I have never had that problem (I grow lots of things besides peppers) with birds. Perhaps dropping some of that light weight netting over them without going to the trouble of supports would be enough to discourage them?

john

Hi John,

Thanks for the suggestion. That sounds like a good thing to try first.

Below is a thread I found about someone who had the finch/sunflower problem and the finches went to the trouble of chewing through the netting. They were pretty determined. Perhaps I should plant some sunflowers to distract them.

Last year it was interesting. You could see damage to the sunflowers (but not so bad) on some of the neighbors' plants. On older plants (i.e. pretty high up for giant suflowers) it's a very conspicous pattern. They land on the petioles and peck away between the veins.

Here's a picture of some plants last year. Damage to the upper half of these plants was very mild--check out the lower leaves. I didn't think the plants would make it. And again, to emphasize, I saw the finches land on the petioles, peck away and have a feast--multiple times.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about finch damage to sunflowers

Isnt there some sort of Flea that eats the leaves? I think I remember reading something about them...

cassie in mass,

Perhaps there is. However what did this did it within several hours (or overnight--I wasn't checking hourly). Plus it tore leaves off the plant and nearly broke the stem in two--and ate most of the leaves. I think it's fair to say it was at least as big as a bird. We have squirrels--they are in theory a possibility and they cause a lot of problems--ususally it involves digging holes in the ground or chewing things. Cats can also jump the wall and fences. I suppose mice and rats are another possibility, although they generally don't cause damage around here. Deer and rabbits can be ruled out.

My initial suspicion was a snail--they eat a lot of plants and cause a tremendous amount of damage around here. However I would hate to run into a snail that could violently tear a plant apart like that.

I would bet the finch are eating the bugs that eat your leaves. That picture is not bird damage.

Go out at night time with a flash light just after or as it gets dark. Look close. Bet you find caterpillars on the leaves. They eat all night.

Pick them off and be done with them.

gardendawgie,

I can assure you that was caused by the birds. We (yes I can provide witnesses if necessary) watched undamaged leaves become damaged leaves while we watched the birds from a window several feet away.

Perhaps it's easiest if I just show you a discussion of this in the Garden section of the Sacramento Bee. Birds--specifically Finches--that ate plants leaves--specifically Sunflowers. Not crows eating petunias, but finches and sunflowers--presumably a favored food. Yes some birds do eat leaves (why wouldn't they??). Sacramento is a couple hours away and they share many of our bird species.

I can't link to this anymore, it's now only a PDF. This probably violates copyright law, but it's not worth arguing whether or not they do eat sunflower leaves--it's a common problem out here:

You may want to think about a predator deterrent. I know they make soundtracks of hawk and eagle cries and run them on repeat over and over again at Syracuse University to keep birds away from the astroturf fields to minimized poopage.

As a personal witness, there are a ton of seagulls that prowl Syracuse, and anywhere within earshot of that sound, you see NONE.

Maybe place a speaker under an overhang overlooking the garden? Put in on a motion detector?

My $0.02.

Good luck.

Had plenty of bird problems with eating the peppers - or pecking out the seeds. Use a plastic owl or snake or cat to scare them away. The cat was real. ;)

I heard about flashing tape to scare birds away. It is called Bird Scare Flash Tape. You can see a picture of it on the link below. I imagine you can get these at your local nursery or make it yourself. The flashing tape makes them think of predators. I have large birds around my area, so I'm not sure if it will work with cranes, but should work with crows and other smaller birds. You can also build a wire mesh cage that has small holes, that you can just lift off when you need to harvest. Try looking around at night at the leaves to see if you might also have caterpillars or other voracious bugs.

I don't think you needed to justify the birds to gardendawgie, was just stating what the damage on the peppers looks like, not attacking you. Birds are not the only pests in a garden that can eat leaves like that. Rodents love to eat the leaves of veggie plants (I used to have mice and rats as pets...they were most active at night). A useful way of getting rid of rodents is by using coyote pee, dog hair, things that smell like a predator is around.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bird Scare Flashing Tape

My apologies to gardendawgie if I was too harsh.

The problem is that I and many others have run into extreme skepticism and even ridicule when bringing this subject up. I think everyone is surprised when they actually see the birds at work. Although we have directly observed this and we're not just guessing, our powers of observation and our judgment are questioned. It gets a little old.

