House Sparrows eating/pecking at branches.

/resized-image/__size/1920x1440/__key/communityserver-discussions-components-files/907/8713.image.jpgHi, 

We’ve recently had our hedges cut, since then I’ve noticed the house sparrows have started to eat/peck bits off of the sawn off branches. I’ve never seen them do this before. Are they eating the actually branch or the sap? does anyone know why they are doing this? (They have a full seed feeder all year round).

I’ve tried to take a photo of them mid-munch, but they flew off See no evil. You can see in the photo a hole in one of the branches, this is what one was munching on.