With the deer fence in place this year I thought all would be well in the garden, but the little creatures had other plans. As I worked at the kitchen sink, I noticed a couple of sparrows eat the leaves off of my young pea plants!

Are sparrows pulling off the leaves of pea plants a new thing?

This was new to me, although a gardening friend and I discussed it just the day before I noticed it. As I visited her place she lamented on the birds pecking apart her lettuce and peas causing her to cover them with baskets and other stout coverings. Initially, I thought it was odd…until I saw the sparrows pulling off the leaves of my very own my purple peas plants.

Without seeing the sparrows in action, looking at the leaves I would have thought slugs or an insect were to blame. Chunks up to an inch in diameter were torn away, although the leaves looked chewed if I didn’t know otherwise. I’ve seen pigeons, pheasants, and geese eat newly emerged plants, clearing out entire patches of corn, carrots and bean plants, but didn’t think they’d rip off actual pieces of the leaves. 

It particularly surprised me since most birds, especially at this time of the year, are eating insects to satisfy their nutritional needs. Yet some have a penchant for plants. Goldfinches are known to have a taste for sunflower leaves, in particular, and other birds, such as these sparrows, obviously love the new growth. 

Keeping birds out of the garden

While there are recommendations to use owl decoys or other raptor deterrents, the most effective way to discourage the birds is to prevent them from reaching them in the first place. My friend used baskets and large jugs, such as from gallon milk containers or juice, with the bottoms cut off. She run drip irrigation below everything so water wasn’t an issue. 

I opted to bring out the handy floating row cover. I’d hoped not to need it since the deer weren’t an issue this year, but it did the trick to keep the birds from eating my plants. The only drawback was when I watered. Since I use the overhead misters, I needed to remove the row cover in order to reach the plants. The birds took advantage of the situation since they were more than happy to dash into the water to grab a bite.

Fortunately, it only took a couple of weeks of covering the plants for them to grow large enough that the birds no longer utilized them. Now the plants are healthy and happy, and I expect my purple peas in short order. 

Birds are still very beneficial

Feed the birds now so they eat garden pests in the future

Birds in the garden are something we want. They eat many of the insects that eat our vegetables, plus add a lovely ambience to the area. There’s still nothing better than sitting out in the Adirondack chair in the morning, drink my coffee, and listen to the birds. So I’ll forgive the little birds for munching on my peas, but it doesn’t mean I’ll share! If the sparrow are pulling the leaves off my plants again, I’ll simply toss the floating row cover over the top and tell them to go elsewhere for their greens.