Humans have really taken a liking to sunflower seeds, this tiny food is very nutritious as it is chocked full of vitamins and minerals. The seeds help with inflammation, help to reduce your risk of heart disease, and can help prevent diabetes in humans. So with all these great benefits its logical to wonder if your bird can eat sunflower seeds and can they be salted? This article explores the question, can birds eat salted sunflower seeds?

Birds can definitely eat sunflower seeds, but not salted sunflower seeds. These seeds offer both humans and birds a number of vitamins and minerals that the body can use but the added salt on the seeds make them very dangerous to birds.

Can birds eat salted sunflower seeds?

Sunflower seeds are one of the favourite foods of birds. These snacks are not just tasty to these creatures; they are also highly rich in essential vitamins and minerals. Sunflower seeds contain vitamins and minerals including protein, fibre, vitamin e, vitamin b6, iron, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, and manganese to name a few

However, when serving this snack to birds, you must ensure they are unsalted. Salt is not part of a bird’s natural diet and so should not be fed to them. Foods high in salt could kill a bird, which is why experts sternly warn against feeding them salted sunflower seeds.

Are unsalted sunflower seeds good or bad for birds?

Unsalted sunflower seeds are good for birds. If you own a pet bird, unsalted sunflower seeds should be a huge part of its diet. You can also place this snack in a bird feeder (if you have one). When feeding birds sunflower seeds, you should help them unshell the seeds as most small birds will avoid them if they are still in their shells.

Larger birds also feed on sunflowers seeds, so if you intend to feed both small and large birds, you should have two different feeders. The sunflower seeds placed in one feeder should be accessible only to little birds. And the seeds in the other feeder should be accessible to the larger birds that come to your backyard.

What seeds can you feed birds?

If you’ve got yourself a pet bird or would like to start feeding the birds in your garden, we think it’s essential that you know what seeds are healthy for the creatures.

Safflower seeds: they are a healthy source of fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. Also good for the skin and heart of birds. Safflower is a favourite food of bluejays, house finches, mourning doves, downy woodpeckers, black-capped chickadees, and sparrows.

Sunflower seeds: they are a good source of several vitamins and minerals. Sunflower seeds are a favourite food of cardinals, chickadees, woodpeckers, sparrows, finches, and various other birds.

Nyjer or thistle seeds: these seeds can help improve a bird’s heart health. Nyjer or thistle is a favourite food of sparrows, doves, finches, towhees, quails, and woodpeckers.

Red millet or golden millet: these grains are rich in protein, antioxidants, and nutrients. Millet is a favourite snack of american sparrows, doves, quails, cardinals, juncos, and towhees.

What nuts can you feed birds?

Birds enjoy eating nuts just as much as they love eating seeds. You can offer this healthy snack to your pet bird or the wild birds that come to your garden.

The following are nuts you can feed to birds:

• Hazelnuts
• Beechnuts
• Acorns
• Walnuts
• Almonds
• Hickory nuts
• Pine nuts
• Pecans

When feeding nuts to birds, you mustn’t forget to remove the shells before offering them to the creatures. While some bird species have sturdy bills to crack thick nutshells, the majority of birds that will come to your feeder might not have bills tough enough to open nutshells.

Is peanut butter ok for birds?

Peanut butter is a nice treat to offer your feathered friends. It is tasty and highly nutritious. When giving this treat to birds, you only have to make sure it isn’t salted or spiced. And contrary to what most people think, birds will not choke on peanut butter.

Conclusion

In conclusion, birds can eat sunflower seeds, these seeds will offer the bird a number of vitamins and minerals that the bird’s body can use. When feeding sunflower seeds to birds make sure that the seeds are not salted. You can also feed your bird safflower seeds, thistle seeds, and red or gold millet seeds. If you have available, you can also feed you bird hazelnuts, pecans, acorns, and almonds to name a few and even peanut butter.

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: can birds move their eyes, do birds go into heat, natural pain relief for birds, do pigeons get cold,