So many of you have major bird problems in your Orchards. What are the worst species for damage to your fruits? I would like to know which ones I should be looking out for, before they do major damage. I will have to invest in bird nets eventually but haven’t yet.
I am also curious What birds, if any, do you like having around?
The only birds I have had regularly before this year were mainly native prairie birds and/or insect eaters that were living here before we built our house. None of these seem to be fruit eaters so I like having them around. However, there is a mockingbird that likes grapes a bit too much.
As my fruit trees and shrubs mature, more birds are coming around, obviously. I am seeing a couple of robins, and just yesterday a brown thrasher started to build a nest in one of my grape vines. I removed the nest material, but the bird got right back to building later in the day. While they are mainly bug eaters, descriptions say the thrasher will definitely eat fruits and nuts when other food sources are not readily available, going into fall. I need all the help I can get with the grub and bad bug population, but I don’t want to encourage fruit damage either.
birds!
Agreed, catbirds are the worst by far. And I have a mess of 'em. Robins are bad but not as bad as catbirds. Sparrows mainly seem to be going after bugs, I saw one flying erratically yesterday and realized it was chasing a moth.
The Catbird has been our worst bird. They are smart and can figure out how to get into netting. They also have an annoying caw.
The best birds were the Cooper’s Hawks we had around last year. They scared the Catbirds away. They didn’t come back this year, so now the catbirds are back.
It funny about robins. I have robins everywhere in my yard but have not once seen a robin eating a berry. My last name is Robinson so I thought maybe we have an unspoken agreement.
Bad birds - Robins, require netting over the blueberries or they all disappear
Good birds - sharp shinned hawks. There is a pair of sharpies in the nearby woods, and I believe they have contributed to the marked reduction in robins in my yard
So far the birds have ignored my raspberries for the last 20+ years and my figs for 5 years
Definitely robins
Also grackles
I saw Hawks building a nest on my neighbors property this spring but can’t see them anymore because of the dense trees. There seems to be less birds around this year. I only saw one catbird. Maybe the Hawks are still there. Catbirds would eat all my blueberries if I didn’t net them.
Robins should be happy eating worms but they like fruit also. They destroyed 80% of my tomatoes last year.
We have Coopers and Redtails - I’d like to see more of them at work, especially the Redtails on the squirrels and rabbits
Wow, thanks so much for the input folks! I had to look up catbirds in my Kansas Birds book. It says they are common statewide, but I haven’t seen or heard one around my house yet. Now I know what to look out for. 
These robins have been super busy hopping around the garden grabbing up food, but I can’t see if they are mainly eating worms or if they are getting other bugs too. I haven’t seen them in the blackberries or raspberries, thankfully.
I put up bluebird houses this spring and got 2 pairs to nest successfully! We have a lot of Barn Swallows, Eastern Meadowlarks, Killdeer, Horned Larks, Dickcissels, Eastern Kingbirds, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Upland Sandpipers, Nighthawks, and many more native prairie birds that are tough for me to identify. We have resident Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels, and a few times a year I will see Bald Eagles, Cooper’s Hawks, and Swinson’s Hawks. Northern Harriers are winter residents, love to watch those guys. We get the occasional Bobwhite Quail and Greater Prairie Chicken hanging out in my garden and orchard, which are fun to see.
The Cowbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Blackbird, and Morning Doves can be problematic. The biggest nuisance species here by far is the European House Sparrow. They were eating my grapes last year, but the main issue with them is they are killers. They throw eggs or babies out of Barn Sallow nests, killing them, then they take over the nest themselves. I have read they will also do this to bluebirds. If that wasn’t bad enough, they make a huge mess and are irritatingly noisy (they dont ‘sing’) - they are nasty birds. I have declared war. 
House finches are the worst in west Texas.
Flickers and Bluejays are the apple eaters here (SE Mich). Bluebirds are the best but they are preyed upon and evicted by the English House Sparrow which is a “target species” at my compound and a close second is the good ole’ Starling.
Catbird is smarter than me and it’s starting to bother me. He/she is the number 1 culprit of half eaten cherries still hanging from the tree. Although the gold cherries are much better for me since the birds don’t see them as easily.
I put up a house to attract Purple Martin’s and ended up getting two nesting pairs of tree swallows. While not exactly what I was hoping for I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment watching them. They eat bugs.
And I agree the English house sparrow needs to be completely eliminated. Along with starlings.
Do any of you guys have a good system for eliminating house sparrows? They are on to me… If they hear a window or door open, or my hear footsteps on the porch, they fly away before they even see me. I still get a few, but they reproduce quickly and I don’t feel like I make a dent in the population.
Thankfully, we haven’t had any starlings show up yet.
I would also list starlings and English sparrows as bad birds but not from a standpoint of my fruit.
Robins with the Blueberries,but don’t see too many,with all the cats around.
Also,for the first time last Winter/Spring there were some leaf buds missing on a Peach tree.Probably some small birds,like Sparrows. Brady
The only birds I’ve caught in the act are cardinals eating raspberries. Daily, lol. But when I looked, they didn’t take many, so I still think they’re good birds here.
The best are hawks. I have some shouldered hawks who know me well and hunt all over my yard. One is so used to me, he took a bird out in a tree I was standing right beside-- with my dog, lol! He swooped right by my shoulder. But he got a cardinal, so that part was bad.
Use a sparrow trap.
The sparrows are unafraid of cars. I take my .410 for a drive around the pasture. The .22 from the house and the pellet gun for feeders. I only shoot males as the females blend in with Chipping Sparrows which are on the no kill list. I also have a trap for the housss once I’m sure a sparrow has taken it over. 19 makes in one season is my personal best. Which may not sound like a lot but it requires quite a lot of attention when I’m not at work…I used to watch baseball.
I despise blue jays, crows, and summer tanagers. Blue jays and crows are inveterate pecan thieves and summer tanagers will decimate a hive of bees.