It’s a thing. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t witnessed it myself, but the birds do like the blooms. Last year I lost 90+% of my apricot blooms to a group of red headed house finches. It only took them about 3 or 4 days, and this is a large 8 year old tree. My next door neighbor has loads of bird feeders. The birds dine on bird feed then fly over to my trees for dessert. Looking closely, they eat the base of the flower which is the future fruit, which also has the flower nectar, and they let the petals fall to the ground. Now I put out crow and hawk decoys when the blooms start opening and it keeps them away.
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I observed the same thing with my nectarines this year, and they continued doing it even after the petals fall.
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Dang, @SpokanePeach, that sounds like a lot of loss. I think my plan is a fake owl, as I have access to a free one. I’ll see how it works.
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