A male red cardinal bird just lands on a backyard bird feeder. Snow falls from the feeder full of seeds.
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Kitchen Scraps You Shouldn't Add To Your Bird Feeder
By TIM BUTTERS
Fruit Seeds and Pits
The seeds and pits of many fruits contain a small amount of cyanide. While the amount present may not be enough to harm humans, birds are not as lucky.
Potato Chips
Because of the salt and saturated fat in potato chips, feeding them to birds could eventually result in obesity and kidney problems.
Salted Nuts
In general, nuts can be a quality food source for various birds, but anything with salted or dry roasted written on the packet is a no-go!
Chocolate
Like dogs, birds are unable to stomach chocolate because its theobromine content is pure poison to their palettes. Symptoms include vomiting, fits, and heart attacks.
Garlic and Onion
While you might not add a clove of garlic or a piece of onion to your bird feeder, the problem lies with the abundance of kitchen scraps that contain these foods.
Garlic contains allicin, which can wreak havoc on a bird's system. Onions have a high sulfur content, which can aggravate a bird's digestive system and damage internal organs.