10 Safe Ways to Stop Birds From Eating Grass Seed

Birds like Finches, Sparrows, and blackbirds eat grass seeds as their natural food. This can be bad news to a gardener who just started a new lawn. So, to enjoy the fruits of your labour, it’s important to keep birds away from your newly seeded lawn.

Let’s look at some of the safe and effective ways to stop birds from eating your grass seed.

How to Keep Birds from Eating Grass Seed

The following methods are safe, less expensive, and effective:

1. Add Fake Predators 

Placing fake predators in your garden is among the most effective ways of deterring birds from eating grass seeds. Fake predators that look like owls, hawks, rubber snakes, or cats may help to safeguard the seeds until they germinate. Small seed-eating birds fear their predators, and they will fly away if they spot one. 

2. Feed the Birds

Birds are beautiful animals that sing nice melodies as they hover around your garden. Instead of scaring them away when you’ve seeded your lawn, you can actually divert their attention to a bird feeder. Provide the birds with tasty and high-quality seeds, nuts, fruits, or earthworms in the feeders. 

3. Cover the Seeds

Covering your lawn after seeding can help keep away birds and other animals that eat grass seed. There are several ways to do it:

Netting: Netting can deter birds from feeding on your seeded lawn. Be sure to choose a polyurethane netting material because it are super light and resistant to mold or mildew. Elevate the net from the ground using four pillars at the corners of your lawn. Secure the net by tying the corners to the pillars.

Mulch: Other than conserving soil moisture content, mulching can also be used to deter birds from feeding on seeded lawn. Strawis commonly used in covering grass because its organic, weed-free, and easy to rake after the seeds have germinated.

Burlap: A burlap sheet is also an effective method of covering grass seeds. It hides the seeds from birds while letting in air, warmth, and water that are necessary for germination. Burlap also helps to retain soil moisture, making it suitable for use in dry areas. 

4. Motion-activated Sprinklers

Installing a motion-activated sprinkler in your seeded lawn is a great method of keeping the soil moist as well as scaring the birds and other intruders away. When the birds land on your lawn, the sprinkler will start running automatically. The sprinkling of water will scare away birds and other intruders like cats and dogs.

5. Use Coated Seeds

Many garden centers are selling grass seeds coated with bird repellent substances. This coating doesn’t harm the bird, it only makes the seeds unpleasant. Alternatively, you can make your own homemade bird repellent using garlic, chili, cayenne pepper, peppermint oil, and vinegar. 

6. Reflective Scare Tape

Most birds are scared away by shiny or reflective surfaces. They perceive the reflections as a potential danger. Therefore, installing reflective scare tapes can help to keep the birds away from the newly seeded area. Alternatively, hang reflective materials such as CDs on the trees around your lawn. 

7. Noise Deterrents

Generally, noise often scares birds away.  Using predatory bird calls and creating different sounds can help to keep the birds away from your garden. There are several noise deterrents you can use to keep the birds from your lawn. 

Ultrasonic noise deterrent

Installing motion-activated ultrasonic sound helps to deter birds in your seeded lawn. It generates a high-pitched sound that can only be heard by the passerines. It plays sounds that are annoying to birds, and hence keep them away from your grass seeds.

Spiral swirls

Hang some spiral swirls along the perimeter of your seeded lawn. The swirling motion and reflection of light will help to keep the birds away from your lawn. The birds may perceive the spiral swirls as a predator, which is also another way to scare the birds away.

Old tin cans

Tie several old tin cans together and hang them along the perimeter of your freshly seeded lawn. As the wind blows, the old tin cans will produce noise to scare away the birds. This is an old age method that gardeners used to scare away the birds from feeding on grains in the field.

Wind chimes

Hanging wind chimes along the perimeter of your lawn can work magic. When the wind blows, they move in the breeze while producing a sound. Therefore, both sound and movements of the chimes will deter the birds from feeding on the seeds.

8. Plant Extra Seed

Planting extra seeds does not scare birds away from your lawn; it’s only a precautionary measure. For instance, if birds feed on some of the seeds, you still have plenty of them to germinate. This tactic is also useful when sowing seed on slopes or windy areas where the seed can easily be carried away.

9. Toy Windmills

Planting decorative toy windmills in your freshly seeded area can also scare away the passerines. When the wind blows, it whirls while producing a sound to scare away the birds. It also creates reflections when the sun hits it.

10. Early Clean Up

Remove food sources from your garden two weeks before sowing your seeds. Birds are attracted to areas where they can easily find food. If they visit your garden several times without finding anything to eat, they will simply move to another place. This will now be the right time to sow your seeds.

Are there Grass Seeds Birds Won’t Eat?

Grain-eating birds are not selective when it comes to grass seeds. Wood pigeons, finches, sparrows, and blackbirds will eat any grass seeds they come across, ranging from ryegrass to fescue. They find all types of grass seeds appealing and tasty.

Even if there are plenty of other foods, such as wild seeds, nuts, berries, and earthworms, birds won’t pass grass seeds that are scattered on the ground. Birds won’t eat grass seeds if they are coated with a repellent that makes the seeds have an unpleasant taste for birds.

Final Thoughts

Different bird species eat grass seeds as part of their diet. Knowing how to keep the birds from eating grass seeds is essential. It helps to safeguard the seeded lawn until the grass germinates. Use coated seeds, fake predators, visual, and noise deterrents, and motion-activated sprinklers to scare away the birds.