Do blackbirds eat apples?

[Paul D.Smith]

All,

We have a bird which looks very like a slightly dark female blackbird which
happily eats its way through apples that we put out for our blackcap
warblers.

This seems to be a single bird which does this (or perhaps it's just the
females) and never having seem a fruit loving blackbird before we tried long
and hard to find another bird which it might be, but with no success.

So do other readers know of such behaviour or have suggestions what this
bird might be if it's not a blackbird?

Cheers,
Paul DS.

[Emrys Davies]

Post by Paul D.Smith
All,
We have a bird which looks very like a slightly dark female blackbird which
happily eats its way through apples that we put out for our blackcap
warblers.
This seems to be a single bird which does this (or perhaps it's just the
females) and never having seem a fruit loving blackbird before we tried long
and hard to find another bird which it might be, but with no success.
So do other readers know of such behaviour or have suggestions what this
bird might be if it's not a blackbird?
Cheers,
Paul DS.

Yes they do eat apples. This site fully explains their behaviour.

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/blackbird.htm

Regards,
Emrys Davies.

[Kay]

Post by Paul D.Smith
All,
We have a bird which looks very like a slightly dark female blackbird which
happily eats its way through apples that we put out for our blackcap
warblers.
This seems to be a single bird which does this (or perhaps it's just the
females) and never having seem a fruit loving blackbird before we tried long
and hard to find another bird which it might be, but with no success.
So do other readers know of such behaviour or have suggestions what this
bird might be if it's not a blackbird?

Blackbirds very frequently eat apples, and are probably the most likely
culprits if you find apples are being attacked. They will eat them on
the ground, or from the tree if there is somewhere convenient to perch.
We have apples trained over a pergola, and the blackbirds attack the
ones that are close to the bars of the pergola.

[ian stalker]

I have a blackbird that looks through my window each lunch time, and starts
making a racket, if Im late finishing my apple, as he is waiting for the
core.
Linda

Post by Kay

Post by Paul D.Smith
All,
We have a bird which looks very like a slightly dark female blackbird which
happily eats its way through apples that we put out for our blackcap
warblers.
This seems to be a single bird which does this (or perhaps it's just the
females) and never having seem a fruit loving blackbird before we tried long
and hard to find another bird which it might be, but with no success.
So do other readers know of such behaviour or have suggestions what this
bird might be if it's not a blackbird?

Blackbirds very frequently eat apples, and are probably the most likely
culprits if you find apples are being attacked. They will eat them on
the ground, or from the tree if there is somewhere convenient to perch.
We have apples trained over a pergola, and the blackbirds attack the
ones that are close to the bars of the pergola.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

[m***@gmail.com]

My garden has, I think, the perfect apple tree for blackbirds. There are no squirrels around, and (I hope!) no rats. There is no easy approach for cats, and I'm far enough away not to startle the birds. I just leave the apples to fall from the tree, and blackbirds enjoy the feast for months.

I read somewhere that you may think you are just getting one or two blackbirds in your garden, but it's usually several different birds. They tend to look alike :)

Also, the males enjoy the apples just as much as the females. Indeed, the tough guys chase other blackbirds away from "their" apples. They do eat them on the tree, now and again, but seem to prefer the ground. But most of the apples seem to get pecked before I think about picking them. I wonder if this is evolution at work? I imagine the blackbirds thinking, "I'll peck this and then that fussy, pesky human won't steal it."

['Mike']

Post by m***@gmail.com
My garden has, I think, the perfect apple tree for blackbirds. There are
no squirrels around, and (I hope!) no rats. There is no easy approach for
cats, and I'm far enough away not to startle the birds. I just leave the
apples to fall from the tree, and blackbirds enjoy the feast for months.
I read somewhere that you may think you are just getting one or two
blackbirds in your garden, but it's usually several different birds. They
tend to look alike :)
Also, the males enjoy the apples just as much as the females. Indeed, the
tough guys chase other blackbirds away from "their" apples. They do eat
them on the tree, now and again, but seem to prefer the ground. But most
of the apples seem to get pecked before I think about picking them. I
wonder if this is evolution at work? I imagine the blackbirds thinking,
"I'll peck this and then that fussy, pesky human won't steal it."

and Blackbirds are selective with which apples they want to eat. Ours in our
neighbourhood like Coxs' apples.

