Humans eat eggs all the time, it’s a cheap, easy and accessible food for many and it offers many vitamins and minerals that our bodies need to stay healthy. But to birds, eggs represent new offspring and not a regular meal. But it seems birds do eat eggs and they do it more often than we would think. So, why do birds eat their eggs? This article looks into it. 

Birds will eat eggs only if it is absolutely necessary to do. One such reason that birds may eat their eggs is because of stress. Stress can manifest as a result of overcrowded cages or predators in the area. Birds can also eat eggs to supplement their diet if the bird is malnourished.

 Why do birds eat their eggs?

Eggs represent new life for birds, the last thing that bird parents want to do is kill their offspring for food, but this happens. While it may seem like a vulgar act there are a few noteworthy reasons why birds eat their eggs:

Stress makes everyone do strange things. When you keep your bird under stressful environments, like when they are in overcrowded cages or when they’re in constant threat from predators lurking around. The stress of it all might trigger birds to eat their own eggs.

Also, malnourished birds will try to supplement their diet with any proteins and minerals sources they can find, even if that source is its own eggs. Issues of nutrition deficiencies such as calcium and protein have been known to trigger survival override instincts in birds. Making them eat their eggs to secure survival rather than dying.

Birds are highly intuitive and can sense when an egg is infertile. Occasionally they will discard or eat an egg that is infertile or where the chick has died. This allows them to provide safety and gain nourishment for themselves and for the surviving chicks.

Are eggs good for birds?

Yes, eggs are an incredible source of nutrients for birds. Eggs are value packed bundles of protein and mineral choline.

• Birds need high amounts of protein to sustain their high energy needs required for flight. Protein also boosts amino acid production in birds that improve overall brain health and cell reproduction.

• Choline is an internal efficiency mineral. It speeds up brain signals in birds to keep them alert and support their livers.

Are eggshells good for birds?

The nutritional value of eggs to birds don’t only include the contents of the egg, the eggshells themselves are also good for birds. Eggshells are excellent sources of calcium which birds don’t find easily in the wild.

• Calcium supports bone strength and is essential for laying strong, healthy eggs with sturdy shells.

Do birds eat the eggs of other birds?

Yes, they do, there are predatory birds that pillage the nests of other birds. But in general, birds can and do in fact eat eggs of other birds. They will also feed on hatched eggshells of other birds to secure the calcium sources it requires. Again, calcium is a vital, yet scare mineral in the wild and laying birds will seek to relish the chance whenever they can to secure adequate amounts of it.

How else can birds get added calcium into their diets?

Besides eggshells, birds have other limited sources of getting the calcium they need. These sources include snail shells, shed deer antlers and carrion bones. Birds will even eat sand, chalk, small gravel, and dirt to get at the levels of calcium they need in their diets and for healthy reproduction.

If you’re looking to supply calcium to your domesticated bird, you can add cleaned eggshells, but also enriched bird feeds that have calcium mixed in.

Conclusion

In conclusion, birds can eat their own eggs if they are stressed because of the threat of predators in the area, because their cages are overcrowded, because the bird needs to supplement their diet with calcium or because the egg won’t hatch. Eating eggs is actually quite nutritional for birds and eating eggshells also benefits birds. In addition, birds can eat the eggs of other birds to get their sustenance. Eating eggshells is an easy way to get added calcium into the birds body 

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: Why do birds get puffy?​​, Why do birds like music?​​, Why do birds follow me?​​, Why do birds dig holes in the dirt?​​