Humans change their diets to some degree in the summer, birds like pigeons can too if different food is available. So, what do pigeons eat in summer?

In the summer, birds have access to and eat summer fruits and vegetables in their natural habitats. If you have backyard pigeons or own pigeons you can feed them seeds, summer fruits, summer vegetables, jelly, peanuts and no-melt suet balls. These foods will keep their energy up for their busy summer days

Summer is the hot and sunny reason that many of us love and enjoy. This season brings a variety of summer fruits and vegetables. The new buffet of fruits and vegetables can be enjoyed by the pigeons that visit your backyard in the summer. So what exactly do pigeons eat in summer? This article will help you find out

What a pigeon eats is key to its health. These animals can suffer from a variety of illnesses if they eat a diet that does not serve them. In addition, the foods that they eat in the summer and the foods that they eat in the winter differ. So if you’re a bird watcher, bird lover or are simply curious then this article will be beneficial to you

What do pigeons eat in summer

Seeds: The right seeds will offer your pigeon a good combination of fats calories and protein. Good seeds to feed your pigeon include sunflower chips, black oil sunflower seeds and niger seed. You can also serve them pigeon specific seed mixes

Fruits: Pigeons love fruits and fruits are good for them, if given in moderate amounts fruits are a great snack for pigeons. Pigeons can be given banana slices, orange halves, apple chunks and summer tangerines. Do not give them pre-dried fruits from the store, these usually contain a lot of sugar.

Vegetables: These are better for birds than fruits. Giving birds a lot of vegetables will not overload them with sugar. On top of that, pigeons love vegetables.

Jelly: This is another refreshing snack that you can give to pigeons in the summer. You can offer them small dishes of apple or grape jelly and the pigeons will eat it up. Keep a watch on it so it doesn’t go rancid or mouldy as this will negatively affect the bird’s health.

Peanuts: This is a good source of fat and protein. It’s also a great, easy snack to give pigeons. When giving pigeons peanuts make sure that they are unsalted and have no preservatives. Salted peanuts will dehydrate the bird. Another peanut food you can give to pigeons is peanut butter

No melt suet: You may be worried about giving pigeons suet balls during summer but no-melt suet balls (that contain less fat) are a great way to feed pigeons this tasty treat. They will boost the pigeon’s energy levels for their busy summer days.

When should you stop feeding birds in the summer?

You don’t have to stop feeding birds in summer, you can feed birds all year round if you want to. If you live among bears or have bears close by then stop feeding birds when the bears come out of hibernation. In fact, if this is the case then don’t leave any food outside

If you do stop feeding birds then that’s ok too, birds only use the food you give them as a supplement to their diet. Studies have illustrated that the diet of your backyard birds (wild birds) only consist of 25 percent feeder food.  

Summary

In summary, there are a variety of foods that you can feed your pigeons in summer. You can feed them seeds, summer fruits, summer vegetables, jelly, peanuts and no-melt suet balls. All these foods are delicious to birds and give them the vitamins, minerals and nutrients that they need. These foods will also keep their energy up during those hot summer days.

You don’t have to stop feedings pigeons or any other birds in the summer, they won’t stave as bird feed food only supplements their diet, but they will appreciate the food none the less. If you live close to bears then don’t feed birds when bears are out of hibernation and don’t leave food outside either.

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other pigeon related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why do pigeons attack humans? How do pigeons lay eggs? Why do pigeons make noise when they fly? What do carrier pigeons eat? How do pigeons communicate? What do pigeons do for the environment?