Are you seeing an uptick of cicadas around your yard? These noisy pests come out in droves during the warmer months.
Many bird species enjoy eating cicadas because they are abundant during the summertime. Their size makes them easy to trap and provides nutritional value to birds.
It’s also important to know that having too many birds on your property has downsides. Birds are noisy, can cause property damage, and may become aggressive when they feel threatened.
Do Birds Eat Cicadas?
Many bird species do eat cicadas, including chickadees, bluebirds, cardinals, sparrows, woodpeckers, crows, hawks and more. Birds are carnivores that seek high-protein meals, which cicadas can provide. Cicadas are also easy for birds to catch, especially in the summer months when they’re everywhere.
If you’ve noticed an influx of pesky cicadas on your property, birds may help keep the population in check. However, even though birds may help reduce the number of cicadas on your property slightly, a large bird population near your home has downsides.
Most homeowners agree that birds are ineffective at eliminating cicadas to warrant the other problems they can cause.
For example, birds are noisy creatures, and a large population can create noise pollution. They are especially vocal in the morning when most homeowners would rather sleep.
Birds are also known for leaving their droppings everywhere, from your car windshield to your yard, outdoor furniture, patio or even your head. Bird droppings are unhygienic, gross and difficult to clean up.
Some bird species can also wreak havoc on your lawn and garden. They can damage your landscaping, eat your fruits and vegetables and destroy your plants by pecking them.
If you’re considering attracting birds to your property to take care of your cicada problem naturally, think through all the potential downsides first. You may accidentally end up with two pest problems to deal with instead.
If you didn’t purposefully attract birds to your property, you may wonder why there are so many birds in your yard . The reason is that your home provides them with food, water and shelter.
How to Deter Birds From Your Property
If you don’t like birds on your property and want to keep them away, try the following deterrent methods. These tips may also help reduce the number of birds swarming around your home.
First, you can try installing physical barriers such as nets or spikes. They can be effective in areas where birds like to nest and perch. Birds won’t want to hang around your property if it isn’t comfortable for them.
The next deterrent method you can try is using shiny objects, such as reflective tape, to scare them away. This method is completely harmless but effective at keeping birds off your property, as they do not like the light that shiny objects reflect.
Other shiny objects you can try include CDs, aluminum foil, metallic wrapping paper, streamers and metallic balloons. Place these objects near where birds perch or nest to scare them off.
Another harm-free way to deter birds is by using sound devices. You can purchase an ultrasonic sound machine to play in your yard to keep birds away.
Birds come to your property for food and shelter, so removing potential food sources is a great way to determine them. Do not keep a bird feeder on your property and keep your trash bins tightly sealed.
The best way to deal with an unruly bird problem is to contact a bird control professional. They can put effective and harm-free methods in place to reduce the amount of birds on your property. Additionally, they can help you with a cicada problem or any other pests that are uninvited guests on your property.
Do Blue Jays Eat Cicadas?
Blue jays are one bird species that enjoys eating cicadas. These colorful creatures are known for hunting all kinds of insects, and cicadas are easy targets during the summer months.
Blue jays can be extremely loud birds. You may even hear their bird calls as they forage for cicadas in your yard. While they are beautiful birds, they also come with drawbacks.
In addition to their noise, blue jays can be quite aggressive birds. They are territorial and known for fiercely defending their nests, especially during mating season in the winter and spring months. Blue jays will not hesitate to fight a bird from another species if they feel threatened.
Another downside of having a lot of blue jays on your property is that they can cause significant damage to your yard. They are determined foragers who have no problem eating your plants or fruits. Blue jays may even break branches off your fruit tree.
They can also cause damage by pecking on your windows or the exterior paint of your house. Lastly, they like to nest around houses, such as in exterior walls, attics, shutters, rafters and sheds.
Blue jays can quickly become nuisance, especially if you have several on your property. Luckily, there are several ways to repel them.
Removing their food sources and using detergent devices, such as shiny objects or a sound machine, can go a long way. Some of these methods even work to get rid of pigeons and other bird species.
Additionally, you can try planting specific vegetation that blue jays don’t like. They stay away from prickly shrubs and dense ground cover plants, so planting those may make your yard less appealing to them.
If these methods don’t work, it’s time to call in a bird control professional. An expert can control the blue jays and give you your yard back.
Do Hummingbirds Eat Cicadas?
Unlike blue jays and other bird species, hummingbirds do not eat cicadas. Hummingbirds feed on much smaller food items, and cicadas are large insects.
While hummingbirds prefer sweet substances, such as the nectar of flowers, they also feed on small insects like gnats, fruit flies and aphids. Insects provide protein and other vital nutrients that hummingbirds cannot get from nectar alone, which is why they are an important part of the hummingbird diet.
Many homeowners attract hummingbirds to their property by setting out a special feeder or a bird bath. Hummingbirds like to bathe and drink from still water sources, so they are particularly attracted to bird baths.
While a few hummingbirds on your property are pleasant, having too many can cause problems. They may overtake your yard, cause property damage and leave their droppings everywhere.
Are hummingbirds taking over your property? There are several reasons for this. First, they may be able to access multiple food sources, such as nectar-rich flowers, hummingbird feeders and small insects. Your property may also provide them with a reliable water source, such as a bird bath, pet water bowl, small pond or outdoor fountain.
If you have a large population of hummingbirds on your property, you can deter them by removing their food and water sources. You should also be aware of any other pest infestations that are attracting hummingbirds. For example, understanding tawny crazy ant identification may help. Repelling bugs from your property may help keep birds away.
If that doesn’t work, call in a bird control professional. An expert can manage the number of hummingbirds on your property.
Keep Cicadas and Birds Off Your Property
While cicadas and birds may seem like harmless creatures to have around your home, they can cause problems. Specifically, birds can cause significant property damage, litter your property with their droppings and even become aggressive.
Many bird species eat cicadas, but it is not an effective cicada control method. You may become more frustrated by the number of birds on your property than the cicadas. If this is a problem you have, contact a bird control specialist.
Trust ABC for Bird Control
ABC Home & Commercial Services has been helping homeowners control pests for over 75 years. As the largest independently-owned pest control company in the state of Texas, our pest control technicians have the experience and the know-how to quickly identify the source of your pest problem and come up with effective solutions. We’re always here to help if and when those pesky birds decide to make a home out of yours.
