A race between peckish people and peckish birds over a fresh fruit harvest has probably gone the way of the birds.

In a race against time, more than 60 people representing community food providers flocked to Massey University's teaching orchard in Palmerston North on Friday to rescue crops of apples and pears off the trees for redistribution among disadvantaged families.

Trevor Witt from community sharing group Transition Feilding had turned up at the orchard for the past three picks.

WARWICK SMITH/STUFF Pacific rose apples waiting to be picked during the community fruit harvest at the Massey University orchard.

He said the harvest this year took place two to three weeks later than usual, and the birds had had their way with the fruit, hollowing out apples from the top.

READ MORE:

* Palmerston North's holiday crush almost breaks the food banks

* Electric van donated to Palmerston North free food charity

* Feed hungry mouths, not the ground, with Community Fruit Harvesting

Because of that, Witt didn't expect the harvest to be as bountiful as in previous years.

WARWICK SMITH/STUFF Tui Gregg, 4, came along to help her mum pick apples for the community fruit harvest.

Orchard manager Mark Osborne said the fruit groves provided a practical classroom for Massey students.

"It doesn't produce fruit in large enough quantities to be commercially viable, so rather than let the birds get all of it, we open the orchard up to the community."

Osborne said birds were a particular problem because as the only orchard in the vicinity, it provided the city's avian population with an irresistible and easily accessed food source.

WARWICK SMITH/STUFF Lorna Day of Marton plucks Braeburn apples during the community fruit harvest at Massey University's orchard.

"The birds have given the orchard a fair hammering in the last few days."

The pick was organised through Facebook in less than three days by Inez Schmidt of Community Fruit Harvest, an organisation that gathers surplus crops from suburban gardens and distributes the produce to causes such as Palmerston North's free food store Just Zilch.

The volunteers were let loose among Braeburn and Pacific Rose apple trees and Beurre Bosc and Comice pears.

Trista Burn, her husband Callum Burn and son Micah, 2, took advantage of the fine morning to pick fruit for Crossroads Church Family Feeds.

"We saw it on Facebook the other day and thought we'd come down and help out," Trista Burn said.

Haley Wāho,​ from Facebook share and exchange page Gifts Beyond Hope, said they would be dropping off some of the harvest at the Highbury Whānau Centre.

Other fruit-pickers included volunteers from Salvation Army, Steiner Kindergartens, Te Aroha Noa, Arohanui Hospice and the Longburn Share Table, with staff from Fonterra and AgResearch turning up to help during their lunch break.

Schmidt said the harvesters managed to collect about 65 banana boxes of apples and pears.​