Heron Decoys – Why They Work and Why They Don’t
Spring is here, and that means a few things: the pond is waking up, koi are becoming more active, and—like clockwork—the heron are back on patrol. If you’ve been with us for a while, you may remember me talking about how to keep heron out of the pond. These pesky birds can clean out a whole pond of fish before you know it!
Many people ask me about the classic heron decoy.
Heron Decoys look remarkably like the real thing! It is so sad when heron get our fish! Usually there is no evidence, one or two are just mysteriously missing.
Why these decoys should work
Heron are territorial birds. They hunt alone and don’t like to share fishing spots. The logic behind a decoy is solid: if a heron flies over and sees another heron already “working” your pond, they’ll keep flying. In most cases, that’s exactly what happens. It’s a simple deterrent—and for part of the year, it’s pretty effective.
And sometimes they don't, they even backfire spectacularly...
Now why doesn’t the packaging have a warning like “When herons are looking for love, that territorial hunter becomes a hopeful romantic and this decoy will backfire.”
The one time we tried a decoy, my husband had just put it up and I looked out the window and did a double take….. It flashed through my mind …why would he put up 2 decoys? He didn’t! There were two herons—standing side by side like a couple on a date. Turns out, our decoy didn’t intimidate this bird. It attracted her. She landed thinking she’d found herself a handsome mate. The only thing we accomplished was making her feel welcome.
Heron are also very smart. They learn. And this time of year, they’re not just fishing—they’re flirting. Even if the decoy works the first time, it won’t take long until they realize it’s not real.
If you go to the last article on heron and scroll down to Koi predator protection plan for heron, you will see some more ideas (the first part of the article is very similar to this one!)
While they will come back unless there are too many scary things in your yard to deter them. It may take several things but don’t just rely on a decoy!
This is a terrible picture of the heron who was in our yard this past Sunday. He was slowly walking towards our pond, checking it out to see if it was safe. It wasn’t! My son and I tired to get a picture through the window before we ran out yelling and waving our arms like lunatics! Yes, he flew off.
* This blog was NOT written by AI. This was written by me. I am not a professional writer, I am a pond person. Therefore, if you see a typo, please forgive me!
*No koi were harmed in the making of this content.