Comments on: Enemy #1 – The American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

By: Carrie

Carrie — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 05:27:07 +0000

As for Robins usually if you are seeing them in multiples they are a mother and her clutch of babies.
In former gardens I depended on the robins to keep the bugs down, in fact I would often dig the slugs and grubs out toss them over my shoulder to a plate or plastic sheet. One day I found that I had a whole slew of robins fighting for them and after that they would show up if I worked in the garden.

Another option for keeping them out is poultry netting. It is soft and usually can be purchased in various colors to keep its visibility low. I had to do this as robins also love strawberries.

By: Bentley

Bentley — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:04:44 +0000

MARK – sounds like a good approach!
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SON – I’m not sure about eating less, but yeah Euros are definitely larger and generally don’t increase in number (and mature) as quickly as Red Worms.
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AL – another great idea. Thanks for sharing.
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JIM – going to sound like a broken record…uhhh…CD here (haha) but that is yet another great idea.
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CASSANDRA – thanks for the kind words. The ‘Worm Tower’ type of system is a great way to avoid these sorts of issues with birds, although you may need to set up a bunch of them to deliver the same fertilizing power as the vermi-trench provides.

By: Cassandra

Cassandra — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:32:56 +0000

Bentley,
I always enjoy your posts and this one was hysterical! I am planning to put a worm tower in my garden and I may need your posted advice. We’ve got plenty of robins around here.

By: jim144

jim144 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:25:31 +0000

Bentley,
I have a trick that I use for my garden, that may prove to help you out conciderably in critter deterent department. I put a post at either end of the garden (ok several). then I string twine from one end to the other. then i tie differing lengths of string/twine from the end to end one, at irregular intervals. at the end of those lengths of string, i hang an old CD (I work in IT, and there are lots of old software CDs laying about). The wind will kake them revolove and the sun will reflect off of them. This will create an environment that make the critters too uneasy to stick around (they think that a hawk or something is coming from above).

It works well for me. I am able to keep the critters outta my garden, and am able to ‘recycle’ the CDs into something useful.

By: Al Wright

Al Wright — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:45:45 +0000

I used landscape fabric over my test trench. It allows just a little bit of light and all moisture in, but rascally robins will have (should have) trouble getting in. I also made some bin covers with 1×3′s and the same fabric. My main reason wasn’t to keep birds out, but to keep bug and fly populations as low as possible.

By: Son Nguyen

Son Nguyen — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:20:08 +0000

Just to say that I enjoy your posts and sense of humor on worm composting. I just started my first worm bin with about one pound of red wrigglers about two months ago and had to split them into two bins recently, not because of the increase number of worms, but rather the amount of food for them. I hear that euros are bigger but slower in reproducing and also eat less. Is that correct?

By: Mark from Kansas

Mark from Kansas — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:01:13 +0000

Bentley,
uh, well, we put a bird bath and feeder in the front yard away from the garden. And when Letty pulls weeds in the morning she finds some worms to throw in the feeder. “Can’t beat ‘em, feed ‘em”.