How can I keep birds from nesting in my hanging Boston ferns?

Cynthia
by Cynthia
We love feeding and watching the finches in our yard but they are ruining my ferns! They are building nests down inside the ferns and breaking off the fronds at dirt level. Have removed several nests but they keep returning. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
  10 answers
  • Patricia Pierson Patricia Pierson on May 07, 2013
    Put some kind of shiny/moving deco in or around it. I went to Hobby Lobby and got some long picks and put them on the side away from the street. Also, when your ferns start to look pale or yellowish give them Epsons Salts. Desolve the salts in a little bit of warm water in your water bucket. Then,finish filling with water. Water fern!
  • Diane Diane on May 07, 2013
    Last year someone told me to put crumpled up foil in my ferns and I did and for the 1st time...no birdnest. The birds stopped by for a look but went on to somewhere else. I'm certainly doing it again this year.
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on May 08, 2013
    Apparently this is a common problem. One suggestion I read and liked was sticking plastic forks in the soil, tines side up.
  • Linda Jeffries Linda Jeffries on Apr 16, 2017

    I have tried wind chimes , rubber snakes, skewers...everything. The birds would build their nest on top of the rubber snakes and prop their nests on the skewers. So, just by chance I saw some pinwheels and stuck them in each hanging fern and low and behold....they won't come near them!!!!! I am now a happy fern owner!

  • Dianne Freeman Reeves Dianne Freeman Reeves on Apr 05, 2018

    I need help..birds are taking over my ferns

  • Mar10773072 Mar10773072 on Jun 08, 2018

    I'm afraid the babies will die.


  • Ursula Kelledy Ursula Kelledy on Jun 21, 2018

    I have birds in my fern the nest is very small. One of the Babies fell out

  • M.hiltgen M.hiltgen on Jun 21, 2018

    Get one of those plastic owls sold at Home Depot. They look like the real thing and keep smaller birds away.

  • Janie Janie on May 15, 2019

    The owl didnt work! Built right beside it and my front door!

  • Columbia GB Columbia GB on May 15, 2019

    Hmmm... I must be the only one who thinks this is really cool and would gladly sacrifice a fern to have these songbirds nesting near by.


    That said, try diverting them with something as or more attractive to nest in. At another home, we had finches nesting on our porch every spring and they loved a fluffy corn wreath. Maybe make something like a wreath or hanging pot filled with something they might like.


    You could even make nesting boxes for them.


    This is the type of wreath they loved.



    • Jondra Brewer Jondra Brewer on May 02, 2020

      It seemed cool to me also until the birds started taking over my covered porch - pooping, flying around it, and even chirping loudly at us as if to say “go away!”