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BREAD........Still in the TOP 5! (1 Viewer)

Talon 1

Talon 1

Well-known member
Bread soaked in water put out on the table or squashed in a suet feeder is still one of the best. Pure and simple Bread!

It attracts almost every species. A great food for them.

So what is it, just simply the ingrediences? But its simple quick and great in the summer in my view. :clap:
 
I think what Birdman means is explained by this quote from the RSPB website:

Although bread is not harmful, it should not be offered in large quantities, since its nutritional value is relatively low
Click to expand...
 
Free said:
Bread soaked in water put out on the table or squashed in a suet feeder is still one of the best. Pure and simple Bread!

It attracts almost every species. A great food for them.

So what is it, just simply the ingrediences? But its simple quick and great in the summer in my view. :i don't feed bread as i have always been led to believe it is not good for them,don't you find it dries out and goes hard in this hot weather.
Click to expand...
 
Yes bread does dry up?
So does cake?
So does fruit?
So does cooked rice?
so does cheese?

i could go on .

Give the birds a bit of credit they are not that stupid. My soaked bread goes in about 1 hour !
They love it.
I do think that when sparrows, crows etc etc hang around skips and mcdonalds or any thing like that they eat a dry burger bun.I know a manager of B.........G a fast food restaurant who for the last two years gets to see the same Blackbird year after year as he munches through a burger bun that he places in a special corner. Done him no harm?

I think whole peanuts offcoarse are dangerous but just think what birds eat from the wild and not on our tables and maybe its us that are to paranoid not them.
My birds love the soaked bread as its also water in the heat so in summer they have a light snack with a drink thrown in please how can that be bad?

Many regards

Dave.
 
But what kind of bread - white, wholemeal, granary?

There's quite a bit of evidence that people feeding white bread to ducks does their livers considerable damage. And an article in today's Guardian about obesity in pigeons due to them being hooked on fast food instead of their natural grains and cereals. So what they like isn't what's good for them, no more than in humans.

Alan Hill
 
alanhill said:
But what kind of bread - white, wholemeal, granary?

There's quite a bit of evidence that people feeding white bread to ducks does their livers considerable damage. And an article in today's Guardian about obesity in pigeons due to them being hooked on fast food instead of their natural grains and cereals. So what they like isn't what's good for them, no more than in humans.

Alan Hill
Click to expand...
This is completely true.Ducks should never be fed bread,as it destroys their liver.

I feed a variety of food and I do feed soaked wholemeal bread in small amounts daily but although it is useful as a filler for some birds and provides moisture.I do not think it should be fed in bulk and never allowed to dry out when the young are about.Young birds can be foolish and any dried chunks of any food can choke them.
Soaked bread may be liked and I do know this is the case, but it is not especially nutritional.As Free said it certainly brings in the birds but when they come,it is good for them to discover so much more variety.The young Starlings here fast turned to fatballs,seeds and fruit.
The birds do take bread for their young and the fledglings also take soft food ie. soaked bread,soaked sultanas and tinned dog food(the latter 2 being good)while they tackle more difficult seeds etc. so I believe it is not all bad.However, a customer of mine lost a young blackbird when her bread dried out and she witnessed the bird choke to death because of that.It managed to bring some back up but sadly not enough..She was distraught.
I don't believe adult birds are stupid but I do believe the young are not capable of knowing what is good and what is not.I have watched so many young Starlings of late and they have learned by trial and error.
My work place on the other hand is situated where pigeons are profuse and they feed on left overs from take-aways and all sorts, of fast foods.They are not obese because they have to work hard to survive.I wouldn't feed anything like that to the birds but the pigeons seem to thrive so who's to know.
 
Why in the world would anyone EVER feed cheese to birds?!?! When will people realize that birds do NOT have the same metabolism and digestion that we humans have?? :eek!:


Free said:
Yes bread does dry up?
So does cake?
So does fruit?
So does cooked rice?
so does cheese?

i could go on .

Many regards

Dave.
Click to expand...
 
WOW i never heard of cheese... or at least feeding it to birds... i know people here like to get crowds of gulls(i believe california) to come here and eat there frys from mc donalds? like dont they know what thats doing to the birds? That could ruin everything... the people dont even get fined NOTHING!

Poor Birds...
 
In fairness to Free the RSPB have said for years that feeding grated mild cheese is fine.Milk is really bad,as the birds can not digest it.The Robins supposedly love cheese.
I have always followed RSPB guidelines.
They state that bread in high quantities is not good.
I really think we should check out man made foods before giving them to the birds.As Tammie said, they do not have the same metabolism or digestion that we humans have and I am extremely careful as to what I put out.
Look at the poor Ducks.How many people have fed them bread knowing that it was fatal for them?.............None............The Ducks loved it, and that's what counted.Birds don't always know what is good for them.Like us humans they eat, what they enjoy,and as birds go,what is available.It is down to us to ensure beforehand that we do not put out foods that will poison them.
 
Grated cheese is quite popular. As stated it does Birds no harm in small quantities. My Robin loves it but i am carefull that a very small amount each day is enough, just enough for him . Surprised some of you have not heard of cheese?
Again the bread is two slices a day totally soaked and eaten by atleast 100 different birds, So if you work the % out then its not alot and offcoarse they hit the seed , fruit and occasional peach, these are all good for them this time of year , all light and full of vitimin c . by 6 o'clock its all gone. Plus in this climate the water moisture they get is i believe more safe for them when hung up in a caged feeder. I have noticed that at the Bath they are alot more wary.
Come LateAutumn the Suet will go out but i think this time of year bread serves to good services, light easy food which they can take away and eat in a safe place which they can't with seed and it serves as light food and water...Perfect.
 
photo_luver said:
K so is it fine for bread crums? would you recomend it?
Click to expand...
Yes I would, providing they are very very small ,so as not to choke the birds. They can attract a lot of birds into the garden, who then discover even better things.
 
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