Help! Cowbirds are eating my tomatos

[Maggie105]

[align=left]Some bird, I think they are cowbirds, are just decimating my tomato crop.* I have small grape tomatos in hanging baskets & also regular ones in the ground.* They're getting to them just as they turn ripe & pecking at them.* Anyone else have this problem??* And how do I solve it?[/align]

[Newt]

Hi Maggie,

I know this is probably going to sound a bit crazy to you, but generally birds attack tomatoes because they are thirsty. You don't say where you live, but many parts of the US are having drought conditions.* I would suggest you put a birdbath nearby for them to drink from.* You can use a large plastic drainage saucer for pots as that will be shallow enough for them to drink or bathe.* Put a small rock in the center of it so it doesn't blow away if it empties.* You can put the saucer on just about anything from a tree stump to an overturned milk jug container.* Replinish the water every couple of days and wash out the saucer so it doesn't get lots of algae.* I did a google with the term :
birds + tomatoes
and found some great ideas.* You could repeat the search or even use the term:
birds + damage tomatoes

I'm including the cached version so you can easily find the info.
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=1&gl=us
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=2&gl=us

Newt