Feeding Birds: What Foods to Avoid
These foods can KILL your bird:
Food/ Drinks |
Why It Should Not Be Given To Your Birds |
| Avocado Pear – including fruit, bark,leaves, pips and stems and Avocado products eg Guacomole | Contains an extremely toxic fatty acid derivative called Persin which can cause cardiac distress and heart failure. |
| Chocolate and Cocoa | Contain Theobromide which is extremely toxic. |
| Rhubarb | The leaves contain high concentrations of oxalic acid which is an intestinal irritant. |
These foods and drinks can cause health problems:
| Alcohol | A bird's liver cannot metabolise alcohol properly, resulting in depression of the organs. |
| Apple seeds and fruit pips (apricot, cherry, pear, peach, or nectarine pips) | These contain trace amounts of cyanide and are highly toxic. |
| Caffeinated drinks eg tea, coffee, coke. | Caffeine is a stimulant that can cause an increase in heart rate, irregular heart beat, hyperactivity and even cardiac arrest. |
| Carbonated (fizzy) drinks: |
Birds have no mechanism (eg burping) for ridding themselves of excess gas from carbonation. This can cause gastric problems. Cabbage Can cause gastric problems. |
| Fatty foods | A high-fat diet can lead to fatty liver disease. |
| Insoluble grit (eg sand). | Can cause fatal impaction (blockage) in the crop or intestines. |
| Onions | Contain a chemical that denatures haemoglobin. Red blood cells are destroyed, resulting in anaemia. |
| Preservatives eg found in processed meats and dried fruits. | Studies have shown that a diet high in preservatives can cause a host of problems such as skin conditions and plucking. |
| Salty foods | A high salt diet can cause problems such as excessive thirst, dehydration and kidney dysfunction. |
| Sugary foods (sucrose) | High amounts of sugar places strain on the pancreas to produce excessive insulin. |
| Lettuce | Little nutritional value and has been shown to cause diarrhoea. |
| Milk | Birds are lactose intolerant. Milk products can be given in small amounts eg cheese and yoghurt. |
| Mushrooms | Mushrooms are a type of fungus and have been4 known to cause digestive upsets. |
| Number of uncooked beans eg soy, black, red and kidney beans. | Uncooked beans can contain a poison called hemagglutinin which is very toxic. |
| Tomato fruit, leaves, stems and vines. | While the tomato fruit is very acidic, the leaves, stems and vines are very toxic. |