Silvereyes in the garden

Several pretty little Silvereyes have come calling recently, to feed on some fruit in our small back garden.  Lacking any large trees to hang fruit from, we purchased a wooden bird feeder to skewer apples and suchlike for the hungry birds to feed on.  There was a rather soft feijoa in the fruit bowl, so that was deftly skewered and we waited to see the birds were interested in our offering. And they were – they fed with gusto, hollowing out the centre of the fruit.

Two Silvereyes feeding on the feijoa.

A good view of the ring around the eye

Later on a couple of squashy mandarin oranges were chopped in half and put outside on the grass to see if any of the birds were interested.  Once again, the Silvereyes made short work of the fruit, eating all the fleshy bits and leaving behind a cleaned out skin.

Mandarin orange for lunch

Silvereyes feed on nectar, fruit and insects, and flocks of them have been known to cause damage in orchards.  They peck at the ripening soft fruit, such as grapes.  But they also do good deeds in the garden, eating woolly aphis from apple trees, greenfly, and other pests.  They are such pretty little birds and are delightful to watch, often hanging upside down while they feed.