#2 - Never had to deal with birds when growing in-house

[voyager]

I've had buds going missing from the spikes of some of my outdoor orchids.
I first noticed orchid flower buds disappearing from flower spikes on a pretty yellow/brown flowered Onc. Sweet Sugar last summer.
It had been stripped of buds and never flowered from that spike. Since then I've noted that many of my Oncidium/Odontoglossum types end up missing at least a few to many buds from their spikes. I assumed it was the ants that were affecting some of the others of my outdoor orchids.

While speaking with my main orchid pusher today, I mentioned about the buds disappearing. He says it's the birds eating them. The birds, shades of Alfred Hitchcock.
He says that my good buddy, the Red Cardinal, is probably the worst offender. I feel as if a con has been run on me. I liked that guy. I noted that he did eat the ornamental bananas from my Zabrinas, and I did watch that he was not getting into my apple and ice cream bananas.
There is little doubt that he is not the only offender eating my orchid buds.
How can I protect my orchids without sitting out there with a shotgun?

[Subrosa]

A local berry farm used an automated carbide cannon. Every hour, BOOM! Birds gone without bloodshed. The farmer wasn't very popular with the neighbors.

[Gravelsack]

Have you tried bird netting?

[Leafmite]

Actually, the cardinal might be eating the ants that you are posting about in another thread. That is what they often do here.

[WhiteRabbit]

I know that people use pin-wheels, or dvds/cds dangling from strings to protect other types of plants and trees from birds and squirrels - for orchids, pin-wheels might be easier to use, tho it may be possible to devise a way to hang cds (or other very reflective objects) in the area.

[wintergirl]

Also you could make a "scarecrow" person stand near your orchids. Some people use fake owls to scare birds away.

[gngrhill]

I think that bird netting that blueberry farmers use is the most effective Idea.

[voyager]

Thanks folks for your ideas.
After checking into them, I don't think there is an acceptable method for dealing with the bird problem.
This is a yard not a commercial endeavor.
I have to consider the esthetics of the control methods.

Bird netting will not do for orchids scattered all over an acre mounted at various heights.

Scarecrow type measures and moving shiny objects would also have to be scattered all over the lot and they'll only be effective for a while, until the birds figure out that they're nothing to worry about.

I may be back to giving serious consideration to putting up a greenhouse, keeping them under cover until they bloom.

[Bud]

put them in hanging pots or mounts....its nice to have orchids outdoors up on trees for that's how they are supposed to be grown....yet if you notice any early spikes better bring them indoors to develop flowers ....then put them back after the flowers are gone.

[voyager]

Originally Posted by Bud

put them in hanging pots or mounts....its nice to have orchids outdoors up on trees for that's how they are supposed to be grown....yet if you notice any early spikes better bring them indoors to develop flowers ....then put them back after the flowers are gone.

I have been giving that idea consideration.
They only need protection when the buds are forming.
When the flowers open, they are no longer bothered by the birds.
It has been suggested that the buds look like berries and taste good to the birds.

I do have problems with this approach:
1.
Having the orchids mounted on the trees as opposed to being on mounts and hung from the trees to me is a more visually pleasing method.
Plus, you have to hunt around to find and see many of them.
They blend into the landscape, but become more obvious when they bloom.
2.
I already have many orchids mounted in the trees from 3' to 15' off the ground.
I just do not see me running up and down an extension ladder to move and change orchids around.
It violates my "more orchids, less work" ethic.

I have had very good luck with mounting the orchids around the yard on the trees.
All of them have survived.
None have died.
I may just have to accept the fact that I will need to provide "horses doobers" for the birds as the cost of having them in a more natural setting.
But, not yet.
I will continue to look for a remedy for the problem without having to resort to a shotgun.