Do Birds Eat Cranberries & Do They Like To Eat Cranberries?

You might have seen birds eating grapes, fruits, vegetables, and other foods they like to eat. But many people have asked the question, do birds eat cranberries?

The straightforward answer to this question is that birds eat cranberries whenever they are attracted to them. Many beneficial nutrients for birds are present in cranberries. Let’s read how cranberry is safe for them and how you can feed them.

Table of Contents:

  1. Are Cranberries Safe For Birds
  2. Do Birds Like Cranberries?
  3. How To Serve Cranberries To Birds?
  4. Will Birds Eat Raw Cranberries?
  5. Benefits Of Feeding Cranberries To Birds
  6. Are Dried Cranberries Safe For Birds?
  7. Do Birds Eat Dried Cranberries?
  8. Final Thoughts

Are Cranberries Safe For Birds

Yes, cranberries are entirely safe for your birds to feed. Birds who eat berries can also eat cranberries because they belong to the berry family.

do birds eat cranberries

You can twine the cranberries around the trees in your garden or on your lawn. They can eat these cranberries without any fear of getting hurt. But they prefer eating dried cranberries the most because they are not sour like simple ones.

Can Birds Eat Strawberries?

Do Birds Like Cranberries?

Yes, birds do like eating cranberries, but not all birds are not in love with them because they are sour in taste.

Those birds who live on bogs (wet and muddy ground, soft enough to support birds and other heavy bodies) enjoy eating cranberries.

Cranberries are a good source of food for them. These birds are warbles, jays, wrens, chickadees, and woodpeckers.

Some other birds who like eating sour and tarty cranberries are cardinals, warblers, finches, titmice, nuthatches, jays, and grosbeaks.

Almost every bird loves sun-dried cranberries. Birds like their taste because they are not as sour and tarty as other simple cranberries.

Please do not buy them from the market and dry them naturally in front of your eyes because dry cranberries available in the market are full of sugar and harmful to your birds.

The other type of cranberries is the highbush cranberries. They are not much liked by most of the birds because of their unpleasant scent and tarty taste. So, birds avoid eating these highbush cranberries.

Can Birds Eat Blueberries?

How To Serve Cranberries To Birds?

It is not easy to feed cranberries to your birds because some birds do not like them much due to their sour, tarty, and vinegary taste. But, there are some methods that you can use to serve and feed cranberries to your birds.

The first method is before serving cranberries, cutting them into tiny pieces for small birds and large pieces for large ones. The second method is dropping cranberries in a bowl full of water or the birdbath.

When birds come to drink water, the presence of cranberries in it will get their attention, and they might eat them. The last method you can try is adding cranberries to bird’s food, and mixing them with other fruit.

Birds will eat them without knowing that they are present in them. You can also give cranberry juice to your birds, but make sure you made it in your home, do not buy it from the market.

Make its juice in your home without adding sugar to it because it already has sugar in it, and a lot of sugar is not good for the health of your birds.

One more thing, do not feed cranberry juice to your birds in large quantities. You can serve it in front of them occasionally as a treat.

Will Birds Eat Raw Cranberries?

Yes, birds can eat raw cranberries. They are completely safe for them, and they also love eating raw cranberries.

Some birds eat raw cranberries in their season, and before eating, they peel off the outer skin and then eat it. Raw cranberries have a very sharp taste and are good for the health of your birds.

Benefits Of Feeding Cranberries To Birds

Cranberries are a little bit sour, but they are full of antioxidants, which help in boosting the immune system of your birds. Copper, manganese, and different vitamins like vitamin K1, vitamin E, and vitamin C.

Some other important nutrients and minerals are also present in them that help your bird in maintaining its health. Sugars, fiber, and fats are also present in cranberries.

Fresh cranberries that you just brought from the plant have 10 percent of important fibers and nutrients, and the rest 90 percent is water. 

Antioxidants and vitamin C present in cranberries help in maintaining the muscles and bones of your bird. On the other hand, vitamin K1 helps in blood clotting in birds.

Cranberries have some essential antioxidants like quercetin, anthocyanins, and proanthocyanidins. These antioxidants help in reducing various heart diseases in your birds.

One important point is that never give cranberry juice to your birds that you brought from the market.

Because the concentration and high amount of sugar in cranberry juice can cause various health problems like stomach aches in your birds.

Are Dried Cranberries Safe For Birds?

Yes, dried cranberries are safe for birds on one condition you are drying them in front of your eyes. Like other cranberries, dried cranberries are not sour, tarty, and vinegary in taste. They are sweet. That is why birds love eating them.

But that amount of sugar is not suitable for the health of your birds. Dried cranberries available on the market are very harmful to your birds because they contain sulfur dioxide used as a fruit preservative.

Sulfur dioxide is not suitable for birds, even in a tiny amount. When birds consume it, they show hazardous allergic reactions like increased sensitivity, feather destruction, antagonism, and hectic nature.

That is why dry them in your home to avoid all these problems for your birds. The homemade dried cranberries are safe for your birds because they do not contain any preservatives. You can dry them any time when you want to feed them to your bird.

Do Birds Eat Dried Cranberries?

Yes, birds love eating dried cranberries because of their sweet taste, which is not present in other cranberries.

You can serve only dried cranberries to your birds, or you can mix them with other fruits and seed mixes to give a nice sweet taste.

Dry them in your home for preventing any side effects of them. Get fresh cranberries from the market when the season comes (October, November, and December), and then dry them at home to serve them to your birds in the off-season.

It is good to serve fresh, dried cranberries. But in the off-season, it is not possible. You can preserve them for the off-season.

But make sure you do not use those preservative chemicals that are not good for the health of your bird.

Final Thoughts

Birds can get easily attracted to any foods they like to eat, and cranberries are among those. Birds can quickly eat cranberries without any hesitation.

Dried cranberries are their favorite when it comes to choosing cranberries for them. The sweet taste of dried cranberries is the main reason for the attraction of birds.

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