the yard. He was just too entertaining to stop, regardless of how much of a mess he made of the place.

Now, if it was someone else's birds getting into your greenhouse and damaging your plants, you might have an valid complaint (in addition to being confused as to how someone else's birds are getting in).

[CarolinaZone]

Do those fake owls with the solar powered motion feature do any good to keep these pests away from your yard?

Nope. The don't scare wrens and they don't scare robins.

[palmcity]

Woodpeckers and bluejays primarily:::

[K-Rimes]

Do those fake owls with the solar powered motion feature do any good to keep these pests away from your yard?

No, they don't work. Birds are smart and will push the boundaries with predators in the chase of good food. If the owl never flies at them, they remember that and won't be scared by it. I noticed deterrents are best if you move them around a lot, but sheesh, lots of work for not much effectiveness.

I just net or bag now, it's the only thing that works.