nobby
Well-known member
I note that this site states "a chick fed on a diet of bread may not develop intoAndy Ledger said:
a healthy fledgling"
I am sure that parent birds, well Blue Tits at least actualy vary the diet of their chicks.
I have noticed that when I put out meal worms the parents will start feeding them to their chicks immediately. However, even though the mealworm feeder is not empty they will stop and start feeding Sunflower seeds instead then after a while start hunting for insects etc in the trees and hedges close to the nestbox.
Anyone else noticed this?
If you put out bread for the birds they will probably take some back to thier chicks but not at the expense of all other food types.
If you get a cold/wet spring and there is a lack of insect life to feed to the chicks then they would have to feed them on the food that is available. If it is only bread then I think this is better than the chicks starving as they would do in the wild.
Duckling are of course a differrent matter as they feed themselves.
It may be possible that ducks and birds in towns may have built up an immunity to bread over the decades that we have been feeding them.
Brett.