I did not realize the figs would be getting ripe already - it is only the first week of July.  My Peters honey figs have been pecked out.  I have another one that is becoming yellow and the eye is opening, and I would like to get a taste of a home grown fig to see if I actually like them. I had a store bought brown fig and it was no big deal.  

What do I do to keep the birds out?  I have only a small number of figs on my new tree - first year.

Thanks!

Jan

You can take different approaches. One way is to put a fake owl or snake in the tree or hang old cd's on the branches. These are only temporary fixes because the birds soon learn they are fake but it may buy you time for them to ripen. Organza bags also help but they aren't fool proof either.

Welcome to the fig world. You can cover them up with organza bags. You can find them very cheap on eBay or Amazon. Make sure you buy plenty. Good luck :-)

Thanks!  I have some seed starter bags that look similar to the organza bags.  I put them over the next set of ripening figs to hold the birds off 'till the actual organza bags arrive.  

Will netting stop birds?

Hi WL - 

We tried bird netting on tomatoes before.  It didn't keep the birds from pecking the tomatoes close to the netting and it caught a lot of native lizards and strangled them when they tried to wriggle free.  That took a toll on the caterpillar predators in the garden. I think the organza bags are the way to go.

Janni,

Thanks. I probably should order some bags then also.

You can try encasing it in the little clam shell that fruit comes in. 

Hi VeryNew2Figs,

I would have to eat a lot of fruit to get clamshells in time :)  We already bought the organza bags and are waiting for them to show up.

The bags worked well for me last year, the nets just had me getting pecked from birds I had to rescue and untangle from the nets. The smaller bags had to be cut open for the LSU Golds to get them out last year so bigger than 3 x 5 inches may be needed for some figs.

Thank you for the advice JMRTSUS.  I ordered two different size bags.

Unless you put up a net away from the fuit, you will never how much is lost. They get them even when unripe.

You mean to tell us Birds ate and pecked your Figs? Very Unusual! You need to protect them!  : )

Yeah, Frankallen, that is what I mean to tell everyone... and I have pix for evidence!  :p

Janni,you just need more fig trees.That way you have a better chance at getting some.

Ha ha ha ha!  Hi GButera,  I have Panache Tiger, Peters Honey, Ischa Green, Lattarula Honey, Violette de bordeaux, White Marseilles, Desert King and Black Mission.  This is because I don't know if I like figs and if I did, which figs would I like.  The Panache dropped fruit this year, and the others are too young yet.  Maybe next year.  I think maybe then the birds will be outnumbered - and probably not.

I should grow some very distracting sunflowers, I think.  Keep them occupied with something else.

Gardencrochet, you know the funny thing is the green/yellow figs were reportedly less interesting to birds because they can't detect them 'ripening' by color. Joke on me, huh? LOL...

At least you dont have problems with raccoons,those things
are terrible.They devour everything in their path.Not
really but they put the hurt on me this year.

Gardencrochet, the sunflowers look pretty nice.  I was thinking perhaps some sunflowers would be interesting to grow because I saw a recipe for braised sunflowers. Reportedly tasted like artichokes. Someone cooked up some 5" diameter sunflowers and thought it was too labor intensive for a small reward.  What type of sunflower would you recommend that is large and would have a thick heart (like artichoke heart).

These are some nice large varieties Sunzilla, Kong, or Titan. Even Mammoth Russian grows pretty big. Unfortunately keep in mind that the bird's will devour your seedlings as well. Find a way to protect them in their early stage. Your bees will be so happy and reward you for growing sunflowers.

Birds have been given a bad rap by fig enthusiast afraid of losing a fig or 2.  What I stumbled on is that only some birds actually eat figs.

I have bushes all around and also put up several bird houses for wrens and swallows.  Also I put out bird feed daily (twice a day during winter). So the place is buzzing with all sorts of colored birds that are seed and insect eaters.  I have a lot of fig trees and seldom lose a fig to a bird. 
Some common seed eaters (granivores) that don't touch my figs or other fruit;  cowbirds, bluejays, cardinals, orioles, sparrows, wrens, warblers, finches, doves .....

The interesting point I stumbled on and is also discussed on the web is that seed eating birds are territorial and are very aggressive to other birds and thus chase fruit eating birds away.

I do use organza bags if I really really don't want to take a chance but mostly use the organza bags to protect the fig from wasps and ants.

Hi Pino,

That is really interesting.  We have pigeons and doves galore over here.  I'm searching the net for the theory, but coming up short.  It's all about birds being pests.

Pino, I was reading an article earlier this morning while angry.  LOL. It suggested that keeping figs short (bush) kept the birds from getting figs more than anything else.  I only have two 'tree' styles so far, the others are multi-trunk bush types.  I'm going to try the theory and if it works, cut back the 'tree' trained figs.

Article: http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2013/07/how_to_score_with_figs.html