My neighbor's feeding advice nearly got my finches sick

Old man Harold from two houses down told me to just toss bread crumbs out for the birds in my backyard. Said he's done it for 40 years and never had a problem. I tried it for about 3 weeks last month in Portland and noticed the house finches looking sluggish. Turns out bread has zero nutrition for birds and can actually cause a condition called angel wing in young ones. I switched to black oil sunflower seeds and within 5 days they were way more active. Has anyone else dealt with well-meaning neighbors giving dangerous bird feeding tips?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopher94317d ago

I've been feeding finches for about 8 years now and yeah, bread's pretty bad for them. Switched to sunflower hearts a while back and they go through a 20lb bag every two weeks. Old timers mean well but some of their advice is outdated.

josepha3217d ago

Eight years is a solid amount of time, and I get why you'd stick with sunflower hearts. But I've been doing this for about fifteen years now, and I still think a little bit of good bread in the winter is okay if it's plain and not moldy. Finches love it, and sometimes it's easier to get them to come around when it's really cold out. Sunflower hearts are definitely better for them overall, but I've seen plenty of healthy birds eat bread and live just fine. It's not like it's poison, you know? It's just not the main thing you should feed them.

the_spencer17d ago

Forty years of outdated advice, just what we needed." @josepha32 I bet your "good bread in winter" theory goes over real well with the surviving finches.