A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Organic Fruit for Birds?

Hello All!!!

I was wondering if anyone could answer a question for me? Do birds eat only "organically" grown fruit?

I ask this is because, I threw out some "store bought" grapes for my ALWAYS HUNGRY blue jays and they would NOT touch the grapes!?!
I was wondering if, even though I wash the fruit with veggie wash, if THEY can still taste the pesticides, even if WE can't??? This makes sense to me...I prefer the "real" stuff, too!!!

Makes ya think, doesn't it???!!!

Just Wondering???
HOLLYHOCKGIRL

Hollyhockgirl, I've never heard of any birds being that picky, unless maybe it's something they don't normally eat. I put out the store bought grapes all the time and my mockingbirds love them! We have someone here who knows all about birds so maybe he will stop by and shed some light on this!

Taken from an online fact sheet about Blue Jays:

While the eggs and young of other birds are, at times, an important food source, the bulk of the Blue Jays diet consists of vegetable material such as wild fruits, acorns, hazelnuts, beechnuts, corn, and other grains, and also insects of many kinds. Blue Jays can be important in the local control of the harmful tent caterpillar. One pair of Blue Jays may feed hundreds of the pupa, or immature form, of tent caterpillars to their nestlings in early summer. The parents extract the pupae from their tough, silken cocoons and carry several inside their mouths at one time to the young. The destruction of cocoons for this purpose eliminates thousands of moth eggs due to hatch the following spring.

Typical of a bird that eats many different types of food, the Blue Jay has a heavy bill useful in pecking open cocoons as well as acorns and other hard-shelled nuts. It frequently carries off acorns and beechnuts and conceals them under leaves, in grass, and in hollow trees. In winter, Blue Jays commonly carry away food from a feeding station, especially bread and sunflower seeds, to be hidden under trees and shrubs and eaten later. A regular supply of peanuts, mixed grains, and especially sunflower seeds will attract Blue Jays to a feeding shelf. They seem to enjoy holding the hull of a seed or peanut beneath their feet while pecking it open to extract the kernel.

So, maybe they just don't like grapes or if they do, they steal one and go hide it to have for dessert later?

Blue jays arent the typical fruit eater at a feeder. Mockingbirds love fruit as do other thrashers and thrushes. Robins for example love raisins.
heres a part of an article from
http://www.50birds.com/dfeedingbirds.htm
'quote'
Migrating birds and early arrivals regularly encounter shortages of their usual feeding sources and readily substitute fruit made available for them. Try halving oranges and apples and fixing on a nail or spike. Feed grapes, berries, bananas, melons, and raisins.

Robins, Thrushes, Catbirds, Mockingbirds, Orioles, Tanagers, Waxwings, bluebirds, Kingbirds, Woodpeckers, Crows, Blackbirds, Sparrows, some Warblers and more birds than can be listed will eat fruit. See Gilbert H. Trafton's Bird-Fruit Chart based on U.S. Department of Agriculture studies for a longer list of birds and some of the Fruits they eat. See the section on plants, Shrubs and trees you can plant to provide Fruit, Nectar, seeds and Cover.

The main fruit eating birds I've personally seen are Mockingbirds, Robins, Orioles, and Crows. They don't give a hoot(pun intended)if the fruit is organic or not. Either way is fine by them. I put out apple slices smeared with peanut butter for my two quasi-pet Mockingbirds, Mr. and Mrs. Mocky. Blue Jays are NOTORIOUS nut eaters, with a fondness for acorns and peanuts. They are sorta the squirrels of the bird world.

MR. MOCKY'S APPLE

Hello All!!!

Thanks so much for all the detailed info!!! I think the authors of the bird books that I have could learn a lot from all of you!!! None of the books I have came anywhere near the great information that I got from all of you!!!

I am so glad that the grapes were not "poisonous" to the birds...or us for that matter!!! Although...I think farm or garden fresh is always the right answer for both animals and humans alike!!!

I am glad that I have been throwing out unsalted peanuts in the shell to my Jays... They seem to love to "weigh" each one in their beaks and make quite a game of "hiding" the nuts in my potted plants (everything is in containers...we rent) I find peanut "treasure" everywhere!

Thanks Again!!!
HOLLYHOCKGIRL

I bought 50 lbs of Black Oil Sunflower seeds at TSC today. This weekend they have a sale. 50 pounds for $10.80. I also bought two peanut suet cakes there for 85 cents a piece. And I bought 50 pounds of Manna-Pro rabbit chow for my bunny, Two Bean Bags for $9.50. 50 pounds of rabbit chow will last one bunny for 6-8 months.

I love Mr. Mocky,

I've taught Mr. Mocky the opening phrase to Beethoven's 5th Symphony.