One of the most healthy diets for birds are vegetables and fruits. But not all fruits are what birds eat and are beneficial. However, can birds eat watermelon, and is it safe for them? What are the benefits? Here’s how.
The Simple Answer…
In addition to seeds, plants and insects, birds eat watermelon likely. Almost all birds except carnivorous birds enjoy watermelon during the summer when watermelon and most fruits are available. Despite its sweet and delicious, it is very nutritious and helps stay hydrated heat, improve skin, stress, and digestion according to the Healthline. Remember to remove watermelon or any other fruit before feeding.
Like raccoons and squirrels, birds eat whatever they find. Some eat plants and fruits and others hunt for other animals like hawks that lives on meat like mice, rodents but sometimes also get hunted. Here’s what kind of animals eat hawks. Some prefer insects like swallows while others eat fruits. In general, birds eat whatever they get so whether they are omnivores or herbivores, can birds eat watermelon? Here’s the detailed answer…
Can Birds Eat Watermelon? Do They Like It?
Seed or rice, apple or watermelon, birds eat all. Birds eat all the fruits that humans eat and even some that we don’t. In addition to watermelon, birds also enjoy fresh and dry fruits like apples, bananas, cherries, cranberries, nuts, corns, and even cucumbers. Bird’s diet changes seasonally. During the summer when its heat and water are scarce, birds consume fruits and insects for staying hydrated. During the winter, when the fruit is scarce, birds either find winter fruits hanging in its trees or bird feeder.
In tropical territory, most birds species’ diet is mostly fruits which are also considered frugivores despite omnivores. Like robin’s diet consists mostly of fruit but also invertebrates, leftovers like female bluebirds eat bits of eggshells when they need extra calcium to make eggs.
Which Birds Eat Watermelon?
Many species of birds eat fruits like bluebirds eat berries as well as nuts. Depending on the time of the year, birds eat whatever fruit is available. Different fruits have different benefits. However, watermelon is an excellent source of essential vitamins, minerals, sugar, and water. While birds are not picky, they prefer fruits that contain more water to stay hydrated during the summer heat.
There are many birds which consume watermelon, pumpkins, pears, strawberries and popcorn . Some of those are the following, such as, orioles, waxwings, robins, Western Tanagers, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Spotted Towhees.
What Are The Perks of Watermelon?
There are many pros to watermelon and essential nutrients including vitamins. Although there are different kinds of watermelons such as seeded, seedless, mini, yellow, and orange.
- Staying Hydrated: Watermelon is around 90% water which provides electrolytes, potassium. It’s the perfect snack for birds during the hot summer. You can cut a watermelon into two pieces and place it on the lawn.
- Asthma prevention: It is a disease that affects your lungs. Asthma causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing at night or early in the morning. However, watermelon decreases the chance significantly.
- Blood Pressure: In the study, researchers discovered that watermelon lowers blood pressure, stress, and heart disease.
- Brain and nervous system: Watermelon has many different antioxidants that helps with various brain activities like muscle movement, learning, and memory, early brain development.
- Digestion and regularity: With high water, watermelon is high in fiber. The nutrients in watermelon include like vitamin C prevents cancer.
Which Fruits Are Bad For Birds?
While most fruits are good for birds, certain fruits are not appropriate for birds such as avocado, cherries, and nectarines (with seeds). Not only that but any fruit that contains seed is toxic. The larger the seed, the more toxic. However, birds often find fruit seeds pretty delicious and try to open and eat it.
Other than that, there is also some food that is toxic for birds such as raw rhubarb, mushrooms, onions, garlic, sugar and pepper. You can also plant trees and bushes that provide watermelon and other fruits.
Is Too Much Fruit Bad For Birds?
Fruits are an essential part of their diet but not their whole diet and too much fruit can do more harm than good. But how much is too much? Is it safe and healthy? Here’s when.
A healthy diet consists of seeds, plants, and fruits. However, feeding only fruits poses some risks and is boring for birds and humans both. Fruits have many important nutrients and natural sugar. But feeding all fruit to birds without a proper balanced diet may not pose a problem but involves some risk.
The reality is, most people feed fewer fruits and vegetables than they should opposite to what they think is too much. Another concern people have is about the sugar fruit carries.
Can Birds Eat Fruits Every Day?
Different birds have different diets. However, in addition to seeds, birds can eat fruit and veggies every day but only in a small amount. A nutritional diet is essential for every bird and a healthy diet consists of different foods which include fruits including watermelon. Birds eat food to get the energy that most are carbohydrates. All food contains carbs but too much of it could make cause problems.
Carbs are found in fruit and other high-sugar food that helps fuel the body. And that isn’t only limited to fruits, vegetables also contain carbs. However, carbs can build up badly in fat. This is why fruits should not be used as their primary meal and also vegetables. Despite how beneficial and important part of the diet they are, more than enough can be harmful. And with the chemicals used for growing the fruit and vegetable, they have less energy and more sugar that can cause problems like diarrhea according to Dr. Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington.
Other Fruits Do Birds Eat
There are so many fruits that birds eat. In contrary to people’s belief, birds do eat most of the fruits that humans eat and also meat. That said, birds aren’t very picky and eat whatever they get including bread, cheese, chia seeds, leftovers, and more. Some fruits may be better than others like cherries, berries that improve the brain and heart.
Other people might recommend typical fruits like apple, banana, orange but are high in sugar and fiber. But one fruit that has proper sugar to fiber ratio is grapes. It isn’t that has no sugar but it’s lower than that. But over excess of it can also do more harm than good.
How is Fruit Dangerous to Birds?
Despite fruits sugar, eating fruits, birds also swallow small fruits which are dangerous and even fatal for birds. However, not all fruits seeds are fatal, some fruit seeds that birds eat are defecated turn into trees and plants which is quite beneficial for the environment. Other than that, there are also some fruits that birds cannot eat and are toxic to them such as cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, and plums but only with seeds. And if seeds removed are completely safe.
Final Thoughts
Most fruits without seed are completely fine including watermelon. Too much of it can harm instead of good. The best way is to include fruits like watermelon in their diet but only in a small amount and should only contain a part of it. Including that, there are so many benefits to watermelon. Although birds can eat watermelon seeds, it’s better to remove them and more importantly rind. You can feed watermelon to birds by cutting into pieces and putting it into the backyard.
