Surprisingly, birds can eat a variety of human foods. When feeding birds, it’s important to understand which human foods birds can eat and which human foods birds cannot eat.

You can offer your feathered friends common pantry foods, in fact, these foods can be of great benefit to the bird. One common pantry food that you may be considering feeding birds is beans. This article explores the question of ‘can birds eat beans’ 

Birds can certainly eat beans. Beans deliver carbohydrates, fiber, iron, and protein to birds. Beans can also help treat a number of bird ailments. Easily digestible beans that can be served to birds include whole lentil beans, garbanzo beans, mung beans, and adzuki beans.

Can birds eat beans?

Yes, birds can definitely eat beans. Not only can birds eat beans but birds enjoy them as well. Beans are a delicious treat that many birds eat and enjoy.

How birds can benefit from eating beans:

Beans are foods that offer good amounts of nutrients including fiber, iron, proteins, and carbohydrates.

Not only that, beans can be helpful in improving the bird’s cholesterol levels, in reducing blood sugar levels in birds as well as helping to maintain good gut health for birds.

If you have a sick bird, beans can improve the bird’s health. If your bird suffers from dull feathers, obesity, or liver disease, feed your bird beans as this food can help treat these ailments. 

Beans that are easy to digest will always be the best ones to feed your birds. Easily digestible beans include whole lentil beans, garbanzo beans, mung beans, and adzuki beans

How to prepare beans for birds 

It is important to always cook beans before serving them to birds. Raw beans contain hemagglutinin. This chemical is dangerous to humans and birds as well, hemagglutinin can be toxic to birds and can even kill them.

To avoid hemagglutinin poisoning always cook beans before feeding them to birds. The highest concentrations of hemagglutinin are found in uncooked red kidney beans followed by white kidney beans.

Before cooking beans, soak them in water overnight, this makes them safe to cook. The beans should be tender by the next day. You can then strain the water from the beans and cook.

There are many ways to cook beans, you can cook them on a stovetop, using a multi cooker or using a pressure cooker. Expect the beans to cook within 45 minutes or 2 hours depending on the type of bean. Let the beans cook fully before serving them to your birds.

Ensure beans are cooked thoroughly to prevent the accidental poisoning of your bird.

You can check whether they’ve been thoroughly cooked by using your finger to squash the bean, if it squashes easily, and is mushy, then you can feed the batch of beans to your bird. 

Creating variety in your bird’s diet will prevent the bird from becoming bored with its food options. To do this you can add sweet potato, peas, carrots, broccoli, whole wheat bread, and carrots to the beans

What to avoid when cooking beans for birds: 

Avoid adding any flavorings or seasonings to your bird’s beans.

The added flavors may be delicious to humans but they can be harmful to birds. Flavorings and additives such as sauces can be very salty, sugary, or starchy which can negatively affect the bird’s health.

If you’re planning on feeding your bird’s precooked beans from a jar or from a can, take precautions by thoroughly rinsing the beans before serving them to your bird. 

What other human food can birds eat?

If you’d like to add variety to your bird’s diet, feeding it certain human foods can be helpful. A diet built on only human food is not sustainable to birds but human foods can be added to diversify the bird’s diet. Here are some human foods that birds can eat: 

Vegetables: Not only can birds eat beans, other vegetables such as corn, potatoes, and vegetables from canned soups can also be beneficial to birds.

Cheese: Most birds will greatly enjoy any bits of hard cheese offered to them. Feed birds cheeses such as American or mild cheddar, avoid feeding these animals soft, mold or rancid cheeses 

Cereals: Not only are cereals good for humans, but they are also good for birds. Cereals have high nutritional values and are a tasty treat for birds. Avoid cereals that contain high amounts of sugar and artificial dyes. 

Eggs: This food is not only good for humans but it is also good for birds too. Eggs offer birds a plethora of beneficial vitamins and minerals. In addition, eggshells offer birds much-needed calcium and also help with the bird’s digestion.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, yes birds can eat beans. The best beans to feed your birds are easily digestible beans such as whole lentil beans, garbanzo beans, mung beans, and adzuki beans.

Be sure to soak and cook beans very thoroughly before feeding them to birds. Uncooked beans are toxic and can even be fatal to birds. Avoid adding seasonings or flavorings to beans meant for birds, if you’d like to add variety to the beans add vegetables.

Other human foods that you can feed birds include eggs, cheese, and cereals 

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