Can Birds Eat Honey? ( Budgies, Canaries, Cockatiels and Parrots)
Can Birds Eat Honey? ( Budgies, Canaries, Cockatiels and Parrots)
Honey is not recognized as a staple food for birds, both for budgies, canaries and cockatiels, This could emphasize are few reasons why a person would be interested in giving as food for your pet bird.
In fact, the reasons why honey can be given to a bird are basically two, one involuntarily, because some of the food bars sold for birds contain honey as a binder.
And the other reason is voluntary because honey has well-known antibacterial properties, which some people may give to birds diluted in water.
Birds may ingest honey for various reasons, especially for its health benefits, but caution should be exercised because too much honey causes diarrhea in birds.
Some people also use honey for its properties of being a hepatoprotective food in the first days of small birds, diluted in water.
Honey in excessive amounts may cause diarrhea in birds
The ingestion of honey by birds in large quantities results in high excretion rates. Thus, they lose a lot of electrolytes that need to be replaced, or else they could quickly become dehydrated.
Is honey harmful or beneficial for birds?
In the case of poultry feed bars containing honey, honey does not really influence either way.
In these bars, honey is mostly used as a binder for the grains, and because it is a natural element, the concept of “natural feed” is promoted.
In considerable quantity, honey can be a laxative for birds, but the honey contained in these bars does not really cause any problem, since the quantity is very moderate.
And in spite of what may be sold, it does not have a significant influence on the nutrient supply to the birds.
You should feed honey to your birds, is it necessary?
As we mentioned at the beginning, honey is not a fundamental part of the diet of pet birds, there are several reasons why you might need to feed honey to your bird.
It should be noted that honey is a very energetic food.
- If the bird is in a delicate nutritional situation
- If it has a great energetic wear
- As a simple whim
If you observe that the bird is in very bad condition, the ideal is to go to the veterinarian, I understand that the easiest and cheapest way is to seek advice on the internet, but the veterinarian will give you a professional opinion and more direct and safe recommendations.
The organism of the birds in the breeding season, especially the females, has to maintain the animal and also produce all the structures and components to form the eggs.
After producing the eggs, the chicks have to be maintained, which generates a lot of stress in the birds, Birds that live in aviaries or outdoor cages suffer from inclement weather.
Cold weather is a common cause for the birds to experience stress and increase their feed intake in an effort to maintain their body temperature.
The regular feeding of a supplement with honey supplies enough carbohydrates to keep them healthy and in good condition.
In the case of feeding the birds as a simple whim, it must be taken into account that due to the high energetic contribution of honey, the bird can easily get fat, and that is not a positive thing.
It is also worth mentioning, as previously mentioned, that excessive feeding of honey produces discomfort in the digestive system of birds, so caution and criteria are recommended when using honey as bird food.
Which birds feed on honey (nectar)?
There are several different species of birds that feed upon the nectar of flowers. Examples of these include honey eaters (Meliphagidae), hummingbirds (Trochilidae) and sunbirds (Nectariniidae).
Also noteworthy are the white-eyed (Zosteropidae), honeybirds (Thraupidae, Drepanidae) and South African sugarbirds (Promeropidae).
In the hummingbirds’ species, they are divided into two groups based on their feeding habits. They are the territorial “hermit” hummingbirds and the non-hermits. The latter feed over much greater distances.
How should honey be fed to birds?
If you are determined to give honey to your bird, the ideal is that you know how to administer it and at what time, the most appropriate thing to do is to visit a veterinarian for guidance and to be sure, but here are some tips.
To feed honey to your birds, you need to dilute it in water, with this you get a more fluid consistency, more similar to that of nectar, and it is easier for them to digest.
The recipients that are usually used for this purpose should be daily retired and cleaned very well, to avoid a bacterial overgrowth, which would cause intestinal problems in the bird.
Although a very practical way of supplying honey to poultry as a feed supplement is through granulated bars marketed as bird food, which contain honey and seeds.
As honey is quite viscous, it is not appropriate to give it in its natural state to birds, both because it could stick to their feathers and because it would be more difficult to digest.
