Bird food
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Bird food is food (often varieties of seeds, nuts, dried fruits or dried larvae) eaten by birds. The most important use of bird feed globally, is as feed for domesticated poultry. However (especially in developed countries), people also make or buy bird food to feed to pet birds or use in birdfeeders for wild birds. Bird food can be natural or commercial. The choice of what to use as bird food depends on the species of bird being fed. Bird food can also potentially attract rodents.[citation needed]
There are four bird types including Nectar eating birds, insect eating, carnivores as well as fruit and seed eating which all obtain their own needs and varieties of food content. Nectar eating birds go from one flower to another pollinating each flower as it journeys through a garden, insect eating birds do just that and troll through the gardens and backyards moving through mulch and soil to find worms and various other insects. Carnivores consist of meat eating birds, these birds are able to find small wild life depending on the size, birds such as eagles eat larger meat left behind by other predators. Lastly, seed and fruit eating birds find fruit trees scatter across properties and find the nutrition through these.[1][2]
Contents
Natural
Seed
Purchasing bird feed can be done through any major food supermarket although are not considered as great as what you would find in a specialised bird shop or a pet shop as supermarkets purchase cheap artificial made stuff, where as bird shops provide owners with high end quality seeds, when it comes to natural seed provided below are just some of the ranges of seeds each bird range eats.
Black sunflower seeds are highly recommended for use in bird feeders because they attract a wide variety of birds, have a high ratio of meat to shell, and are high in fat content.[3][4] Other common bird seeds include Niger, or thistle seed, a favorite of goldfinches, millet for sparrows and juncos, and safflower for cardinals, among others.[3][4]
Non-seed
Since there are various birds that do not eat seeds, several other types of food have traditionally been used. Suet (beef or mutton fat) is recommended for insect-eating birds like nuthatches and woodpeckers.[3] Nectar (essentially sugar water) attracts hummingbirds.[3] Bread and kitchen scraps are often fed to ducks and gulls. Chickens are commonly fed maize, wheat, barley, sorghum and milling by-products, in a mixture traditionally called chicken scratch.
These seeds and non-seed supplies are commonly obtained as by-products on farms, but can also be bought from independent retailers.
Commercial bird food
Nonfarm
A wide variety of commercial bird food is available for feeding wild birds and domesticated birds, combining a variety of seeds in a single mix. Individual types of bird tend to pick out their favorite seeds and leave the rest uneaten, to be picked up by other birds.[4][5] Pellets are also available as a feeding method to birds, pellets come in many sizes, are widely available and meet the nutritional needs of birds. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)[6] offer the advice that when feeding wild birds, this should be done year round, with different mixes of foods being offered in Winter months, Spring, Autumn and Summer to match the birds nutritional requirements. It should be noted that most birds need a variety of different foods in order to get the correct intake of carbohydrates, fats and proteins required for proper bodily function. Bird foods should have additional fat content in the Winter months and additional proteins in the form of nuts, seeds and dried worms in the Summer months when birds are changing their plumage and may be molting.
Farm
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Farmed birds fed commercial bird food typically are given very specific scientifically designed preblended feed. Examples of commercial bird food for chickens include chick starter medicated crumbles, chick grower crumbles, egg layer mash, egg layer pellet, egg layer crumbles, egg producer pellet, and broiler maker med crumbles.[clarification needed] Pellet crumbles are often prepared for tiny chicks. Mash is more finely ground.
Health risks
Although feeding birds is a hobby for some, those who are not well researched and don't have any experience with birds can do more damage then good when feeding wild birds. In Australia, it is common among communities to have both bird baths as well as feeders available to wild birds without knowing the health risks it may potentially cause to the birds. In a lot of the supermarket feeds it is evident that many artificial flavours added doesn't benefit them whatsoever and the birds become reliant on the feeders, rather than going hunting for insects and their natural diets.[7] This allows the birds to become underfed in circumstances where the birds are fed daily but this stops and they are unable to hunt and find natural foods because of relying on feeders.[citation needed]
References
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- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 What to Feed Birds and Seeds and Grains for Birds. Project FeederWatch. Retrieved on August 23, 2006
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Porter, Diane. Winter Bird Feeder: Keep Them Coming Back. Retrieved on August 23, 2006.
- ↑ Choosing Bird Food. All About Birds. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved on August 23, 2006.
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
