Do birds eat mandarins? (Arkansas, Kansas)

[Penguin_ie]

I bought a big bag of mandarins the other day but many of them are already going bad (becoming all soft). The ground is frozen here and it is snowing heavily, so I have bird seed out in two bird feeders on trees and on the porch. Should I peel the mandarins and throw them into the yard for the birds, or do local birds in Arkansas not eat citrus fruit?

[FiveHorses]

Originally Posted by Penguin_ie

I bought a big bag of mandarins the other day but many of them are already going bad (becoming all soft). The ground is frozen here and it is snowing heavily, so I have bird seed out in two bird feeders on trees and on the porch. Should I peel the mandarins and throw them into the yard for the birds, or do local birds in Arkansas not eat citrus fruit?

While your intentions are honorable, birds are very fussy feeders and will usually not go near anything approaching the "going off" stage.

I can't imagine nectar-eaters are too thick on the ground up there this time of year, and seed-eaters are... well, seed-eaters and you've already catered to those.

I think rather than attract potentially unwanted critters, they best be put in the bin.