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Attacked by bird

R

rhm3769

If it isn't snails attacking my plants lately, it's birds....

Out of the 5 butch t pods I had growing, I only have one left.... One was used to give some friends a taste of it, one was thrown out because it was eaten by a snail and I found two today that a bird attempted to eat....

Toss the two or can they be salvaged? If they can, I think I can get half of each.... Normally I'd throw them out, but I have peppers that were waiting on these two for a sauce and I'm sure I won't get more growing and ripening before march....
 
One of my babies got nabbed last night :( While I'm not sure if it was a bird, raccoon or snail I don't eat damaged pods. Sometimes I might salvage the seeds if I don't have enough, fortunately this time I didn't need the extra seed and have plenty of fresh pods to eat. Regardless if it was the last on the bush I'd toss it but that's just one mon's opinion :D

2134ttu.jpg
 
I had bird and mice problems a while back.
Birds don't eat the flesh like it looks like in your pic.
I'd get holes in the pods and all the seeds were gone.
Mice cut the pod off the plant and ate the seeds from the pods on the ground.

Birds and mice left bite marks/jagged edges on the pods not smooth cuts like your pics.

Not that it isn't birds but they have gone for the seeds not the flesh in my experiance.
Are you sure a bug isn't eating the flesh and leaving the seeds exposed that are getting birds to check out the garden?
Maybe the birds are actually eating whater is chowing down on your pods.
Mice and birds have always gone after the seeds in my garden.
Pod pieces were on the ground-not eaten.

Might want to watch what the birds are doing.
Calls for a lawn chair and the beverage of choice while watching your garden...
 
In my case, I'm pretty sure it was a bird.... Within a 10 minute period and triangular shaped holes, one looked like it made the hole and then tried ripping it to make a bigger hole to get the seeds, the other two, everything is there but pushed in from making the hole.... Big enough to be a bird.... Could even be more the bird tried grabbing it and flying away instead of trying to eat it.... A bug wouldn't have made it that close with the spider that made a home around the pods.... Haven't seen any mice around, and it wasn't someone else messing with them, they're in a fenced in area at work right now and everyone was together at the time....

Just strange that it's only the butch t's that have been messed with.... Nothing with the white Habs, scotch bonnets or Santa fe grandes....
 
Triangle shaped holes does sound like a bird bite.

Maybe you have a different type bird attacking your pods than I did.

I did notice that mice,since they can feel the burn,unlike birds.liked to attack green pods of almost anything but zeroed in on the sweets mostly.
I never figured out why some varieties get attacked more than others right next to each other.Even though 2 plants might be the same in heat or whatever.

Try putting mouse traps out set and placed upside down with an eaten pepper on the top.
Birds land on the trap and set it off.
Trap hops up in the air making a load snap.
For me the sight of a trap after a while kept the birds away.
Traps set like that scare the heck out of cats that want to use your pots as a litter box.
Funny as heck to watch too.
Imagine a cat 2 ft. in the air,crapping with a mouse trap flying after it...Meow!
 
I don't know what species of birds you have in Okinawa, but here in Southern Arizona, we have a very common bird known as a House Finch. These guys are love to attack gardens! Over the past few years, every once in a while I'll find a tomato that has been "nibbled" on by one of these birds. The Chiltepin Preserve just South of here near Tumacacori (Native American for "place of chilies") is filled with these birds when the chiltepins ripen. According to local Native American lore, the reason the House Finch has a brilliant red breast is because it eats so many chilies! In fact, chiltepins rely on birds eating the chilies and "planting" the seeds with a bit of natural fertilizer.

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House Finch

Carpodacus mexicanus

House finches are natives of the American West, but were introduced in New York City in the 1940's. Since that time, eastern birds have spread throughout the eastern half of the country, while western populations have also expanded. The House Finch, like the House Sparrow, is well adapted to living with humans and has taken advantage of their presence rather than suffering because of it. Today the House Finch can be found throughout the country. Both a male (left) and female (right) are depicted in the photos to the right.

Habitat: Primarily found in conjunction with human presence, around residential areas, parks, and farms.

Diet: Primarily vegetable matter, primarily seeds. Will also eat fruits and berries, buds, flowers, and occasionally insects.

Behavior: Will forage on the ground, in shrubs and low vegetation, or higher in trees. House Finches are gregarious, and outside of the nesting season, are often found foraging in small flocks.
 
We have something similar to those, but I haven't seen any around my plants....

The bird I've seen in the area is similar to a robin in size and coloring but slightly different....

No signs of attacks from over the weekend....
 
Those house finch are a bit smaller than a robin.

Hey, I meant to suggest to you that you might want to set up a pot with good soil and an artificial perch near your plant. Who knows? You might get another plant! Or you might want to check under nearby trees or bushes to see if a small chili plant has sprouted. :)
 
Birds like bees are mainly attracted by color, red being the primal color of many wild peppers species, if I remember right there is a sudo-capsicum species that grows in Japan, so it may also grow in Okinawa. It could be that a species of birds that eats small berries has been attracted by the red color of your peppers and may have eaten some of the pod.
Here in Missouri a few birds mainly Blue jays, will eat some of the smaller pepper pods as they are very opportunistic, although I have only seen this happen once.
When I lived in Southern CA, we had some Parrots that lived in the palm trees, from what I remember they started out as a few wild birds that had come out of Mexico and over time grew into a large flock. They had a bad habit of raiding gardens and eating just about every vegetable they could, I think they may have been killed out or move to a warmer place. So bird predation could happen it maybe that the birds are hungry and are targeting anything that may attract them.
 
Tim, I was saying we have a bird similar to those finches here but I haven't seen any around my plants....

Wildseed, the attacking bird either gave up or got scared away before it got to any seeds.... The thing about the peppers, one was starting to ripen, it was transitioning from yellow to orange and the other was still green. And I don't know if the pepper we have here is the same one you're talking about.... Small and ripening to red, there is a sauce I've seen around here that is very similar to Tabasco made from these.... The locals call it Okinawa hot pepper....
My scotch bonnets ripen red but they haven't been messed with....
 
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