Birds and my plum tree

Usually when there's a discussion among gardeners where birds and fruit appear in the same sentence, it's usually about preventing birds nicking the fruit, so this might seem odd.

I'm worried about the local birds. With the hot dry weather we've been having, there aren't many wild berries about. The few brambles I've seen out and about are all tiny and look done in. There are still quite a few plums left on my tree, and I've seen the birds taking advantage of this fact. I'm happy to let them get on with it. I can go to the shop for food and I can get drinking water from the tap. The birds don't have this convenience.

But the plums are about finished. There's still a fair few on the tree, but they're heading towards over ripe and falling down. While the black birds seem happy to forage around the lawn, the small birds seem reluctant to come down, so I'm wondering, what can I do for my feathered buddies once the plum tree is bare?

 

All the finches that visit my garden don't seem to be interested in fruit, they are usually just seed eaters. I put out some raisins every day and it only seems to be the Blackbirds and Robins that will take those. Some garden birds will eat apples and Blackbirds in particular love the ripe rose hips on Rugosa roses.

 

I'm not sure what kind of birds they are that visit my plum tree. They're tiny. A sparrow looks massive compared to these birds. They tiny, slender, and light grey with distinct yellow bits, but other than that, I'm afraid I didn't take that much notice of what they look like. I tend to be more interested in what they're doing.

They're so tiny a whole plum probably ways more than they do. They fly into the tree, look around, presumably to see if it's safe, then inch closer and closer to their selected plum, take a few bites out of it, then fly away, only to come back a short time later for another bite. It's fascinating to watch. I'm just worried that once the fruit is all gone, they're going to struggle.

If they're seed eaters too, they'll probably manage fine for food, but I'm thinking in these dry times, the high water content of the plums might be what's keeping them hydrated.

 

The two birds that came to mind straight away are Siskins, the males have a black cap and are smaller than the finches. Or Greenfinches. Perhaps @strongylodon might have an idea or two.

 

Juvenile Goldfinches are grey with a yellow wing bar but would normally be accompanied by adults with their noticeable red faces so I am not sure. Possibly juvenile Chaffinches. Most finches are the same size as sparrows except as @Sheal says, Siskins.
These are young Siskins, any likeness?

 

Certainly at least similar if not exactly the same. I'll take more notice of their markings when I next see them.