Why don't birds eat my raspberries?

August 30, 2024 12:25 PM

The strawberries and haskaps, we have to protect them or we won't get any. We get all the raspberries every year. We never see birds in the patch nor run across berries with a bite taken out of them. Why?
posted by blnkfrnk to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

I kinda feel like I’m in the matrix; just a couple hours ago 2 scrub jays came (literally) screaming into my yard and after doing whatever weird shit they were up to in the middle of a trumpet vine bower, flew over to the raspberry canes and seemed to be eating them. I’ve never noticed any backyard birds do that before, but maybe they’re just thorough enough that we don’t see bites?
posted by outfielder at 3:30 PM on August 30 [1 favorite]

I have also noticed that raspberries are not the favorite berries of many birds. The orioles go crazy for mulberries, our blueberries are often picked over when we get to them, but our wild black raspberries and our regular red raspberries are generally untouched.

I don't have an answer why, but you are definitely not alone in noticing this.
posted by toddforbid at 11:08 AM on August 31

Raspberry thorns hurt bird feet?
posted by dr. boludo at 12:15 PM on August 31 [1 favorite]

Raspberry thorns hurt bird feet?

Birds have not gone after my thornless dwarf raspberries. But my pug does go batshit crazy over them. Perhaps raspberries ripen at different times of the year that do not overlap with the migration paths of birds, which would otherwise eat them for energy.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 5:50 PM on August 31

Response by poster: Don't they LIKE my raspberries???

Just kidding. There are a ton of berries available right now so I bet they're just picking their favorites where there are fewer people. Thanks for the reality check on this.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:32 PM on August 31 [1 favorite]