Feeding Christmas Leftovers to Birds - The Bird House (2024)

FAQs

Feeding Christmas Leftovers to Birds - The Bird House? ›

We can feed

Kitchen scraps make an excellent addition to your usual choice of bird food. By putting out the right scraps, you are helping to reduce landfill waste, as well as providing the birds with additional essential fats and carbohydrates which are especially important in the Winter and during nesting season.

Some people prefer not to feed birds in the spring and summer when there is abundant food. However, leaving your feeders up year-round is not a problem as long as you keep a few things in mind: If bears live near you, you should not keep feeders up during the warmer months.

For birds, feeders can aid survival during migration and harsh winters, some studies show. And some bird lovers reason that feeding birds may help offset the harm we've done them by turning woods and meadows into lawns and shopping malls.

Bread offers wild birds absolutely ZERO nutrition.

Simply, bread fills up a small stomach in a hurry. The bird doesn't know the food is useless, but leaves feeling full and satisfied, nonetheless. This is a deadly combination of factors, considering how many calories birds need to eat in order to survive.

Keep your bird feeders filled with a one- or two-day supply of seed to ensure it is eaten quickly and stays fresh. Discard moldy, rancid or foul-smelling seed, because it can be a health hazard to birds.

They will fly around or survey the area from the tops of trees constantly searching for anything that could be a potential new source of food. Once a bird has found a source of food, it may call to its mate or if there is plenty to go round to other members of its flock.

Those three options are the best for feeding wild birds without busting a household budget. Offered together, “wild bird seed,” black oil sunflower seed, and suet cakes will attract a satisfying variety of feathered visitors to feeders in the yard.

Other bird seed alternatives to offer to birds include fruit and vegetable seeds, dried fruits, peanut butter and/or jelly, apples, pears, nuts, and unbuttered popcorn.

Can birds eat cheerios? ›

Naturally low sugar cereals, sure. Plain Cheerios are fine in small amounts, but they also have sugar so don't make it a regular offering. Birds can't eat chocolate, make sure there is no cocoa and not chocolate in any cereal you're giving.

Don't worry if you must stop feeding briefly. In all but the most severe weather conditions, wild birds will find other food sources in your absence, particularly in suburban areas where other bird feeders are just a short flight away.

You can do it year round. Feeding the birds in the summer will not make them lazy or too dependent.” The Cornell Lab of Ornithology scientists state, “Keep the restaurant open year round and offer a variety of seeds and suet.”

If the humans suddenly stop feeding them, they could very easily starve to death before they even realize the food supply has disappeared and they must now revert back to their wild ways for survival. If the bird feeding occurs in an urban or suburban setting the danger might not be as great.

Bluebirds, chickadees, titmice, screech owls, swallows, cardinals, sparrows, jays, wrens, and woodpeckers will all use birdhouses or roost boxes to stay warm and out of inclement weather during winter. Especially for smaller birds, finding a safe, warm, and dry place to rest is critical during harsh winter weather.

Birds (especially larger parrots) can generally tolerate temperatures as low as the 50s, but once the thermometer drops below that, they may get fluffed up (expending all of their energy trying to trap warm air between their feathers and their bodies to keep warm) and stop eating.

Leaving food in the cage overnight can attract rodents keen on pilfering bits of your bird's food. A mouse can slip through gaps as small as a 1/4-inch, which is common bar-spacing size for many small- to medium-sized bird cages, such as those designed for co*ckatiels and conures.

Birds may eat fruits before they are fully ripe, and many birds will nibble on fruits long after they've become overripe, and even fermented.

We've all heard the warning: don't feed rice to birds or don't throw rice at weddings because birds will eat it. Fact is, rice cooked or uncooked won't hurt wild birds at all. The rumor is that uncooked rice hits the bird's tummy and then swells causing its stomach to explode. It's simply not true.

However, feeding and providing water to wild birds is generally discouraged because the increased congregation of wild birds at bird feeders and bird baths may lead to fecal contamination of the local environment, which can aid in disease transmission.