The foods that you feed your birds should be varied. A good diet for birds will consist of more than just seeds. Birds eat a variety of foods, they eat more foods than the regular person thinks birds do.

These animals will eat the skin off of fruits and vegetables as well, so do birds eat banana peels? This article looks into it

Birds, in theory, can eat banana peels but these peels can be dangerous to birds because they are likely coated with a layer of pesticides. Pesticides are toxic to birds, they can cause reproductive issues and even death.

Do birds eat banana peels?

Birds eat fruits, veggies, plants, seeds, insects, and depending on the type of bird, rodents too. This varied diet supplies them with the vitamins and minerals they need to live a long and healthy life.

Not only can birds eat bananas, but they can also eat the peel as well

If you’ve tried giving your bird some banana peels to eat you likely got one of a variety of reactions.

Either the bird will only eat the inner part of the banana and not touch the skin, or, it will happily eat the skins and ignore the inside, or, the bird will be happy to eat both the inside and the outside of the banana.

Benefits of birds eating banana peels:

Generally, when humans eat bananas, we throw away the peel, but we’re missing out on a number of nutrients by doing this. The thick fibrous peel of the banana is a great source of nutrients

Nutrients present in banana peels include Vitamin A, potassium, amino acids, antioxidants, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, dietary fiber, and polyunsaturated fats.

All these nutrients help to boost your bird’s health and overall wellbeing.

Risks of birds eating banana peels:

Although banana peels are rich in nutrients, there are cons to birds eating them. A major con to birds eating banana peels is the accidental ingestion of pesticides.

Because pests enjoy attacking and eating bananas, these fruits are usually sprayed with pesticides. This isn’t an issue if birds are only fed banana fruits and not peels, but because birds eat the peels as well, these pesticides can harm the birds.

Birds that eat pesticides can develop issues with fertility and can have trouble producing and hatching eggs. Weight loss in birds can also happen if they eat pesticides.

If you want to feed banana peels to birds you can either buy organic bananas or wash your regular banana peels thoroughly before giving them to your birds.

Are fruits good for birds?

Yes, fruits are good for birds, there are a variety of fruits that birds can eat. Here are some fruits that are safe for your bird:

Bananas: Bananas are a delicious and irresistible fruit to birds of all types. They deliver a number of vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, vitamin B6, and potassium to name a few.

Berries: People love berries and birds do too. The berries that are safe for humans are generally safe for birds as well. Berries contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Cranberries can be given to birds. Read more here

Apples: They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, and this is true, apples play a part in maintaining the health of both you and your bird. When feeding apples to birds, remember to remove the seeds from the apples, the seeds are toxic. Read more here

Grapes: These delicious fruits contain high levels of fructose. They give birds an energy boost and are loved by birds for their sweetness. Because of their high sugar content, this fruit should not be given to birds too often, overfeeding can lead to obesity

Oranges: This fruit delivers high amounts of vitamin C to your bird. Vitamin C will boost your bird’s immune system, this keeps the bird strong enough to fight off infections. Oranges also help your bird deal with stress.

Vegetables: These offer birds a lot of nutrients. Birds love broccoli, read more here.

Tip: Even though fruits are delicious and healthy for your birds, they should still be given in moderation. Giving your bird too many fruits can overload your bird with sugar. Too much sugar is bad for birds. Read more about birds and sugar here

Tip: Birds love junk food like french fries, you should avoid giving birds french fries, they are bad for birds, read more here. Breads are also fed to birds but this isn’t recommended. Read more about bread for birds here.

What should I feed birds?

In addition to giving birds fruits, birdseed mixes can also be given to birds. Different seeds will be loved by, and will attract, different birds.

Instead of feeding birds bread, you can feed them mashed potatoes, boiled and cut-up potatoes, baked potatoes, cooked pasta, and cooked rice.

If you want to feed your bird insects, you can feed them waxworms or mealworms.

Suet balls can also be fed to birds. These balls are made by combining suet with nuts, dried fruit, and seeds, rolling the mixture into a ball, and then hanging this ball out for birds.

Conclusion

In conclusion, some birds will happily eat banana peels if offered but some birds will ignore them completely. What will happen with your bird is anyone’s guess.

Banana peels are packed with nutrients and vitamins. However, banana peels aren’t the best thing to give to birds because they may have been sprayed with pesticides that are toxic to your birds.

If you’d like to give your birds a sweet treat try giving them some fruits. Birds love eating fruits because of the sugar content in them. As a bonus, the sugar in fruits will give your bird an energy boost.

If you want to serve your birds foods that contain good amounts of fat and carbohydrates, serve them some rice, potatoes, or pasta. For a combination of fats and nutrients give them suet balls.

Do not give them bread because bread is very filling but not very nutrient-rich.