8 Foods You Should Avoid Feeding Your Bird
Birds make great companions, and for many, they’re competitors for first place as a man’s best friend. I know you want to make sure your bird stays happy and healthy for as long as possible; ensuring that they have a healthy diet will help keep them living long and healthy! But not all foods are safe for our feathered friends to eat. Please note that the list below is not a full list of unsafe foods. If you are unsure if a food item is safe for your pet to consume, please do your research prior to feeding it to them. Here’s a list of 8 common foods you should avoid feeding your bird.
1. Avocado
We all love our avocado toast in the morning, and we may be tempted to share a little bite with our pets. If consumed, avocado can be extremely toxic to birds. All parts of an avocado contain persin, a naturally occurring fungicidal. Avocados can cause a bird to have heart damage, difficulty breathing, and even sudden death. Next time you’re enjoying your avocado toast, try giving your bird a small piece of a banana instead!
2. Caffeine
If you’re anything like me, I can’t make it through the day without my cup of coffee. The caffeine in our coffee really gets our hearts going and helps us jump-start our day! If your bird gets a hold of your coffee, even a small sip could increase their heart rate, induce arrhythmias, and hyperactivity. In some cases, caffeine toxicity can lead to cardiac arrest in birds. Don’t forget, drinks like soda and tea may contain caffeine as well! Did you know the heart of a medium bird, like a conure, can beat over 250 times per minute! So next time your bird is trying to get into your morning coffee mug, try offering them a small sip of a safe fruit juice, like freshly squeezed orange juice instead!
3. Chocolate
When our feathered friends are singing our favorite song, it can be hard to not share a sweet treat with them. Hold off on the chocolate, although it may be your favorite treat, chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, which are extremely toxic to birds and other animals. The darker the chocolate, the more toxic it is for your bird. Chocolate can cause vomiting, diarrhea, increased heart rate, seizures, and even cause death in birds. So next time you want to share a sweet treat with your bird, try offering them a small piece of a grape!
4. Onions and Garlic
Though onion and garlic add incredible flavour to our food, cooked and raw onion and garlic can be extremely toxic to your pet bird. Onions contain sulfur compounds, and when ingested by your bird, it may irritate the lining of their mouth and esophagus which may cause ulcers to form. Onion can also cause your bird’s red blood cells to burst, resulting in anemia. Garlic contains allicin, a chemical compound that causes anemia and weakness in birds. So next time you want to share your onion and garlic infused meal with your bird, try giving them a small piece of broccoli instead!
5. Fruit pits and Apple Seeds
There’s a lot of safe fruits that your birds can eat, but did you know some of the seeds and pits inside these fruits can be extremely toxic for your bird? Fruits like cherries, plums, peaches, apples, and apricots can be extremely delicious treats to share with your birds, but only after you’ve removed the seeds and pits. These seeds and pits contain small amounts of cyanide, which can lead to cardiac toxicity if ingested by our feathered friends. So next time you want to feed some of these fruits to your bird, make sure you have removed all of the seeds and pits. Some fruits contain safe to eat seeds like grapes, squash, oranges, pumpkins, melons, pomegranates, and berries.
6. Tomatoes
Tomatoes are delicious, and a great topping to any salad. For birds, raw tomatoes can be very acidic, and when being digested, they may cause ulcers. Although the acidic content of tomatoes may not affect every bird, most veterinarians will recommend that pet owners avoid feeding it to their birds. In addition, the vines and leaves of tomatoes are highly toxic to birds and should not be fed to them. This goes for all kinds of tomatoes, including cherry tomatoes! However, the acidic content doesn’t seem to be present in dried tomatoes or sauces, and giving these in small amounts may be okay. Thankfully, there are a lot of safe vegetables you can offer your bird instead, like carrots and bell peppers!
7. Salt
Just like us, birds have a delicate electrolyte balance they must maintain to live happy, healthy lives. Even small amounts of salty treats like pretzels can cause an electrolyte and fluid imbalance in your bird. This can lead to increased thirst, dehydration, poor kidney function, and in some cases, death! So instead of sharing that pretzel with your bird, try offering them a few unsalted pumpkin seeds as a treat!
8. Fat
Foods high in fat can be delicious, but they should be eaten in moderation. Just like us, birds on a high-fat diet may be prone to obesity and other related diseases like high triglyceride levels and atherosclerosis, which may lead to coronary artery disease and sudden death. Avoid feeding fatty foods to your bird, like dairy and animal fat. Some foods are safe to feed to your bird like unsalted seeds and nuts. They should be fed in moderation to limit the amount of fat in your bird's diet.
