Blue Jay Birds Mishap Alert

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gorgi

Registered:1188888396
Posts: 2,864

Posted 1397576532	Reply with quote #1

Yesterday and today, I noticed that a couple of Blue Jay birds decided to raise a family somewhere near my back yard - they were carrying some white nesting stuff on their beaks... At first I thought that it was blessing; but then it all dawned on me - wait a minute - that white stuff are vinyl tags off my fig trees ... I just went out to inspect, and sure enough, my fears came through. Most of the few newly potted figs that I had just brought outside had theirs tags missing - ripped out by them strong BJ beaks. I took corrective action; but I will still be ending up with some more 'orphaned' figs... __________________ George, NJ_z7a.

Pattee

Registered:1345750012
Posts: 1,417

Posted 1397577083	Reply with quote #2

George they do have a way of aggravating us !! I paint (sharpies) the names on scion besides tagging. Haven't had birds take tags off but I use metal tags. I brushed our husky this past weekend and let the fur "fly" in the wind around our yard ,later noticed birds carrying fur in their beaks. __________________ 7a & 9b ►I assume all my figs carry FMV ◄ Seeking : Italian 376,395 , Galicia Negra, Negretta,UNK Pastilliere ,Pananas Purple, Malta Blk+purple/red, Italian + Calabrian UNK's , Catanzaro, Malone, Sucrette(Baud) "We may have our private opinions but why should they be a bar to the meeting of hearts?" - Gandhi

Aaron4USA

Registered:1375832059
Posts: 2,969

Posted 1397578129	Reply with quote #3

Brush your dogs George, and if you don't have dogs then brush neighbor's dogs, :) Well, at least Blue Jays are carnivores, they eat baby birds and fight with cats... meaning you will have less birds poking at your precious commodities and less cats chasing birds and going through pots while after birds. I am writing all the names on branches too with Silver Sharpie markers... they are permanent.

gorgi

Registered:1188888396
Posts: 2,864

Posted 1397580091	Reply with quote #4

I have only been dive-bombed by the (in)famous Mocking bird. Twice; once locally and once while vacating in FL, both cases while unknowingly walking nearby a nested tree. I was hit from behind on the head and it felt like someone threw a (surprise) little rock at me. I have seen videos of them Mocking birds dive-bombing (startled) people/dogs/cats/etc.. __________________ George, NJ_z7a.

Pattee

Registered:1345750012
Posts: 1,417

Posted 1397580921	Reply with quote #5

Our side yard Mockingbird resident lets us know when we're too close . Cardinals are my nemesis- vying for ripe figs. Mesh bags do wonders although they have tried to peck through the bags ! __________________ 7a & 9b ►I assume all my figs carry FMV ◄ Seeking : Italian 376,395 , Galicia Negra, Negretta,UNK Pastilliere ,Pananas Purple, Malta Blk+purple/red, Italian + Calabrian UNK's , Catanzaro, Malone, Sucrette(Baud) "We may have our private opinions but why should they be a bar to the meeting of hearts?" - Gandhi

rafed

Registered:1252876934
Posts: 5,308

Posted 1397581546	Reply with quote #6

If a bird ever mocks me I am going to spank it and send it to its' nest.

james

Registered:1189185103
Posts: 1,653

Posted 1397581797	Reply with quote #7

LOL Rafed... I hope I'm not the only one who tried to visualize that. __________________ In containers - Littleton, CO (zone 5b) In ground - N.E of Austin, TX (zone 8b) 2016 Wish List: Dārk Pōrtuguese, Grānthāms Royāl, Lātarolla, Negrettā, Nōire de Bārbentāne, Rockāway Green, Viōlet Sepōr, Viōlette Dāuphine. Iranian figs are always welcome.

rafed

Registered:1252876934
Posts: 5,308

Posted 1397583327	Reply with quote #8

LOL James, I remember when I was a kid I tried to steal one of the Blue Jays offspring and I was attacked by four or five of the elder Blue Jays. Had to drop it and run.

gorgi

Registered:1188888396
Posts: 2,864

Posted 1397583802	Reply with quote #9

My bird nemesis is the Catbird - they lately somehow learned that (foreign) fig fruit is also delicious (besides other fruit/insects). @Patee I always had local/resident Red Cardinals here and I do love their very early spring-breaking song and later just-being-here in contrast/along with it white winter snow. No fig damage so far; pl. keep it that way.. __________________ George, NJ_z7a.

RichinNJ

Registered:1374784282
Posts: 1,687

Posted 1397586536	Reply with quote #10

Ive had squirrels steal the tags off of my grape vines

rcantor

Registered:1309799312
Posts: 5,724

Posted 1397589491	Reply with quote #11

Sorry this happened to you. Hopefully you have a list of them all so that there should be a small group of possibilities for each fig and you can tell what they are when they ripen fruit. Each of mine has a tag on the tree and a pot # written on the pot. Each pot # is cross indexed to its name in my database. It would work as well in a notebook. For next time. __________________ Zone 6, MO Wish list: Galicia Negra, De La Reina - Pons, Genovese Nero - Rafed's, Sbayi, Souadi, Acciano, Any Rimada, Sodus Sicilian, any Bass, Pons or Axier fig, any great tasting fig.

jdsfrance

Registered:1376988473
Posts: 2,591

Posted 1397598142	Reply with quote #12

Hi Gorgi, I'm sure you've taken a photo of them sleeping and when you brought them out ... Don't you ? If you, by the shape, color of pot, you can find the information ... __________________ ------------------------ Climate from -25°C to + 35°C Only cold hardy figtrees can make it here

Dieseler

Registered:1215735852
Posts: 8,252

Posted 1397598760	Reply with quote #13

Don't take this in a mean way George . But i would have paid admission to see your facial expression when you realized what they had in between there beaks.

