Is it OK to feed birds bread crumbs

Why do we insist on offering our fragile birds something that offers no health benefits, yet only serves to make birds ill in due course.

It is OK to feed birds bread crumbs in the smallest amount, on any given day, if that is not all they are eating. To continue feeding on bread when seeds or peanuts are needed for protein, birds can develop health issues later. Crumbs serve as a filler only, leading to bread swelling up in their stomachs.

No real benefit to feeding wild birds a bread slice or bread crumbs only, but that is not to say offering birds a small amount once in while would do any harm.

How bread crumbs can become an issue is if that is all what you are offering birds, every day of they week, with food of no real importance.

If bread crumbs are all they are eating then they miss out on important nutrients in seeds or peanuts - that is if its offered by you or foraged for in the wild.

No consumption of nutrients means no energy to forage for food, this would lead to ill health, and then a painful death.

Not a scenario likely to happen on your part, but its important to remember bread crumbs or any type of bread based products, offer zero health benefits.

To offer crumbs serves to be only a filler, but this can be more risky as bread can swell once its ingested in the belly.

Soak bread in water to inflate the bread crumbs, while serving up a little for the day only.

Having said all that with the prospect of your bread crumbs being eaten, few takers are likely to eat bread with only more nuisance birds who do eat crumbs.

OK if fed bread crumbs occasionally

Much like if you were to feed birds a whole slice of bread, bread crumbs can be offered but only in the smallest quantities.

I am talking about as many bread crumbs that would fit in the palm of your hand, and that would do for one day.

Bread crumbs can be offered to any bird species but to feed too many crumbs to any single visiting bird, can be damaging.

What happens to any type of bread crumbs once ingested is going to swell in their bellies, leading to the crumbs often doubling in size. And if any single bird were to eat too much in one setting, its likely to make them very poorly.

It is OK to feed birds bread crumbs only on occasions, perhaps once or twice a week.

If you were to feed birds a few days at a time, I would suggest a small pile in your hand, to then sprinkle on a backyard surface or on the platform feeder.

Similar but a healthier variety other than bread to feed birds is pasta, with cooked rice also being a good alternative.

Health risks involved

You must understand, bread is usually offered up by those that don't have access to wild bird food at a particular time, thus are forced to use bread in the spare of the moment.

Unfortunately, use of any type of bread or wheat products does not offer any nutritional value whatsoever.

That is was is called a filler, as its only serves to fill wild birds bellies rather than offering vital nutrients.

Once again I would suggest offering wild birds instead of bread or bread crumbs, is cooked pasta or rice - still only a filler but a little healthier that's for sure.

To counter the effects of too much bread being eaten by any one bird or a multitude of birds in your yard, you can simply soak the bread crumbs in water to force potential swelling before its eaten.

What that can do is the bread crumbs would swell as much as they possibly can, while being cautious as a little more swelling is likely once ingested.

Mix in to regular bird food

Make bread crumbs more healthier by not only serving as little but irregular as possible, but only use crumbs as a way to bulk up proper wild bird feed.

Birds notice bird food so will do more if there's more of it to be seen.

Mixed within the white soft crumbs and the brown crumbs of the crust can be far more wild bird seed mixes, with any nuts thrown in.

In this scenario birds are likely to ignore the bread crumbs all together while instead eating what they know best.

Bread crumbs are likely to blow in wind so be sure to soak them to weigh it down, then to mix in seeds and peanuts can help steady it in rough conditions.

Do not mix in bread crumbs into bird feeders of any kind as bread is going to spoil quickly - whereas specialty bird food would last up to a week later.

Consider using bread crumbs with regular bird food in the backyard when specialty bird feed has run out or the little amount you have left needs boosting to help the bird food be seen.

Guarantee birds eat crumbs

Any backyard birds attending your platform feeder, or where else you place the bread crumbs are sure likely to feed on bread.

Know that bread does not imitate or appear to be anything like natural bird food in the wild, so that's not to say most birds would eat your bread crumbs.

Likely contenders of your bread crumbs would always be from the reliable but invasive House Sparrow, in which the species would take to most household scraps.

Not expected is the rather larger common Grackle who does eat bread or bread crumbs.

Remarkably, the common Grackle can be seen to soak the bread crumbs in water first, as to allow it to be ingested much easier, and safer.

Bread crumbs can be quite sparse so more difficult for larger, more nuisance birds to eat, as oppose to a whole slice of bread that can be eaten right their by pigeons or taken away by crows.

Bird species not mentioned do eat bread crumbs but not really known to be a popular choice with them - as they prefer to stick to a strict diet of seeds if that is what they eat in the wild, including nuts, wild fruits and grain.

To summarize

Where bread of any kind is being offered to backyard birds, this must be in the smallest quantity, and less frequently as you possibly can.

Cheap, easy and readily available bread crumbs are often served to our birds because its a quick fix for watching birds eat.

In reality, bread can be damaging to a birds health if ingested in larger quantities or eaten frequently over other, more natural food that is high in nutrients to help them survive summer months or the cold winter.

Birds burn a lot of energy every day as they forage for food in our backyards or in the wild, so while seeds or peanuts can replace nutrients what birds loose - bread acts as a filler only with no health benefits at all.

Filler is a way to fill up on food that makes you bloated, but doesn't offer any nutritional value, in which can lead to ill health if that is all that's eaten.

And there you go, feed birds bread crumbs only once in a while, as there's no basis for it diet wise with illness likely if that is all birds are feeding on.

Boost up peanuts or seed mixes with bread crumbs to make it more appealing, but the crumbs are still likely to be ignored.

Likewise, soak the bread crumbs in water to artificially swell up the bread, so it doesn't have to in their stomachs, forcing birds to fill up quicker by eating less.

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