Can wild birds eat Flaxseed
Flaxseed is a people favorite because of its soft texture yet nutty taste, thus its safe to say its perfectly safe to feed to wild birds providing there's no additional ingredients.
Birds can eat Flaxseed which happens to be a seed commonly found in wild bird seed mixes, plus can be eaten in the wild as its a native seed found in the US. Most wild birds can eat Flaxseed despite it being a small seed. Its often made ready to eaten by us, so is ready for birds as a great source of fiber.
Last time I ate this lovely nutty taste seed was when I picked it out of my Subway sandwich multi grain bread.
Small as the seed was, I could really appreciate the taste when piling up enough to eat in one go. Then it got my thinking, can wild birds eat flaxseed and if they can, are there any side-effects or reasons why they shouldn't.
Well, as its turns out flaxseed is 100% safe to feed to wild birds in your yard, with this delicious seed commonly found in wild bird seed mixes you can buy, which I found out in my research of the seed.
Better still, along with its nut-like taste its a rather soft seed which can make it easy on any seed-eating birds too take to with ease.
Birds can be seen to eat Hemp seeds to Chia seeds, and whilst they continue to be fed on their popular sunflower, safflower or Nyjer seeds - as it happens Flaxseed can be eaten by birds in the wild, as it is a native seed to the United States.
Its a familiar seed to your common backyard birds then thus its likely you won't have trouble using up the seeds in a busy with birds backyard at least.
Flaxseed packed for people in-store can be safe to feed birds, although it can be risky feeding flaxseed picked out of bread, which it is often baked into.
Can be fed to wild birds
Not what you might think as an additional wild bird seed you can feed birds in your yard, but what you may not know is that flaxseed can be found in wild bird seed mixes you can buy in-store.
What else you may not know about flaxseed is actually the seed can be eaten by bird birds in the wild.
Flaxseed is grown in the center of a blossoming flower of which, seed-eating birds like Sparrows can be found to feed on.
Birds can eat flaxseeds with no concerns at all, with no health hazards or unsafe ingredients to consider. Flaxseed is as close to what wild birds eat in the wild, to anything else included in a wild bird seed mix.
I can say I have eaten flaxseed myself recently which was baked into my Subway Multi Grain sandwich - of which included pumpkin seeds you can give to birds also.
Small seed ready to eat by all
Light brown in color, this is a rather small seed you can feed to birds, which you will in a small pile rather than feeding birds one seed at a time.
Not to be confused with the similar Chia seed which is darker in color, flaxseed can be fed to wild birds with no issues surrounding choking hazards.
In fact, smaller seeds like flaxseed will still be crushed up with a birds bill before they attempt to ingest it.
New bird seed it may be when offered to your birds in the yard, but that isn't to say this small seed won't be touched. I know this type of bird seed can be popular with wild birds because as I previously mentioned, flaxseed can be eaten in the wild.
With the larger Cardinals or Blue Jays also eating this seed, there's no issues at all with smaller Finches to Orioles giving it a go.
Nut-eating birds will also be happy to feed on flaxseed for one simple reason; flaxseed as a nice mellow nutty flavor yet its soft texture can go easy on all common backyard birds, willing to give this rich in fiber seed a try.
Flax a source of fiber
Why do wild birds eat seeds as part of their diet? Well, its worth remembering any kind of seed serves to subsidize a wild birds diet with a much needed intake of protein, fiber and sometimes, vitamins.
Flaxseed certainly can provide all that and more, with seed-eating birds getting the most important nutrients they can get out of this seed.
What time of year wild birds can benefit more on flaxseeds is in winter, as most birds can lose weight when foraging in severe cold weather conditions - as natural food found in the wild becomes scarce - thus birds tend to eat less.
Flaxseed, like any kind of safe wild bird seed can help re-store lost fat by filling up birds on a healthy high intake of fatty bird seed.
Birds do eat seeds all year round mind you only they tend to prioritize it more in winter, for the very reason of its full of energy.
To be sure wild birds get a full intake of this fiber-rich seed, its important to maintain its quality by replacing old with new every few days, or if it happens to quickly run out.
Fed to wild birds normal way
Don't be too concerned about the way you feed flaxseed to birds, as options can be close to how you would normally feed wild bird seeds to your backyard birds.
Which of course can be put in a corresponding bird feeder or throw over the ground.
You can keep your flaxseed dry if putting a small amount in a bird feeder, with an option to throw some flaxseed on the ground, but only if its dry out.
Rather than randomly throwing flaxseed on the ground, it would be better thrown within a small patch on the lawn, placed on railings or garden furniture - that is visible to birds briefly arriving in the yard, or made available to returning birds.
Seeds such a sunflower seeds which wild birds love are often shelled and when they're not - they can still last well out in the elements.
As a new kind of seed to give to your wild birds, I don't know how long it will lost before the germination process kicks in. I would therefore only provide flaxseed in an outdoor environment for less than a week only, before swapping it out for new.
How you will feed sunflower seeds to birds which is a popular wild bird seed - would be in an open dish or on top of a platform bird feeder - but you can also put these quite large sunflower seeds in to a wire mesh style bird feeder.
Flaxseed won't fit correctly in a wire seed feeder because the gaps in the wire could be too wide, thus will be seen to spill out. However they could go in a peanut bird feeder but there's nothing stopping you offering this seed to birds out in the open.
Summary
As I've personally eaten flaxseed myself which was baked in to my multi grain Subway sandwich, I have come to realize it can be a safe seed to feed to wild birds in the yard.
Birds can eat flaxseed with no health issues or safety concerns whatsoever.
Small seed they may be but it isn't a choking hazard nor is it made available to small seed-eating birds only - larger seed-eaters can happily feed on a nutty flavor flaxseed, which happens to have a soft texture.
No salt or dangerous ingredients are included although I would be vigilant when picking flaxseeds out of bakery goods.
Rich in fiber and protein which can subsidize wild birds come winter, as a flaxseeds fatty content can re-store body weight commonly lost in winter. Birds lost weight in winter as they use up more energy foraging for bird food when its often more scarce at this time of year.
Seed uptake will be noticeable come winter although there's no harm in experimenting with flaxseed any time of the year.
No special way to feed this small brown seed to birds in your yard, although an elevated location which isn't on the ground can maintain the seeds quality.
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