Birds can safely eat a variety of berries, both wild and domesticated. The nutritional content of berries like antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals provides healthy benefits for birds. However, some berries may be toxic or harmful to birds if consumed in excess.
Are berries good for wild birds?
Yes, most types of berries contain beneficial nutrients and antioxidants that are good for wild birds. Many wild birds have evolved to eat certain native berries as part of their natural diet. Berries provide essential vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and phytonutrients that help meet the nutritional needs of birds for energy, growth, maintenance, and reproduction. The natural sugars in berries are an excellent source of quick energy.
Some of the nutrients found in common berries that are good for wild birds include:
- Vitamin C – supports immune system health
- Vitamin A – important for vision, growth, and development
- Vitamin E – antioxidants that reduce cellular damage
- Vitamin K – helps with blood clotting
- B Vitamins like thiamine, riboflavin, and folate – converts food into energy
- Minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium – electrolytes for cellular function
- Phytonutrients like anthocyanins and flavonoids – antioxidants with health benefits
- Carbohydrates – provides readily available energy for activity
Antioxidants in berries help counteract the effects of free radicals and oxidation that birds face from pollution, stress, and metabolism. The nutrients and antioxidants in berries support cardiovascular function, immunity, bone strength, vision, muscle maintenance, brain health, and overall wellbeing in wild birds.
What types of berries can wild birds eat?
Here are some common safe, wild berries that birds can eat:
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cranberries
- Elderberries
- Huckleberries
- Juniper berries
- Mulberries
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
These berries provide essential carbohydrates, nutrients, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and energy that wild birds thrive on. Birds like robins, bluebirds, sparrows, finches, woodpeckers, blue jays, and mockingbirds often get a good portion of their nutritional needs from wild berries during certain seasons.
In addition, domesticated berries that are safe for birds include blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, cranberries, strawberries, gooseberries, and currants. Check any backyard berries to make sure they are not treated with pesticides.
What berries should birds avoid?
Some berries may be toxic, indigestible, or harmful to birds if eaten in excess. Berries to avoid feeding birds include:
- Mistletoe berries – contains toxins that can cause illness and death if consumed in large quantities
- Juniper berries – safe in moderation but can cause kidney damage if too many are eaten
- Holly berries – can cause vomiting and diarrhea
- Nightshade berries like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and potatoes – contain solanine toxins
- Raw dried beans – contain hemagglutinin lectins
- Unripe berries or rotting/moldy berries – can cause upset stomach
Additionally, tropical non-native berries like lychee, rambutan, papaya, and dragon fruit are not adapted for bird digestion. It’s also best to avoid feeding birds berry jams, jellies, or pies with added sugar.
Do birds need berries in their diet?
While berries provide good nutrition, birds do not necessarily need to eat berries in their diet. Birds are omnivores and can obtain a balanced diet from sources like insects, seeds, nectar, suet, peanuts, and bird feed. However, berries do provide essential nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants, and energy that are beneficial when available to birds.
Different species of birds have adapted to eat certain staple foods. For example:
- Seed and grain eating birds like finches and sparrows get most of their diet from seeds
- Insectivorous birds like chickadees feast on insects and larvae
- Nectar eating birds like hummingbirds sip sugary nectar from flowers
- Carnivorous predatory birds like hawks eat rodents, reptiles and other meat
- Omnivorous birds like crows have a varied diet including fruits, seeds, grains, nuts, insects, and even small animals
When in season, berries provide a nutritious supplemental food source that most bird species will take advantage of. Backyard berry plants or bushes can provide an attractive, seasonal food source for neighborhood birds to help support their dietary needs.
What are the best backyard berries to plant for birds?
Here are some of the top berry plants and bushes to add to your backyard to provide food for wild birds:
Blueberries
Blueberries are loaded with antioxidants, vitamin C, fiber, and phytonutrients. American robins, catbirds, mockingbirds, bluebirds, and thrashers love blueberries. Go for native species like highbush or lowbush blueberries.
Blackberries
Blackberries provide vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, and minerals like magnesium, calcium and potassium. Birds like cedar waxwings, gray catbirds, northern flickers, sparrows, finches, and orioles enjoy blackberries. Plant thornless blackberry shrubs.
