Advice

Herons and garden ponds

Grey heron deterrents

Grey heron feeding garden fish to chicks at heronry, St Albans

Instead of keeping goldfish, why not convert a pond into a wildlife pond with native plants and animals in areas where herons are causing persistent problems.

  • Netting the pond, or providing the fish with cover to hide underneath are perhaps best options.
  • Steep-sided deep ponds are less prone to herons than shallow ones that allow easy fishing, although this makes the pond unsuitable as a bathing and drinking site for all birds.
  • A fence-like barrier with taut wires or strings 20 and 35 cm above the water surface erected at the edge of the water can prevent a heron from reaching the fish.
  • Scarers based on a trip-wire system that the heron activates are commercially available.
  • Audio scaring may be possible. Alarm call of a heron is unlikely to be work on its own, and so a special tape is available that combines the alarm call with the sound of gunshot.
  • Human presence is as good deterrent as any. If birds associate people with danger, a human-shaped scarer may work well. It is worth reinforcing the behaviour from time to time with a real person in similar clothing walking about.
  • A plastic heron will more likely attract other herons rather than deter them.        

In more depth

Bird guide