Sunflower kernels. These varieties are extremely high in fat and salt, which can be harmful to your pet's health. Sharing a meal with your bird can be a wonderful bonding experience, but did you know that it can also benefit your pet's health? fresh veggies are good for companion birds. Black-oil sunflower seed: high in fat so it provides good energy; seeds are small and thin-shelled enough for small... White Proso Millet: high in protein content. Learn what types of food you can feed a baby bird. Vegetables: Birds eat a lot of seed and plant material, and scrap vegetables can be a welcome feeder treat. 7. Rice probably isn’t the easiest thing for churches to have to clean. Jalapeño peppers are another favorite of companion birds. When you feel like your bird deserves a special treat, try serving up one of these healthy and easy options that are packed with taste as well as beneficial nutrients. For treats, snacks, and supplemental foods, most birds favor foods like worms, seeds, vegetables, and fruits and berries. Mild grated cheese can be a good way of attracting robins, wrens and dunnocks. Serving breakfast toasts offers a nice change-up to their morning meal.Â. You can buy mealworms at pet bird stores. Keep the sugar-free stuff away. Jays seem to sense whenever peanuts are put out within a 5-mile radius. Along with the edibles, there are some other things that can be highly toxic to birds. She has over 16 years experience writing about wild birds for magazines and websites. Low fat or hard cheese can be a beneficial source of protein and oils if used with caution. These are the kitchen scraps you can use: Baked goods . Bird seed mixtures. Just about any fruit imaginable is good for your bird's diet. It may be for the best. It seems that our avian friends lack the taste receptors that pick up on a pepper's stinging bite, which makes them a favorite of birds around the world. If you choose to serve the popcorn unpopped, boil the kernels for a bit in plain water to soften the tough hulls. Birds eat rice during migration all the time, and they do just fine. Apples, along with other members of the rose family including cherries, peaches, apricots, and pears... Alcohol. Feeding your bird a healthy diet does not have to be costly or time-consuming. Your bird will like them too! The diet of every bird species is different and is important to know when offering feed to your bird. If they find one they simply cannot open, give them a hand and use a nutcracker to assist in cracking them. Always make sure that any nuts that you serve your bird are clean and unsalted. Green beans come in many varieties and are a good source of fiber. This is often flung aside by the birds as they sort through for the tastier seeds. You can help them out by adding a little extra for them, too. You can use almost any seed or grain, mixed with beef fat, lard, or natural peanut butter. Rich in unsaturated fats and proteins, sunflower seeds are a healthy snack for birds and humans alike. Many bird diets lack certain vitamins and minerals that birds need, which can lead to a host of serious health conditions. In winter months, when alternative natural food is minimized, scraps provide greater variety and different proteins, fats and carbohydrates that are not always abundant in birdseed mixes. While feeding kitchen scraps to birds may be economical and offer a good variety of foods, there are problems with these alternative foods. Learn tips for creating your most beautiful (and bountiful) garden ever. Birds that are sunflower specialists will readily eat the sunflower seed and toss the millet and corn to the ground, to be eaten by ground-feeding birds such as sparrows and juncos. Meat: Insects are a popular source of protein for many birds. Walnuts, in particular, have many nutritional features not found in other nuts. Whole grain bread tastes great and is a wonderful source of fiber. Can Birds Eat Rice? Chocolate is a wonderful treat to share with human family members, but it can be harmful or fatal to your pet... Apple Seeds. Learn how to create a happy, healthy home for your pet. According to PetMD, foods that are toxic to birds include avocado plant which contains a fatty acid-like compound called persin. A hungry group of birds can strip a field of grain in no time. Dried, powdered chillis and paprika can be used reasonably liberally. While a diet composed completely of scraps is less suitable, occasional scraps are easily incorporated into birds’ high metabolic rates without detrimental effects. You may find out that you have quite a hot little tamale on your hands! Be sure to thoroughly wash any sprouts that you offer your bird. Wash all produce well, as birds are very sensitive to pesticides, chemicals and other sprays. Watch them and you’ll see what I mean. In fact, a seed-only diet is a recipe for malnutrition – especially in pet birds. The birds most likely to come to a bird feeder are those that eat seeds, so seeds are what you should offer. Squirrels will steal eggs from birds nests and even some eggs from your chicken coop if … 5. How to Attract New Birds to Your Backyard. You can serve your bird either popped or unpopped kernels. Whole grains are an excellent source of vital protein, not to mention beneficial carbohydrates. Because of the sheer number of bird species, it can be difficult for the average person to know the species-specific dietary needs for baby birds. Birds love nuts, but one unsalted almond or walnut every day is plenty for a medium-sized parrot such as an African gray parrot. Full of fat and proteins – peanuts are perfect for birds. Different types of birds have individual nut preferences based on nut size and hardness when compared to the bird’s bill strength and mouth size, but any nut-loving bird … Chia Seeds: How Do They Benefit My Pet Bird? Some additional specific birds that do eat grapes include Northern Cardinal, Northern Flicker, Baltimore Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, Veery, Red-eye Vireo, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker. You may cut them in half to make it easier for the birds to eat grapes. Instead, consider using a hanging cage feeder for larger scraps, or cut up the scraps to mix into a simple bird suet recipe.