Raspberries
Raspberries are high in vitamin C, manganese, and antioxidants like anthocyanins. Fruit eating birds like robins, waxwings, orioles, jays, woodpeckers and mockingbirds feast on raspberries. Choose everbearing raspberry varieties.
Elderberries
These offer vitamin A, B vitamins, vitamin C, fiber and antioxidants. Many bird species eat elderberries including turkeys, bobwhites, pheasants, woodpeckers, jays, owls, grouse and orioles. Elderberry shrubs grow well in many conditions.
Cranberries
Cranberries have antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin E and manganese. Jays, waxwings, larks, sparrows, finches and other birds consume cranberries. Opt for an upright or dwarf cranberry bush.
Strawberries
Strawberries provide vitamin C, manganese, folate and fiber. American robins love strawberries. Choose everbearing or day-neutral strawberry varieties to extend harvest.
By offering a variety of berry plants in your backyard, you can provide a nutritious, natural food source that will attract an assortment of wild birds throughout the seasons.
What is the best way to offer berries to backyard birds?
Here are some tips for offering berries in your backyard:
- Plant berry bushes and shrubs adapted for your climate according to sun exposure and space
- Choose native species when possible to provide the berries birds naturally eat
- Make sure berries offered are ripe and not moldy/rotten
- Clean up fallen berries regularly to prevent bears or other wildlife being drawn in
- Offer berries in platform feeders, covered in mesh/wire to keep larger animals out
- Mix berries like blueberries with other fruits and birdseed in feeders
- Let some berries remain on bushes/plants for birds to forage naturally
By incorporating berry plants into your landscape and gardens, you can create an engaging habitat filled with foraging and feeding opportunities to attract wild birds.
How often can I offer berries to birds?
Berries can be offered to birds daily when in season. However, it’s best to offer a variety of foods and not let berries make up more than 20-30% of total food volume for mixed feeders. Rotate different food every 1-3 days to add diversity.
Monitor berry consumption to avoid spoilage and waste. Remove any old berries not eaten within a day. Adapt offerings based on consumption and adjust berry amounts accordingly. Compost unused berries.
For berry bushes and plants, let birds forage berries directly at their own pace. Allowing birds to get berries right from the source will help prevent overfeeding.
What are signs a bird ate toxic berries?
Look for these signs that a bird may have consumed toxic berries or overindulged on too many berries:
- Lethargy or weakness
- Fluffed up feathers
- Difficulty perching or loss of balance
- Breathing heavily with beak open
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Disorientation or trouble flying
If a bird displays these symptoms, remove other berries right away. Try offering seeds, suet, or insects instead. Provide clean water. Avoid handling sick birds but you can contact a local wildlife rehabber for advice or care if the condition seems severe or persists more than a day.
How many berries should I offer birds at one time?
When setting out berries in feeders for birds, follow these guidelines:
- Start with 1/4 cup of berries per small feeder, or 1/2 cup per large feeder
- Observe consumption and adjust volume every 2-3 days as needed
- Gradually increase to no more than 1 cup per feeder, replenishing 1-2 times per week
- For mixed feeders, add 20% or less berries by volume to seed/nut blends
- Remove any old berries not eaten daily
- Reduce amounts if you notice spoilage or berries going bad before consumed
The goal is to provide just enough fresh berries for daily consumption, without excess going to waste. Adapt amounts based on your backyard birds’ interest and appetite.
Can I freeze berries to feed birds?
Yes, you can freeze berries to offer birds later. Here are some tips:
- Wash and dry fresh, ripe berries well before freezing
- Lay berries in a single layer on a sheet pan or cookie sheet first to freeze solid
- Transfer frozen berries to an airtight freezer bag or container
- Press air out and seal; freeze up to 6 months
- Thaw berries in the refrigerator before serving
- Mix thawed berries with other fruits, seeds or suet in feeders
Freezing ripe berries allows you to provide birds nutritious berries long after the fresh harvest ends. Frozen berries retain most of their nutrition. Just be sure to thaw berries fully before offering birds to prevent choking hazards.
Conclusion
Berries provide many wild birds with excellent nutrition in the form of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, carbohydrates, and phytonutrients. Backyard berry plants can create an engaging habitat to attract various birds. Offer a variety of safe, ripe berries moderately as part of a balanced diet. Monitor consumption to avoid waste and adjust amounts as needed. Berries make a nutritious supplement to engage and nourish neighborhood birds.