For example, read the link underneath the sunflower photo. The person's observations are simply dismissed (by the moderator, it turns out). There are no qualifiers-"maybe", "perhaps", "I think"...pretty much just "you are wrong".

A couple more threads on birds eating plants:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cornucop/msg0911115331219.html

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ipm/msg0819294119964.html

And I just found this one--a discussion of pepper damage where birds are suggested by several people to be a possible candidate:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cornucop/msg0519304731601.html?15

I didn't feel I should have to justify the sunflowers more than simply stating that I clearly observed it and providing evidence that others had as well (such as the two people in the link below the sunflower photo). Presumably someone who expressed skepticism would have taken the trouble to check out that link.

The peppers, on the other hand,are a completely different matter. I don't see the shredded appearance of the sunflower leaves that was due to the repeated pecking of the finches. However, the torn off leaves and the fact that the plant was pretty much broken off pretty much guarantees that it was something at least as large as a mouse or a small bird. I'm still completely open to suggestions on that, as I have not observed anything actually causing the damage.

I am glad to find this thread, because I couldn't believe what I saw this morning. I too have noticed something eating the leaves of my sunflower (and am now wondering if it was the same culprit that destroyed my lime tree's leaves in the spring) and I've been checking for bugs, spraying organic cinnamon oil for snails, but have found nothing. This morning, I looked out the window and there was a little yellow bird sitting on the sunflower's remaining leaf (most are gone already, or hanging by a thread.) As I watched, it started picking off bits of leaf and eating it. I thought maybe it was picking at bugs, but I hadn't seen bugs on the plants, and I could see the pieces of leaf being ripped off. Soon, 5 more little birds joined in - they were chasing each other off the few leaves my plants still have, and eating what is still there. I actually took some video of it, since I didn't think anyone would believe me! Glad to know I'm not the only one- but wish I could come up with a deterrent!!!

Oh my god !!! This thread just solved my mysterious problem !! I just moved all my plants to the new house's backyard, besides all of the existing plants I have, I also planted some mix lettuces, spinach, and swiss chard. I have been seeing the exact same problems on the leaves of the lettuces, tomato leaves, basil leaves as it was shown on the pictures above: half of the leaves are gone, holes on leaves or even the edges of leaves were gone. I thought it was caterpillar so I patiently flipped over each leaves on all plants to examine the underside of them, but see no caterpillar.
When I was in my old house, I usually would catch some caterpillars on the underside of leaves if there were hole on leaves; but this time, I didn't see any caterpillars, so I was feeling really confused. I sprayed some chemical stuff and it is still no help at all.
Today, I finally found a " big strand" of dry stuff ( I called it "a big strand of dry stuff" is because I don't know how to describe it ). Now reading these threads, it did remind me that the "big strand of dry stuff" are indeed birds' poop.

I will be moving in to the new house next weekend & I will definitely pay attention to see if there is any birds eating my plants. I know there are humming birds in the backyard feeding themselves on the bird feeder that my neighbor provide, but do yall think humming bird eats plants leaves too ? Please help !!!

Yeah, finches will eat the leaves off of sunflowers...

My advice, plant a few sunflowers for the birds. Maybe they'll leaves the other plants alone. ;)

Josh

Good idea Josh. ;)

My sunflowers get a flat, very small grey bug on the leaves, very hard to see! It's possible that's what the birds are after.

As far as peppers? Don't know. My finches have never bothered any of my plants.

I have several finches in my garden every day, and all I see them go after is bugs.

I've heard to hang old cd's around the garden, so they spin in the breeze, the shinny flash is said to scare them away.

I'm going to try it in my lettuce, bigger birds are stealing it when it comes up.

JoJo

There are even more reports of this online since I originally posted. The birds are eating the leaves of sunflowers, not bugs. I have never heard of a bird destroying the leaves of a plant in search of insects.

All reports that I have seen come from California. Where the bird has been identified it is always the lesser goldfinch. This bird does not live East of the Mississippi at all.

I would emphasize that I never observed the bird eating pepper plants. I was simply asking whether their taste in leaves extended beyond sunflowers.

The fact that the lesser goldfinch eats sunflower leaves in California has been confirmed many times.

Here is a link that might be useful: Range of the lesser goldfinch

Thanks, JoJo! ;)

I've watched the goldfinches accosting my sunflower leaves this week, in fact.
The sunflowers are volunteers, and they happen to have sprung up directly in
the middle of my pepper patch. So I left them, hoping they'll be a distraction.