PepperMan

Registered:1391817274
Posts: 109

Posted 1397610858	Reply with quote #14

Lol, I got a good laugh from this post. Hope you can figure out what's what, those pesky birds will get into everything! __________________ Chad New Jersey, Zone 6B Wish List: Col de Dame Gris, Col de Dame Noir. I have small trees for trade starting in May! PM me if interested.

noss

Registered:1244523274
Posts: 2,122

Posted 1397707272	Reply with quote #15

Use paint pens to paint the name of the fig tree on the trunk. I use yellow fine points for marking and it works very well. noss __________________ noss/a.k.a. Vivian Lafayette, LA Zone 9a Wish List: Col de Dame Blanc, Col de Dame Noir, Scott's Yellow, Tony's Brown Italian, any other fig that is good in the rain/humidity and has a real figgy flavor.

HarveyC

Registered:1212433117
Posts: 3,294

Posted 1397711008	Reply with quote #16

Wow, that's a first. I have quite a few trees with just vinyl pot stakes recently moved outside. I've never had such a problem like this before and maybe I've got more suitable things for nests readily available on my farm (lots of weeds, twigs, etc.). Still, need to do something to make sure such a problem doesn't occur here! As far as mocking birds, there is a fun way to mock them, I learned about 40 years ago. As a teenager I was getting somewhat annoyed by a noising mocking bird and I got a cassette recorded and decided to record the racket. Then, just for the heck of it, I replayed it with the player on the window sill. My brother and I had a fun time watching the original bird dive bomb the window continuously. He was very agitated by the new rival! Would be suitable material for YouTube these days, I imagine. __________________ Harvey - Correia Farms Isleton, CA (Sacramento County) USDA zone 9b, Sunset zone 14 http://www.figaholics.com https://www.facebook.com/Figaholics

gorgi

Registered:1188888396
Posts: 2,864

Posted 1397729627	Reply with quote #17

Both Mocking and Red Cardinals are very territorial birds. I once watched 2 Mocking birds doing a real aggressive combat on a street tree in front of my house. Suddenly, both dropped to the ground. One flew off, while the other remained on the ground. I went to investigate, he/she was dead as a (still warm) door nail. There was no signs of blood - not sure what killed it - blunt blows or the fall?!? I once also noticed one female Red Cardinal doing combat with her own reflection in my neighbor's driveway parked car side view mirror... __________________ George, NJ_z7a.

eboone

Registered:1378418906
Posts: 1,100

Posted 1397737337	Reply with quote #18

Quote: Originally Posted by gorgi Both Mocking and Red Cardinals are very territorial birds. I once also noticed one female Red Cardinal doing combat with her own reflection in my neighbor's driveway parked car side view mirror... We have a female cardinal (or series of them, a family trait?) that nests in a Rhododendron bush next to our family room that does battle with her reflection in the window - yearly every summer for about 15 years. We generally get so annoyed with it that we put up some paper over the outside of the window to get her to stop. __________________ Ed Zone 6A - Southwest PA --------------------------- Short wish list: CDDG, LSU Red, Dark Greek (Navid), Col Littman's Black Cross. And any cold hardy early fig.

DesertDance

Registered:1247674606
Posts: 4,518

Posted 1397738970	Reply with quote #19

I'm no fan of hummingbirds after being dive bombed in our vineyard one day. You'll never catch me feeding those evil creatures! We get nests from some red breasted birds in our patio ceiling fans often. JD gets rid of the nests, but the birds keep coming back. Then, no nest, they still lay eggs up there that roll off onto the patio. Splat!! You think they'd get a clue, but they don't. It's not like there are no trees around here. On this property alone there are 12 huge pines and 14 huge palm trees. Ceiling fans? Suzi __________________ Zone 9b, Southern California. "First year they sleep, Second year they creep, Third year they leap!" Wish List: I wish all of you happy fig collecting! My wishes have been fulfilled!

bullet08

Registered:1284496248
Posts: 6,920

Posted 1397751261	Reply with quote #20

there's a reason why there is a term "bird brain". talking about which, i need to get some plant tags. __________________ Pete Durham, NC Zone 7b "don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy and the lash." - sir winston churchill "the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." - the baroness thatcher *** all my figs have FMV/FMD, in case you're wondering. * * and... i don't sell things. what little i have will be posted here in winter for first come first serve base to be shared. no, i'm not a socialist...***

blake

Registered:1392690363
Posts: 16

Posted 1397755522	Reply with quote #21

Quote: Originally Posted by gorgi Yesterday and today, I noticed that a couple of Blue Jay birds decided to raise a family somewhere near my back yard - they were carrying some white nesting stuff on their beaks... At first I thought that it was blessing; but then it all dawned on me - wait a minute - that white stuff are vinyl tags off my fig trees ... I just went out to inspect, and sure enough, my fears came through. Most of the few newly potted figs that I had just brought outside had theirs tags missing - ripped out by them strong BJ beaks. I took corrective action; but I will still be ending up with some more 'orphaned' figs... Same deal at my house... the Blue Jays like to pull the tags off of my Japanese Maples.

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