Runner Beans

[Honey Rose]

This year we are having trouble with loads of sparrows pecking off the flowers of our beans we have never had this problem before.Any suggestions as to what we can do please we would be so grateful Thanks

[Moe DeLoughan]

You could consider trying is something that would scare the birds off. Some people use old CDs or DVDs since they're cheap, shiny, and large enough to spook birds by reflecting light. Hang them on strings and suspend them from stakes. Some people scare off birds with plastic owls or snakes placed in the garden.

Another option is to purchase bird netting and tent it over the rows. Stretch in place just far enough away from the plants that the birds' bills can't get through the mesh at the blossoms.

[Brooklyn1]

Some years the weather decimates the birds natural food source

Easiest/surest method is to lure the birds to feed elsewhere... place a bird feeder some distance from your beans... add a birdbath too, sometimes when natural water sources dry up critters will get water by eating the juiciest most tender parts of vegetation... in early morning dewy blossoms are a natural water source and legume blossoms are a favorite. Probably sparrows are not the only birds eating your bean blossoms.

[Billy]

This may work for up to 2 weeks before the birds get wise.