I also use CD's tied in my peach trees and in the fencing around my grapes.
Regardless, the birds always take their share of peaches, plums, and nectarines.
Raccoons usually have their way with the grapes.

Josh

Mark,
That is the little bird I have here. I've had a pair living in my yard for 3 yrs now, and they have never hurt a plant, so Im puzzled.
I don't know if their tast in leaves would extend beyond sunflowers.

Hi Josh,
Nothing like a volunteer..lol..:)

I love it when I find them. :) We always have Sunflowers and tomatos extra for the critters.. the finches Love my basil seeds too.

So the CD's don't work so well? bummer! I'll still try them and see what happens.

Critters are smart when they want a snack. :)
I hope you can keep the worst of them at bay Josh.

I hope all of those reading this find a way to deter them, if it is the birds eating the peppers.

Sounds like sunflowers may be a good start.

JoJo

Some THING is eating my pepper plants. Whole, undamaged leaves disappear overnight. It looks like the work of a critter that is larger than those insects that usually feast on pepper plants. Any ideas???

Well, you could try to fashion a Chicken Wire cover for the plant/plants. That would keep out the larger stuff. Anything smaller than a finch would be able to get through. I feed Gold finches and others all year long and they dont bother my peppers in the least.

The key is finding out what is doing it. Then a real solution can be devised.

I have finches and house sparrows that have a taste for pea seedlings. They haven't bothered my peppers at all, but the peas were in trouble. I also noticed that they nibbled at cuke and zucchini seedlings also, but once the regular leaves came out, they quit. I just fashioned a chiggin fence deal to surround the peas until they get larger, and alas! the seedlings are no longer being chewed on. Too bad the peas would rather put their tendrils on the chiggin fence than the trellis. Had to fashion a bigger fence. Anyway, enough on that, just make a dome of chiggin wire to cover your plants.

Joe

I have just had birds decimate my whole plot of chilli plants within 24 hours. I am not talking about slugs nibbling bits of it. Literally before my eyes, my Carolina Reaper, Seven Pots, Habaneros, New Mexico varieties, sweet pepers, etc, all gone. They literrraly eat them down to little stumps. The resident birds in my garden are: magpies, pigeons, robins, doves. Visiting one's include sparrows, starlings, finches, blue tits, wagtails,

We've quail around here who will sometimes devour young tender vegetables. Peppers seem their least favorite but they will go after peppers sometimes.

I got a cheap roll of chicken wire to make cages arougd mine and then used those foil pie pans on strings and stakes to scare the birds away. Plus if you have issues with bugs or even think you do, diatomaceous earth is good to help keep them at Bay.

This is definitely a thing! I couldn't figure out what was decimating my hot pepper and sweet pepper plants this year. I'd tried a neem based spray and diatomaceous earth to no avail. The plants were stripped down to just the stems. Then new leaves sprouted out. I was so relieved, until I looked out my window and saw several finches going to town on them! 5-6 birds on 3 scraggly plants, pecking at and tearing leaves off. And just the pepper plants. No other veggies. I just put netting over them and will add flashy stuff. I do feed birds to attract them to the yard. I have a sunflower feeder, a wild bird seed feeder, and a thistle feeder. Maybe I was too slow to refill? I'd sure like to know more about why they do this!

I live in Asia and I have witnessed sparrows peck on leaves of my bell pepper seedlings, decimating all the leaves and even uprooting the whole seedling plant 3 inches tall. No bugs or pests on the leaves. They go to town on it like it owes them something.

Birds are immune to capsaicin and are naturally attracted to the plants and fruit. Many domestic bird seed contains pepper seeds. If you have a lot of plants in one area, netting is a good solution.

I haven’t had this experience (yet) because I haven’t embarked on my new gardening lifestyle. But, next spring will be a new day. I wonder if this damage occurs mostly in the spring, or if it is related to the birds raising young. Baby birds cannot eat seeds, and parents need to find insects or worms to feed their growing family. If insects are in short supply, maybe they resort to leaves. Are those of you who have had damage located in cities or suburbs, where there might be a limited supply of wild plants or insects? Maybe try planting a bed of sprouts for the birds and covering the real garden. They might also need the moisture from the leaves, if there isn’t a nearby source of water. Install a bird bath? Just my ponderings.