Early summer is one of the best times to seed your lawn for maximum growth.
Do birds come to feast every time you lay grass seeds on your lawn?
Birds eating grass seed causes patches in your lawn, wasting all your efforts.
Rather than accepting your defeat from the birds that jeopardize your efforts to build a fuller lawn with lush green grass, you can use some preventive tips.
This blog shares all the useful tips on how to keep birds from eating grass seed.
So, start reading to grow your grass well.
Learn More: How to Grow Grass from Seed: A Step-by-Step Guide
Types of Birds Eating Grass Seed
These are the birds that may disrupt the seeding process in your lawn:
Doves and Pigeons: It is well known that doves and pigeons are particularly fond of grass seeds. These birds are eager to feast on this nutrient-dense food supply and can rapidly identify the presence of freshly sowed seeds.
Sparrows: Sparrows are active, and tiny birds are keen to identify freshly laid grass seeds. Whenever you will sow the best grass seed, they will come searching for them.
Finches: Like sparrows, finches are another category of bird that eats grass seeds. Because of their small size and flexibility, they can reach seeds that are difficult to reach. Due to that, how to keep birds from eating grass seed may become a challenge for you.
Starlings: Starlings have a reputation for having enormous appetites. If these birds detect the presence of seeds in your lawn, they may enter your lawn to consume them.
How to Keep Birds from Eating Grass Seed: 13 Foolproof Ways
If birds eating grass seed is a major problem for you, here are the best solutions:
1. Cover the Seeds
If you are wondering how to keep birds from eating your grass seed, this is the first thing you should do.
Cover the seeded area with a breathable, lightweight fabric or bird netting.
Creating a physical barrier between the birds and the seed will make it more difficult for them to obtain it. Even skilled birds eating grass seed will fail to identify the area.
To keep birds eating grass seed from getting underneath the fabric, make sure the edges are firmly fastened to the ground.
Horticultural fleece is an excellent option if you have been patching up areas of grass and you have a somewhat smaller area of grass seed.
Spread out huge sheets and use pegs to secure them to the ground.
The fleece shields the area from chilly winds and late frosts while allowing water to permeate and aiding in moisture retention. As a bonus, it helps in pest control.
Once the seeds start to grow and are safe from birds eating grass seed, roll them back up and use them for other tasks in your lawn.
2. Set Up a Scarecrow
In agriculture, scarecrows are widely used for birds eating grass seeds.
If you decide to go this route, you have to knot two sticks together in the shape of a T and cover it with a shirt.
With a hat on top, you can easily create a homemade scarecrow for yourself.
3. Add Sprinklers With Motion Sensors
The latest gadget can solve the problem of birds eating grass seed.
A motion-sensing sprinkler or sprayer’s detection range will tell you how far it can detect motion.
You should try the motion-sensing sprinklers because they detect when birds are flying into your lawn automatically and will shoot water at them to scare them away without hurting them.
Strong gadgets that can detect movement between 40 and 60 feet are available from certain brands.
However, if you have a limited budget, you can consider less expensive sprinklers that have a 30-foot detection range.
4. Divert Them With Bird Feeders
If you offer birds an abundance of other food options, the birds eating grass seed will leave your lawn alone.
You can get bird feeders and fill them to the brim with food that appeals to birds more than grass seed.
To draw in ground-feeding birds such as doves and quails, think about utilizing trays or feeders on the ground.
A few days before you sow the grass seeds, place a pile of sunflower seeds in a different part of the garden every day. This will help distract the birds from the newly sown area.
For birds eating grass seed, specialized bird food blends made especially for ground-feeding birds are available at many pet stores and garden centers.
Doves are drawn to these mixes because they are rich in a range of grains, nuts, and seeds.
While you’re doing it, locate bird feeders as far away as possible from the fertilized grass.
This may bring more birds into the garden, but they will be drawn to the other food sources rather than the lawn.
5. Layer Some Mulch
If you know that your lawn is in bad shape, you can try mulching the area instead.
As these tasks go hand in hand, it’s also a good idea to find out when to plant grass seed in your location.
For those searching for “how to keep birds from eating grass seed,” this method will kill two birds with one stone.
The birds eating grass seed won’t be able to spot the seeds. And secondly, your lawn will grow better.
It will nourish your grass and aid in moisture retention while your grass seed establishes roots.
Rake the seed in thoroughly to make it less noticeable to birds. For a few days, keep an eye on the birds to see if they are being attracted to the lawn.
