What Birds Eat Oranges from Fruit Bird Feeders?
Updated: Apr. 08, 2024
If you're thinking of trying out fruit bird feeders, you'll want to learn what birds eat oranges. Also learn other fruits that attract birds.
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Birds That Eat Oranges
Orioles tend to steal the show in the backyard at fruit bird feeders because of their bright colors, but other fruit eating birds like oranges, too. Look for these other types of birds that might stop by to eat oranges.
- Gray catbirds
- Northern mockingbirds
- Red-bellied woodpeckers
- Western tanagers
- Brown thrashers
- Scarlet tanagers
- Rose-breasted grosbeaks
Discover 10 birds that look like orioles.
When to Put Out Oranges for Birds
You’ll have the best chance of success if you put oranges and fruit bird feeders out in spring. Try to anticipate when orioles will arrive in your backyard. If orioles heading north find a good feeding spot, they may just stick around for nesting season and beyond, which means you can see baby orioles for the entire summer.
How to Choose Fruit Bird Feeders
Perhaps one of the best things about feeding birds oranges is the low maintenance. You don’t need a snazzy feeder. Simply hammer a nail to a deck railing or fencepost and stick an orange half to the nail. Or set a couple of orange halves right in your platform feeder. Easy peasy! Here’s more ideas for DIY oriole feeders.
If you are interested buying in a special feeder for orioles, choose one that is orange colored to catch their eye as they’re flying over your yard. Some oriole feeders also offer sugar water and grape jelly.
Learn more about how to feed orioles.
More Fruits to Feed Birds
Don’t stop at oranges. Birds who enjoy a sweet orange treat will often eat other ripe fruit, too. Put out apple halves the same way as oranges. Set an overripe banana, a couple of handfuls of grapes or even chunks of melons on a platform feeder and have fun watching which birds fill up on fruit. Find out what birds can eat from the kitchen.
If you’re offering fruit for birds, you might just attract bonus winged visitors. Some butterflies and moths are attracted to fruit, too! Here’s how to make a DIY fruit feeder for butterflies.
Also plant berry bushes and fruit-bearing trees to make your backyard more attractive to orioles and other fruit eating birds. Try crabapple and raspberries.
Psst—orioles can’t resist this oriole nectar recipe.
Keep Fruit Bird Feeders Clean
As you can imagine, fresh fruit spoils quickly, especially in the spring and summer sunshine. Make sure to clean your feeders every few days, remove moldy remains and replace with a fresh batch of fruit.
Next, learn how to identify Baltimore oriole birds.
Originally Published: May 18, 2022
