A birds diet directly affects its health, this is why giving your bird a diet that includes fruits is a must. Not only are fruits safe for birds but animal experts encourage bird owners to regularly give fruits to their birds. Bird owners feed their pets a number of fruits including papaya, mango, cranberry, bananas, pear, and pineapples. But how about peaches? This article explores the question of “Can birds eat peaches”

Birds can certainly eat peaches. This delicious fruit offers birds a number of vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin K, copper, potassium, fibre and manganese. The birds can eat the flesh and the skin of the fruit but not the pit. A peach pit, and the pits and seeds of other fruits, contain small amounts of a cardiac-toxic cyanide compound

Can birds eat peaches?

Birds can definitely eat peaches, this stone fruit is packed with a variety of nutrients and minerals such as niacin, potassium, vitamin A, manganese, copper, fibre, vitamin C, potassium, vitamin E, and vitamin k. 

The flesh and skin of this fruit may be good for your bird but the pit is not. Birds cannot eat the pits of fruits like peaches, apples, nectarines, plums and cherries as they contain small amounts of a cardiac-toxic cyanide compound. If your bird chews and eats a peach pit the poison will be released, this poison would otherwise be trapped inside the hull of the seed if unchewed.

Peach pits, if eaten, can be fatal to birds. The poison in the pits can also kill humans but because of our large size compared to a peach pit, we would have to eat many, many pits to feel the poisonous effects and die. Unfortunately, because birds are small compared to humans, the effect that one pit will have on them is more severe. Eating one peach pit can cause them to succumb to the poison quickly unless you get them to a vet 

Other seeds also contain cyanide but because peach pits are quite large, only one seed is needed to cause major issues. If your bird was exposed to, let’s say, an apple seed, then this wouldn’t be as much of a problem because the apple seed is much smaller. The larger the seed the more toxin it contains 

How to feed your birds peaches  

The easiest way to serve peaches to birds is to cut them into pieces, you can cut fresh or dried peaches into pieces. Your bird may prefer smaller or larger pieces of fruit, if this is their first time eating this fruit you can try serving them both larger and smaller pieces to see which they prefer. This fruit is usually served cut into slices for easy eating or cut in half lengthwise. You don’t have to peel this fruit beforehand, your bird will enjoy it just the same. 

If you have dried fruit and prefer to serve your bird more moist fruit you can soak the dried peaches in water overnight, this has the added benefit of delivering water to the bird.

Avoid giving your bird commercial dried peaches. Dried fruits are generally sweet enough on their own but in some cases, manufacturers will add sugar to the fruits to make them more enjoyable to humans. The accumulation of sugar in your bird’s body over time can cause diabetes.

You can leave the fruit in their cages or place it on the ground, they will fly over to investigate what you’re feeding them. If you’re feeding backyard birds you can leave the fruit on a platform bird feeder, scattered around your garden or placed in a bowl near where birds frequent 

What should I do if my bird eats a peach pit?

If your bird has eaten a peach pit you need to take the animal to the vet. Seeing a vet is necessary to prevent the animal from dying as a result of cyanide poisoning. After treatment from the vet, take care to follow any care instructions recommended by your vet

Conclusion

In conclusion, yes birds can definitely eat peaches. In order for your bird to have a healthy and well-rounded diet fruits are a must and peaches can occasionally be given as a fruit snack. Always remove pits from peaches before serving them to birds, the pits contain cyanide, cyanide can be fatal to the bird. You can serve peaches dried or fresh and for ease of eating, you can slice the peaches before serving them to the bird. If your bird eats a peach pit you’ll need to take them to the vet as soon as possible 

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