There is very little information on the importance of fleshy fruit in the diet of the nestlings and fledglings of partially frugivorous Holarctic passerines. In an area of 0.6 km2 in northwestern Spain, it was verified during 2001–2003 that at least one blackcap Sylvia atricapilla pair and five blackbird Turdus merula pairs fed their offspring on a certain proportion of ivy Hedera helix fruit. Observations made on a blackcap nest in May showed that the parents fed older nestlings on animal prey on 60.7% of occasions and 39.3% on fruit (n = 140 total number of identified feeds). The female fed nestlings on fruit more often than the male. According to observations carried out on five ivy plants in May, blackcaps brought fruit in their bills to feed nestlings or fledglings on 40.3% of 67 feeding visits and blackbirds on at least 22.1% of 86 feeding visits. The blackcaps consistently carried one fruit and the blackbirds between three and five. Both species fed their young on fruit under very different meteorological conditions. Seeds found in the faecal sacs of their nestlings showed high potential germination viability (95.6% undamaged seeds and 4.4% cracked seeds; n = 46 total seeds except for those gnawed by rodents), so the adults probably acted as indirect vectors in dispersing ivy whilst carrying faecal sacs away from the nest.