Using a laser beam to control birds might sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but workers at an Adelaide Hills vineyard hope the technology will save their grapes from the flying pests.

After lots of rain and a dry end to summer, the South Australian vintage is later than in recent years but fruit quality is high.

Shaw and Smith viticulturist Murray Leake said at this time of year hungry birds were flocking to vineyards for a sample.

"Some [birds] will take the whole berries, some will damage the berries," he said.

"The ones that damage the berry are worse. [They] leave the bunches vulnerable to disease."

It is a major issue wineries around the country grapple with year after year.

Shaw and Smith is one of a handful of Australian vineyards trailing the use of the laser.

It sends out a random series of light patterns across the vineyard and into nearby trees to scare the birds away.

"I saw it on the internet, saw it in the Netherlands for protecting field crops and for preventing birds landing on buildings, so we thought we'd import one and give it a try," Mr Leake said.

Richard Hamilton (L) and Murray Leake (R) testing the laser in the Adelaide Hills. ( ABC News: Lauren Waldhuter )

From guns to nets to streamers

Wineries and grape growers have a range of strategies for keeping keep birds at bay, from shooting them and hanging up shiny streamers to firing off gas guns to spook them.

Covering the vines in nets is the most effective way but Mr Leake said they are expensive.

"They cost $1,800 to $2,000 a hectare as a capital cost, to buy the nets," he said.

"Then you're looking at $200 a hectare to put them on and $200 a hectare to take them off."

The laser costs about $15,000, and in the long run is cheaper if it works.

Consultant Richard Hamilton from the Adelaide Hills Wine Technical Group said the birds were safe from the laser's green beam.

"It's not like Star Wars with something vaporised at the end," he said.

"Birds have very strong visual acuity. They need it to protect themselves.

"That's the basis of the laser, as it moves up towards them we find they react very strongly and take off very fast.

"We can actually set it up with 100 waypoints per program and six different programs and it's going to be hard for them to remember where it's going next."

With vintage underway in the Adelaide Hills, more birds will come to feast on grapes. ( ABC News: Lauren Waldhuter )

Unpredictability a key advantage

Ornithologist Phil Barron said the laser's unpredictability may be a key advantage, compared with some other control methods that birds can learn to predict and overcome.

"They may have a small brain, but birds are very intelligent creatures. They prove themselves time and time again to be very fast learners," he said.

Mr Barron is observing the laser trial to see how the birds react, but the jury's still out on its effectiveness.

While larger birds like magpies and ducks are being spooked, some of the wine industry's biggest enemies, like rosellas, are staying put.

But Mr Barron said more types of birds would start flocking now that vintage is underway and they may not like the laser.

"We need to keep monitoring the trial and see how it goes, during harvest as well, to see how effectiveness is changed," he said.

"You'll get the fussier birds probably coming in closer to closer to harvest. You'll have issues with little ravens also being attracted by the pickers themselves, dropping grapes."