Watching a pair of Magpies come down after some crusty pastry we put out.

Had the Robin down a few times

Mike

[Stephen Wolstenholme]

On Wed, 5 Dec 2012 11:32:18 -0000, "'Mike'"

Post by 'Mike'
Watching a pair of Magpies come down after some crusty pastry we put out.

The Magpies that come to my garden seem to eat anything until they get
chased off by the Jays.

Steve

[stuart noble]

Post by m***@gmail.com
My garden has, I think, the perfect apple tree for blackbirds. There
are no squirrels around, and (I hope!) no rats. There is no easy
approach for cats, and I'm far enough away not to startle the birds.
I just leave the apples to fall from the tree, and blackbirds enjoy
the feast for months.
I read somewhere that you may think you are just getting one or two
blackbirds in your garden, but it's usually several different birds.
They tend to look alike :)
Also, the males enjoy the apples just as much as the females. Indeed,
the tough guys chase other blackbirds away from "their" apples. They
do eat them on the tree, now and again, but seem to prefer the
ground. But most of the apples seem to get pecked before I think
about picking them. I wonder if this is evolution at work? I imagine
the blackbirds thinking, "I'll peck this and then that fussy, pesky
human won't steal it."

Not many apples about here this year. Pyracantha berries seem to be the
dish of choice for blackbirds

[Christina Websell]

<***@gmail.com> wrote in message news:6ec1a365-bf19-49a3-a63c-***@googlegroups.com...0

The quick answer is yes.

[Larry Stoter]

Post by Paul D.Smith
All,
We have a bird which looks very like a slightly dark female blackbird which
happily eats its way through apples that we put out for our blackcap
warblers.
This seems to be a single bird which does this (or perhaps it's just the
females) and never having seem a fruit loving blackbird before we tried long
and hard to find another bird which it might be, but with no success.
So do other readers know of such behaviour or have suggestions what this
bird might be if it's not a blackbird?
Cheers,
Paul DS.

Blackbirds will happily eat all sorts of fruit - apples, bananas, pears,
grapes - they especially like fruit that is going manky. A runny banana
drives my garden blackbirds to delerium! In a previous house, we had a
male blackbird that would do almost anything for green grapes -
including taking them from the hand and coming into the kitchen for
them.

[Spider]

Post by Paul D.Smith
All,
We have a bird which looks very like a slightly dark female blackbird which
happily eats its way through apples that we put out for our blackcap
warblers.
This seems to be a single bird which does this (or perhaps it's just the
females) and never having seem a fruit loving blackbird before we tried long
and hard to find another bird which it might be, but with no success.
So do other readers know of such behaviour or have suggestions what this
bird might be if it's not a blackbird?
Cheers,
Paul DS.
--
Please remove the "x-" if replying to sender.

They certainly do ... and the maggots inside them! :-)
Spider

[GeeBee]

Post by Paul D.Smith
We have a bird which looks very like a slightly dark female blackbird which
happily eats its way through apples that we put out for our blackcap
warblers.
This seems to be a single bird which does this (or perhaps it's just the
females) and never having seem a fruit loving blackbird before we tried long
and hard to find another bird which it might be, but with no success.
So do other readers know of such behaviour or have suggestions what this
bird might be if it's not a blackbird?

The blackbirds that live on our patch love gratted cheese as well......and
we have one that sounds like a reversing bleeper when it sings......makes us
chuckle every time we hear it.

Gail

[Paul D.Smith]

Umm. Makes it seem like all the other blackbirds we have are the odd ones
because only one bird bothers with the apple!

Have to give other fruit a try but the blackbirds have to be nippy as the
local squirrels have very sharp eyes and I'm not sure how I'm going to "nail
down" a runny banana long enough for the blackbirds get a look-in ;-)

Paul DS

[spakker]

Post by Paul D.Smith
All,
We have a bird which looks very like a slightly dark female blackbird which
happily eats its way through apples that we put out for our blackcap
warblers.
This seems to be a single bird which does this (or perhaps it's just the
females) and never having seem a fruit loving blackbird before we tried long
and hard to find another bird which it might be, but with no success.

I seem to recall that blackbirds, like humans, cannot make vitamin C and
this may be an explanation.