Baffled: Birds and Tortoise

[RainsOn]

My Russian, Digger, has been in his new outdoor area for several weeks now and seems to be very pleased.
In the past couple of days, he has had a couple visitors - a pair of mocking birds! They don't pay any attention to him and he does not seem to notice them when they show up late afternoon. BUT. . they are treating the area as though they are considering moving in. The water dish is of particular fascination. It is a pyrex pie dish set into the soil with rocks around it. They are drinking out of it rather than the bird bath in the flower garden. Digger seems quite relaxed and oblivious to them.
My concern: Is there any issue with the presence of the birds. I understand crows can be a threat. Is there any concern about fecies? (sp?) Do I need to find a way to discourage the birds?
* I do organic gardening and my yard is a favorite in the area.

 

[Tom]

Disease or parasites are possible, but infection does not happen very often. At least not that we know of.

I'd try to discourage their presence just to be safe.

 

[ascott]

LOL...well, here we have quail, song birds, house finch, sparrow, black birds, dove (of all kinds, even to eurasian doves), falcon, hawk, ravens and a road runner that comes through from time to time....I do not have any tiny torts that live outdoors full time, but adults to live outdoors always...none of these have proven an issue....oh yeah, a guinea hen that will hop the tall fencing as well as a bunch of chickens at one time....

Now, I would not ever say to offer bird/fowl poo to the tort but have not had any real issues....I did put a water trough out away from the torts for the Ravens...as they are the ones along with the quail that would drop into the tortoise enclosures during summer to get to the water...so once I put the water trough out there were no more drop ins...thankfully

 

[StuMac]

LOL......and a road runner

Pardon my ignorance, but having never seen one of these before, could you pop a pic up of one? I'm assuming it doesn't look exactly like the cartoon.....or shout MEEP MEEP for that matter!!! We have one of these in Scotland

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I think they got that name because they chase their prey on the ground instead of in flight. Looks like a tall, thin chicken.

 

[StuMac]

Ah ok. I just noticed it said we "have one" instead of "none".... I did google it, but all I got were cartoons with Wile E Coyote!!!

 

[Abdulla6169]

Ah ok. I just noticed it said we "have one" instead of "none".... I did google it, but all I got were cartoons with Wile E Coyote!!!

Google "road runner animal":

 

[StuMac]

MEEP MEEP!!! Thanks. What a cool looking bird!

 

[ascott]

Yup...that is the bird....

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Google "road runner animal":
View attachment 93449

Where's the coyote??

There are bunches song birds that fly around in the yard by the tortoises, and I haven't had a problem. They don't hang around by the tort's food or water, so I let them be

 

[Tom]

Road runners are such a dilemma for me. They are really cool birds and I love them, but their primary food is my beloved lizards that keep all the bugs down for me. I've decided that they can have all the millions of acres around me that are wild, but they can't have the lizards that live on my ranch. I just "shoo" them away when they hop up on the walls of my place checking to see if there are any easy lizards to grab. I do love it when I pass a road runner out in the hills and see him/her eating a baby rattle snake.

 

[lynnedit]

I have birds visit my enclosure water dishes a lot, they have for several years. Not much I can do about it, as my yard has a lot of birds in it. No one seems to mind at this point.

 

[ascott]

Road runners are such a dilemma for me

Tom I totally feel you here....I use to have a handful of blue bellies and alligator lizards here, along with a couple of large gopher snakes...but then the neighbor cut loose a couple of female cats at their house(the neighbors since have moved)...those couple of cats were not fixed and have had a variety of baby cats over the last few years...the trade off is this....I use to battle gophers and mass amounts of squirrels....both had a tremendous hold on the 1.25 acre here...I mean, I could go out and spend alot of cash on plants ...would spend hours of sweat and muscle on planting and planning..only to be sitting on the porch and literally watch the plant sucked into the ground just like in cartoons, victim to gophers attacking from below.... I would bring the dog out, the dog would do its thing, the human (me) would attack them, without real affect....and then I noticed that the cats would begin to lay in wait and would each and every time be the successful predator and have since cleared all gophers and all squirrels from the property...it is fantastic,.....the down fall, those same awesome rodent hunters cleared most of the lizard from the property as well as any lazy slow birds....very sad to me...however, there is a bit of a balance that has taken place here....even those cats are taken by the desert and the surrounding dogs, their numbers are somehow in check...I know, does not sound pleasant, but just the way it is. The strongest and smartest ones are still around...

I still offer food for the birds in a location in the yard that is fully exposed, so the birds see the cats and the cats can not sneak attack them, the cats patrol the property for rodents but they are now near gone...so basically not an issue....I also had a couple of guinea hens that ran the property...they too are master getters for snakes and lizards....(we are now down to one guinea, has been here for over 10 years--caring for itself, well, I know it partakes of the bird seed as supplement to its own finds as well as I keep a variety of watering holes on the property for the passing birds and such)...kinda a cool balance right now actually....the quail come in and reduce the ant population each and every morning and evening for about 3-4 months a year...the cats patrol the rest of the time....so the roadrunner or two that make their way from time to time don't do much other than provide a moment of cool viewing...

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

Back on track to the OP, mocking birds should not be a direct problem, acting as a predator to the tortoise. But bird and reptile pathogens have some overlap, even though in some way they are very different types of vertebrates. You can put a small section of hardwire cloth over the water dish sorta like a short table (four legs made from something as simple as soda/water bottles), and a piece of hardwire cloth. Then just move it when you want to change/clean the water, and it will keep the bird out of the water. Bird typically don't like walking under things, they seem to feel trapped.

 

[RainsOn]

Tom, I feel some what better. They did seem to be fascinated with the water dish.
May have lost their interest - the pair have not been back for several days.

Will, very useful tip.
Thanks so much.

 

[littleginsu]

Something we do around here to keep birds away is tie a bunch of CDs in the trees or location where the birds are hanging out.. The reflection seems to frighten them. I have tons of old CDs collecting dust, so, it repurposes them.

 

[RainsOn]

This would work well for me - there is a small sapling in the center of the turtle run.
Thanks!