Blackbirds and apples!

[goosey]

I have been putting out apples everyday with the top slcied off for the birds. Mainly it is the blackbirds which indulge along with any passing fieldfare and redwings.
What I have notice though - they prefer to eat any brown and left over fruit from the previous day rather than the fresh I give them even if it has been snowed on or frozen.

Has anyone else noticed this?
I wonder if it is just the fact the fruit is softer or just more tasty?

[paul m]

Yes, they prefer the softer pieces partly because they are easier to bite but also probably because they are riper and therefore contain more sugars .... or even alcohol

Birdlady.com

[Mind, I'm not sure you can believe everything in that snippet: it includes a report of 'gunners' chasing off drunken elk in Glasgow ... ]

[black]

My mum was on the phone to me at the weekend commenting on the same thing ! She had just started putting apples out and it was taking a couple of days before the blackbirds went near them. She just thought that because this was a new type of food that they weren't use to in the garden so they just ignored it until they realised what it was. I think that the fruit becoming softer and easier to peck seems a more likely explanation.