Over the years, we have had problems with mice and chipmunks eating the figs,
but this past year it was the birds.  Is this a common problem?  If so, are there
any clever tricks beside bird netting?  Netting isn't much good against the wrens
that can go right through it after our blueberries, so I'd like to know if anyone has
any others tips......

Thanks

I have had a problem with catbirds and blue jays getting mine waiting for the exact day they are ripe. Netting is the only thing, but a pain. There is a no seeeum class of netting that works well.  Many of us have acquired green or yellow figs because the birds tend to target the dark figs vs the green ones.

http://www.bird-x.com/ultrasonic-bird-control-pages-103.php

Lots and lots of hawks does the trick.  Around my place, blueberries and other berries don't really need to be fought over if you don't really want so many.  Squirrels, opossums, and raccoons are infinitely worse enemies than birds.

I remember someone posting about using fake snakes. They were tied with fishing line to a branch to make it look like they were moving in a slight breeze. Don't know if it worked but that might be worth a try.

Duh, Yeah, birds are a problem. If they are just discovering your figs, your birds much be a bit retarded or lazy. Here they eat figs you didn't even know you had yet. The ultimate solution is bird net. Keeps out birds and other critters, and even pesky neighbors.

That's amazing about the hawk...... We have a family of hawks in our back woods.
Maybe that's why pests have been less the last couple years.  

Thanks for the tip about green figs; mine are definitely brown and the birds love them.
Now I need to get some info on the best cold-hardy green figs.....

I used nets for a while but one day a snake got caught into it; some time later a black bird. I did not like it.
Now I got 3 cats and they patrol my yard continuously (they live outside on my gallery). No bird gets close to my figs!

I try to stay ahead of the birds.  I start picking figs as soon as they start ripening and don't let the birds get used to feasting on the figs.  One year I built a scarecrow with a shirt,cap and pair of blue jeans.  I would lean in against the tree and move it around the tree daily.

My new best friend, the previous owner of our new place, who runs the local nursery with her husband, told us to use that foil flutter tapes.  She tried everything and that worked perfectly with the exception of the raccoon who got the persimmons!  I'll be sure to get that flutter tape for the birds, and traps for the ground squirrels!

There is something called hardware cloth, that is like chicken wire only more user friendly and comes with smaller holes, and maybe you could bend little cages over ripening branches?  Rolled up, it works great for trunk protection from voles.

Good luck with your protection from pests!

Suzi

The birds are color blind

I can say from experience, this idea of green/yellow figs being invisible to birds is just not true.  Interestingly enough, I've had green figs attacked while there were dark figs on other trees.

My Montmorency cherries get wiped out every year, and last year the birds came after my figs too. There are a couple things I have read about that I'm going to try this summer.

• Hang shiny things in the tree that look somewhat like fruit before anything is even close to ripe. Eg christmas ornaments. The birds investigate, find it is not food and ignore the tree later in the year.
• Spray with Methyl anthranilate, commonly sold under the trade name Grape KoolAid. Birds find it irritating (as do I :)), but a levels much lower than we can detect.

Of about 12-15 varieties of figs last year, the birds ate some of all of them with the exception of Panache.  They loved Jurupa and Long Neck Yellow maybe even more so than Mission but they did not touch even one Panache that was right next to the others.  I let them get dead ripe and they were pretty much yellow when I picked them so they didn't have green stripes any longer.

I've use foil tape on some things before and am not sure it helped or not but I didn't do a very good job at putting it up.  It often would get tangles in tree branches.  I think I might put up poles with a wire suspended above the fig trees and hang the folk tape (silver one side red on the other) from the wires.  Only time will tell if I actually get around to it.

i heard that some people plant mulberry to distract birds. the birds in my neighborhood found the figs last year. but yesterday, i saw what looked like red tailed hawk swooping down on my front yard. i think i'll have to read up on falconry.

One of our neighbors hangs a few discarded CD disks from threads in a fruit trees
because they move in the breeze and flash in the light; anyone ever tried that?

I have tried CD's and owls. They work till birds get used to them.

I asked several professional small berry growers
if this strategy worked for them.

They all pointed to their fields covered in bird netting,
and to where the Mulberry trees used to be planted.

Key with bird control is CHANGE.
What works today,
will not work as well 3 weeks from now.
So employ different methods at different times,
and delay using your tactics until fruit needs protection,
less work for you.

OK I guess the next logical question is How much better are figs brought to full
ripeness on the tree than figs picked before the birds get them and ripened in
the house.......or do they ripen after picking?

Nope, unripe fig will not ripen after picking and they taste like crap. Hermeticallysealed bird netting is the only solution. Even a tiny gap will be found and exploited. 

My birds are so mean, they will eat their fill and take a peck out of the rest of the figs so that they spoil and I can't enjoy them. 

I agree,with birds being mean,because they do make a hole in most ripe figs looking for seed in center.
I use nets,too,with some success.
This year an young Tomcat established a home on my backyard patio,because he was hungry and found dog food ,there,as I provide for my Bichon frise beauty girl.
So it never left and now we bought cat food for him and called him Garfield,and he is an awesome young Tomcat,that will turn in an awesome large cooper Tomcat.
It seem that someone dumped it ,in front of our house,because I asked the neighbors,if someone know anything about the cat,and it does not.
It is not wild at all,in fact it is so obedient that any time I shout ,Garfield",it comes to me faster and more obedient than my dog,doesn't matter if it is far at the end of backyard or in front of house.
I have never had such an obedient pet in my life,not to mention an obedient Tomcat.
It already hunted a sparrow and brought it to my door,but it ate the head,so it was headless.
I really do not like it kill birds,but to scare the catbirds,away from my figs,that I like.
Sparrow do not do any damage whatever,but the cat doesn't know that.
Cat Bird do most damage to fig fruits here,and hope ,Garfield will take care of them and so,a week ago we bought a Cat house,and a pillow, for our new pet. +Food Galore

Herman, it sounds like you both help each other out.  That's a great relationship.

The secret to keeping birds from eating too many figs is to recognize they are intelligent creatures with a lot of time on their hands.
And they are not color blind.
Many, like crows and Jays are very intelligent.
I use a whole host of different things from foil strips to balloons to fake snakes to motion sensors, etc.
Of course a lot of these things are also meant to prevent the other critters from eating too many figs as well. 

Animals and birds will recognize, say, fake baby snakes, for example, after a certain period of time and the snakes will have to be replaced with something else. The trick is to recognize that you need to use things that are simple to rotate through your system. So, if you realize that hanging Cd's will only affect them for a couple days, obviously they shouldn't be difficult to remove or require a lot of time.
I rotate a bunch of stuff as I don't want to use netting.
My system works great for me.

I do have a dog who is absolutely murderous to squirrels and I do go out 3 or 4 times at night with him -- the older you get the less you sleep -- and he'll run off 'coons and possums, etc.

Each year different things work better then others. Last year my baby snakes worked the best. Why? I have no idea. They were new ones so maybe it was the colors or patterns or size or . . . One year I had a scarecrow that worked great - had DVD pieces for eyes and was really spooky - had arms that moved, etc. -- but the next year the darn thing turned into a perch for the crows.

I take on the project with creativity and humor now so I don't end up on the roof with a magnum.