Blackbird is trying my impatiens

[ysb33r]

The local blackbird couple seem to have a thing for impatiens. They have dug up a number of plants OH has planted in the border as well as one of the pots.

Any suggestions how this can be prevented? Netting on the border is not very practical.

[Alice]

Well - the blackbirds - what can you say or do. You think it's your garden and they think it's theirs. They howk in every bit of soft earth and sometimes toss seedlings about. But they eat all the wee creepie crawlies you don't want and sing beautifully every morning and night. I cover precious seed trays to keep them out and beyond that just accept that we all have to live together. I think they give more to me than they take.

[yoanbob]

hum, can be a problem, do you have blackbird accessable food elsewhere? all our wild birds eat from the feeder in the back garden or from the chook hoper if its not being watched by ginger chook, never seem to bother my plants.

[muckdiva]

Oh, love em, hate em. They seemed to stop doing their digging thing later in the season when they've fed their babies, but that doesn't help your busy lizzies I s'pose. I've laid small bits of net over the earth and mulch in places, which helps a bit, also against the cats, but don't know a solution - will watch this thread with interest.

[TEB]

Our's love small mixer dog biscuits, they team up, one distracts the dog giving coy come and get me looks and while the poor dog is chasing, the other blackbird nips in and grabs a couple

[SarzWix]

They seem to be fledging earlier this year than normal - usually the plants would be bigger and they wouldn't bother trying to pull them up. You could try digging over a patch of spare ground if you have any - they'll get the grubs etc from empty ground before heaving plants around. Or have you tried the meal-worms you can get from a lot of wild-bird food suppliers? They're good for lots of garden birds.
I'd be reluctant to use netting in my garden as we have a cat, don't want to make his life any easier - already had to put 2 bells on his collar!