Stop Feeding Canaries

Well, don't stop feeding canaries entirely but
stop feeding your canary bird poisons...

This page is about what NOT to feed your canary.

Also see... What To Feed Your Canary.

There are many foods that you and I enjoy that will flat KILL your canary.

Did you know that?

Some of them, you would never guess to be harmful. You and I might eat these foods all the time but...

Obviously, canaries have a completely different digestive system than you or your dog or cat.  Canaries are seed eaters and they have the ability to get most of the nutrients they need from seed, greens, and a boiled egg here and there. 

Of course, we all want to treat our flying friends with something special now and then. 

In addition to a good canary seed mixture, there are many healthy treats you can be feeding your canary.  You can see a few of the most popular here.

Caution When Feeding Canaries

Many of the bad foods are below.  This is by no means an extensive list but it will cover virtually everything you might have in your home.

Foods you should NOT be feeding canaries:

Canaries enjoy and NEED some veggies...mainly greens. However, anything with a high water content should be avoided.  Here are some veggies you should NOT be feeding your pet canary...

• Celery
• Onions
• Iceberg lettuce

These three examples are not poisonous to your canary bird, they simply have a very high water content and can sometimes lead to runny droppings.

After all, our main priority here is to make sure our canaries are super healthy so they'll keep on SINGING!

Lettuce with low water content and heavy leaves are OK and recommended to feed-->like Romaine and Kale.

Standard Peas are good for your canary and he'll love them too but I've heard that...

• Chinese Pea Pods are very bad for feeding canary birds.

Your canary will love fruits but stay away from...

• Tomato
• Avocado
• Apple seeds (apple is good but no seeds)
• ...and sometimes Mango. I don't have any experience with feeding mangoes myself but some breeders and pet owners have stated that a mango made their canary sick. Apparently some canaries can have an allergic reaction to the tropical fruit. On the other hand, I've talked to many canary owners that say they feed mango to their bird with no problem. You decide what you want to do regarding mango.

(It really feels weird to put tomatoes and even avocado in the "fruit" section but, believe me, they ARE fruits...I looked it up.)

Some other items that can be bad include...

• Chocolate
• Candy
• Mushrooms
• Salt
• Caffeine

These foods can wreak havoc on your canary’s system and might even kill him. You could find yourself nursing your canary back to good health. Make sure you know what symptoms to look for in a sick canary.

Although not necessarily poisonous to your canary I highly recommend you don't feed the following very often...they'll make your canary FAT...

• Breads
• Cookies
• Cake

There is certainly nothing wrong with a sweet treat now and then but make sure it's of the healthier variety such as honey sticks, poppy seed sticks, and eggfood.

Return from Feeding Canaries: Poisons to Canary Foods Main Page.