6. Install Reflectors To Scare Birds
Birds eating grass seed find shiny things and reflective surfaces terrifying. When light beams are refracted by a surface, they lose focus.
If you have been looking for ways how to keep birds away from eating grass seed on the internet, put little mirrors on your grass. If you can’t manage glass, a few pieces of aluminum foil spread out on the ground can also do the job.
7. Apply Bird Tape
Bird tapes are specialized holographic tapes that can repel invasive birds without endangering them.
In this way, you get rid of the birds eating grass seeds without hurting them.
When sunlight hits these tapes, it creates flashes that startle the birds.
These flash tape deterrents have holographic motifs and reflect light. In addition, if you leave the tape hanging, it will frighten the birds away by producing a sharp clacking sound in the wind.
Given that it frightens the birds both visually and aurally, it is an extremely effective ways to deter birds eating grass seed.
8. Use Unpleasant Sound
As discussed above, you can deter birds eating grass seed from entering your garden by creating noises that they find unpleasant, or that give the impression that something harmful is around.
For instance, you can use a recording of a prey bird. You may just play it in the morning and evening when the birds are most active.
Playing it on repeat when the birds come to your lawn may make them familiar with the noise, and they may catch the trick.
9. Clean the Lawn
If your grass has insects and worms, birds will flock there.
If you don’t want the birds eating grass seed and damaging your lawn while eating the worms on your lawn, just take away their food supply.
To deter birds from visiting your lawn, try applying harmless pesticides in addition to bird feeders to keep worms and other insects out of your garden.
Learn More: Spring Yard Cleanups in Ontario: A Comprehensive Checklist
10. Use Seeds That Germinate Quickly
A growing seed needs three main things to grow: water, healthy soil, and sunlight. Absorption seeds are a type of exceptional-quality seed sold in the market.
These seeds have a higher capacity to absorb water from their environment. Germination proceeds faster. For instance, the perennial ryegrass takes five to ten days, so you won’t have to spend much time caring for birds eating grass seed.
Since birds come for the seeds, keeping them off your lawn until germination would be better.
If the seeds germinate quickly, the birds won’t have time to damage your lawn.
11. Place Wind Chimes on the Lawn
Hanging things that make loud noises when the wind blows through them work well to frighten birds eating grass seed.
They will complement the lawn’s appearance because they come in lovely designs.
If you enjoy doing crafts, you can hang old tin cans near to one another so that the cans will crash against one another and rattle when the wind blows.
12. Overseed Your Lawn
A simple additional tactic on how to keep birds from eating your grass seed is to sow more seeds.
If the birds eat a large portion of your seeds, you will notice patches of thin grass. By planting more seeds, you won’t lose all of the seeds, even if some are consumed by birds.
To learn about overseeding, here is a detailed blog for you.
13. Scatter CDs or Tinfoil Across the Grass
Stretch a lengthy piece of string across your lawn in a diagonal pattern and fasten it to trees or fence posts.
Next, thread old CDs along the length of the string, spacing them a meter apart, and tie or glue them in place.
If you don’t have any old CDs, wrap tin foil loosely around the string to maximize its surface area.
Birds eating grass seed will change their direction after being reflected by the light that the CDs and/or foil will cast when they sway in the wind.
For optimal effects, create two to three reflecting threads over larger lawns.
FAQs
How do I keep birds from eating my grass seed?
There are several strategies to deter birds from attacking recently seeded grass seed. Try stringing CDs or tin foil from one end of your yard to the other, or consider laying out netting or mesh across the surface of your lawn. Birds will find other locations to feed due to the mesh preventing them from landing and the light reflected from the CDs.
Do birds consume grass seed?
Yes, pigeons, starlings, finches, and sparrows are birds eating grass seed.
Which bird deterrent is the best?
Small birds are the primary consumers of your grass seed, so while your seeds are sprouting, purchase a faux bird of prey and set it prominently in the middle of your lawn. Alternatively, when birds are most active, in the early morning and evening, play the sounds of birds of prey.
The Bottom Line
These are all the methods you need to know to prevent birds eating grass seeds from damaging your lawn.
Using netting to shield your freshly placed grass seed, putting compost over the seed, motion water sprinklers, and creating sounds are all good ways to keep them at bay.
If you want any assistance with the seeding or lawn renovation process, you can contact Falcons Landscaping.
They can help you maintain your lawn in all seasons.