Homemade solution to scare birds. A cardboard silhouette of a hawk on top of a tall cane. And it works too…
Here it is on top of my MoscatelBranco fig tree. It moves slightly with the wind and imitates a hawk hovering over a prey.
I haven’t lost a fig yet and the peach, pear and apple trees nearby are also untouched.
Last year i made one, even more crude, but it “flew” with the wind. No birds approach the area and unlike previous years i had a great crop of figs.
Meanwhile, my Preto de Torres Novas fig tree, 500 yards away, is a bird’s heaven. They eat all the figs. I have to make another one and place it there.
For the not so handy, there are professional solutions. They are even used in public buildings to scare pigeons and other birds. No bird will risk facing a hawk.
Here’s one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoIIHrWnEFo&feature=youtu.be