If you attract nesting birds, you may worry that snakes eat birds and eggs. Learn how to lower the risk. Also learn if birds eat snakes.
Protect the Nest: Do Snakes Eat Birds and Eggs?
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Stop Snakes From Eating Birds
“How can I stop snakes from eating baby birds and eggs in my yard, without harming the snakes?” asks Birds & Blooms reader Peggy Thompson of Granville, Illinois.
Birding experts Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman write, “Eggs and baby birds are vulnerable to a variety of predators, including snakes. Rat snakes, corn snakes and others eat many mice but also climb trees to find bird nests.
When you set up a nest box, protect it by placing a baffle on the pole below the box, wide enough to prevent snakes and other predators from climbing. (Don’t put grease or oil on the pole, because birds can be harmed if it gets on their feathers.)
Unfortunately, there’s no good way to keep predators away from nests in natural situations, such as in shrubs or trees. But native predators such as snakes are a part of nature, and birds that lose their first brood often will make another attempt in a safer location.”
Reader Nancy Knewstep says, “I had the unfortunate incident of a black snake decimating the first brood of eastern bluebirds of spring two years ago. I had a baffle, and thought that would work, but realized I needed a predator guard, which I immediately installed.”
Backyard Tip: The majority of snakes are totally harmless to people and are important backyard predators. Practice tolerance for them in your yard, and you’ll foster a healthy ecosystem.
Keep your yard safe from hummingbird predators.
Eastern Rat Snake in Shrub
“The photinia on our porch had a robin’s nest in it for several weeks. One day, we noticed a 6-foot-long black snake on the trunk eating all the eggs. Is there a way to prevent this in the future with a baffle or something similar?” asks reader Barbara Hartnett.
Kenn and Kimberly say, “The reptile climbing your photinia was probably an eastern rat snake. These snakes are completely harmless to humans. They eat many rodents and other small mammals (as their name suggests), but they also eat eggs and baby birds when they can find them. Unfortunately, rat snakes are very good climbers, and it would be a challenge to construct a baffle that could stop them from going up any shrub or small tree.”
Do Birds Eat Snakes?
Great horned owls aren’t too picky about what they eat and their diet is expansive. According to Kenn and Kimberly, these big owls capture a wide variety of prey, from insects and snakes to groundhogs and skunks.
These two great horned owls (above) in Palm Harbor, Florida, were protecting their owlet from a snake that was slithering up a huge live oak. A truly once in a lifetime experience. Their eyes never left the owlet or the snake,” says reader Judith Cernak.
One of the most remarkable southwestern species, the greater roadrunner, eats just about anything it can catch. Roadrunners are famous for eating snakes (even rattlesnakes!) and lizards, but they also go after insects, spiders, scorpions, mice and even small birds.
Other birds, including herons and egrets, also eat snakes.
Next, read on to learn what foods do hawks eat?
About the Experts
Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman are the official bird experts for Birds & Blooms. They are the creators of the Kaufman Field Guide series and they lead birding trips all over the world.
