Anyone who regularly has to deal with a high number of wasps in the garden in late summer is well advised to attract natural predators in the long term. Animals that like to eat wasps are mainly birds. We'll tell you which ones.
Many birds eat wasps
Shrikes and soft eaters as wasp eaters
Relying on natural processes when fighting wasps is praiseworthy and definitely recommended. Because on the one hand you contribute to the general diversity of species and on the other hand you can also look forward to a more stable ecological balance, more flowers and rare animal visitors in your own garden in the long term.
In their own way, wasps also have a beneficial function as flower pollinators and pest killers. In large numbers, however, they can disturb the peace of the garden quite a bit.
Attracting natural predators can be helpful, especially in the long run. Firstly, this may require the garden to be redesigned with plants, and secondly, plants and animals often need some time to adapt to new living conditions and offers. So patience is required.
Natural predators of wasps are primarily birds from the groups of shrikes and soft eaters. These include:
- red-backed shrike
- bee eater
- honey buzzard
- tits
- woodpeckers
Red-backed Shrikes, Bee-eaters and Honey Buzzards are extremely effective wasp killers - as their name partly suggests, they specialize in stinging insects. Of all the wasp-killing bird species, they are the ones that eat adult wasps. The others, i.e. tits and woodpeckers, on the other hand, are after the larvae. To get at them, they break open wasp nests and get the brood from the brood chambers.
Tits and woodpeckers cannot really help to acutely decimate an existing wasp infestation, but rather to prevent it. Red-backed Shrikes, Bee-eaters and Honey Buzzards do, but they are rather rare visitors to the garden.
In order to let woodpeckers, red-backed shrikes, bee-eaters, honey buzzards and tits work specifically against wasps, you should make the garden inviting for them. The best way to do this is to offer species-specific breeding opportunities. Red-backed shrike and tits in particular are doing a favor in this respect with dense hedges that are as thorny as possible. The birds also welcome drinking and bathing opportunities in the form of a garden pond or a drinking trough. Clippings from trees and shrubs can be valuable building material for nesting sites on open compost heaps.