Even An Old Apple Tree Can Attract A Few Birds To The Backyard During The Winter.

I learned something this past winter about backyard birds I wasn’t aware of regarding what some birds, more precisely house finches, can eat during winter to help them survive.

In our yard sits an old apple tree, one that has been there for 50 years or more, and to this day it still produces a bumper crop of apples.

yellow-rumped warbler feeding on an old apple still hanging in the tree — *(Other birds, such as American robins and warblers were occasionally coming to feed on the old apples still hanging in our backyard trees last winter.)*

This particular apple tree has grown large enough over the years, however, many of the apples are too high to pick for me so they are just left to rot on the tree each winter.

But this past winter I realized these old apples weren’t going to waste but were actually being eaten by a couple of species of birds, including numerous house fiches, a few American robins, and what I think was a yellow-rumped warbler.

House finches eat mainly plant matter, namely berries, weed seeds, and buds from trees in the spring but they can also eat leftover apples still hanging on the tree when the need arises during late winter when other food sources have become scarce.

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Once the temperature warmed up above freezing during the day in late February and the apples began to thaw out I started to notice my apple trees were attracting a large number of birds, mostly house finches but also American robins, starlings, scrub jays, and a few other unknown species as well.

a pair of house finches eating an old apple from the apple tree — *(Last winter, numerous house finches were coming to feed on the leftover apples in my backyard apple trees.)*

I paid little to no attention to the matter until one day I noticed one of the house finches appeared to be eating the rotten apples.

After watching my apple trees for a few days afterward it was quite clear the house finches were in fact coming to the trees each afternoon when things warmed up enough to feed on the leftover apples still hanging high up in the tree.

With more apples than I can eat each year, I was actually going to take down a couple of the smaller apple trees that sprouted on their own a few years back but now I am going to leave all the apple trees for the house finches and other birds to feed on each winter.

(Leave the flowers to attract birds to the backyard. For short nature clips like this one and interesting stories about the natural world in our very own backyards, check out our Backyards For Birds channel on YouTube for videos and updates about enhancing the backyard for birds, bees, butterflies, and other interesting creatures in nature.)

Wild birds can be quite resourceful when they need to be and if we keep our eyes open we can learn of things such as leaving a few apples on the tree each winter that can help in some small way in bringing and sustaining birds in our backyards.

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Backyard birds, bees, butterflies, and all other creatures in nature that can live in our own backyards are what this website is all about.