It’s natural to want to provide food for animals that we care about. For birdwatchers, it’s incredibly gratifying to set up a feeder and watch it become the neighborhood hangout for your local cardinals, robins, and sparrows.
If you provide food for wildlife, do so responsibly.
How to safely feed birds is a well-documented topic. Therefore, there’s no excuse for mis-feeding your feathered pals.
One snack idea that pet bird owners and backyard birders alike often wonder about is popcorn.
Popcorn is generally safe as an occasional treat for birds, but there are exceptions.
Let’s dig in.
Should Birds Eat Popcorn?
- Water
- Sunflower seeds
- Millet
- Unsalted peanuts
- Fresh fruit, like grapes or sliced oranges
If you want to provide popcorn as an occasional snack for a pet bird or backyard birds, use unsalted, unbuttered popcorn. You can either provide unpopped kernels or air-popped popcorn.
Cooked Popcorn
Microwaveable popcorn packets almost always contain salt and butter-flavored chemical ingredients. If you want to feed popcorn to birds, buy plain kernels and air pop them. Air popping doesn’t require oil.
You can prepare air-popped popcorn with a popcorn machine or in the microwave with a paper bag.
Risks of Birds Eating Popcorn
Many suburban birds scavenge through garbage. Food waste from humans provides lots of easy-access calories. However, this is a hazardous way to feed—risks include nutritional deficiencies, disease, and plastic consumption.
For opportunistic birds that frequent a backyard feeder or a local lake, popcorn probably wouldn’t be the worst part of their diet. It’s not a particularly nutritious snack but isn’t thought to be harmful in moderation for most birds.
The main risks associated with popcorn involve the added ingredients in microwaveable packets. Excessive salt, sweeteners, and other additives aren’t healthy for birds. Stick to plain popcorn with no added ingredients.
If you’re feeding raw, unpopped kernels, some birds might not like how hard the hulls are. To make them more palatable, soak or boil kernels before leaving them out for birds.
Finally, never feed popcorn to ducks. Ducks are sensitive eaters that are often inappropriately fed by well-intentioned humans.
Before feeding wild ducks and other lake birds, make sure that doing so isn’t prohibited by the local authorities. Then, research appropriate food choices, such as sliced grapes or chopped lettuce.
For those who like to get a bit crafty, popcorn balls are a fun treat to prepare.
Popcorn balls are more appropriate for pet birds. With your pet, you have total control over their diet and can check with your veterinarian to make sure the ingredients are okay.
When feeding wild birds, it’s best to stick with the most highly-recommended foods, such as high-quality bird seed mixes.
If you do make popcorn balls for backyard birds, research each ingredient individually to make sure it’s safe. Some popcorn ball recipes you’ll encounter aren’t designed for birds and include unsafe ingredients such as honey.
How to Make Popcorn Balls for Birds
Ingredients
Use these ingredients for a fun popcorn-based snack for birds.
Popcorn Ball Ingredients | |
Air-popped popcorn kernels | 6 cups |
Birdseed | 1 cup |
Natural, low salt or unsalted peanut butter | ¼ cup |
Raisins, soaked and chopped | 2 tablespoons |
While popcorn is not particularly nutritious, birdseed, natural peanut butter (make sure it’s low in salt or salt-free), and raisins are all healthy for birds. Thus, this recipe in its entirety makes for a fairly nutritious snack that birds love.
Instructions
To form your popcorn balls, follow these steps:
- Air-pop the popcorn
- Combine the popped popcorn, birdseed, and raisins in a mixing bowl
- Add the peanut butter and spread it around, mixing all the ingredients together
- Using your hands, form balls, roughly as large as tennis balls
If your peanut butter isn’t providing enough stickiness to hold the balls together, you can add gelatin to the recipe. Stir a package of unsweetened gelatin into boiling water, then drizzle over your combined ingredients before forming the balls.
For a pet bird, you can hang a popcorn ball from a cage rung with string. For backyard birds, a popcorn ball can be hung from a tree branch or feeder, or placed on a tray.
Attracting Birds With Popcorn
If you’d like to enjoy watching your neighborhood birds peck at popcorn, create an inviting setting.
Different birds are drawn to different foods. Moreover, different delivery methods favor different species.
For example, birds like woodpeckers don’t mind perching on an elevated feeder to grab a bite. Robins and other species that typically hunt for insects in the dirt appreciate scattered bits of food at ground level
Creating a happy feeding ground for birds is its own topic, but these principles will get you started:
- Don’t just provide food—provide water (a birdbath)
- Maintain a no-cats-allowed backyard
- Place food near trees, shrubs, or potted plants to provide a sense of shelter
- Provide different foods in different parts of the yard
Remember, popcorn is a fun snack, but shouldn’t be your regular feeding option. Healthy foods like seeds, nuts, and fruits are better on a regular basis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the quick facts regarding feeding popcorn to birds.
Can wild birds eat popcorn?
Yes, popcorn is safe for many wild backyard birds.
How do you prepare popcorn for birds?
Only plain popcorn should be provided, with no salt or butter. Provide air-popped popcorn. Or, provide unpopped kernels, but boil or soak them first to soften the hulls.
Is popcorn harmful to any type of bird?
Popcorn may be harmful to ducks. Don’t provide popcorn for ducks or other lake birds.
For most backyard birds, popcorn is safe. However, added ingredients such as salt may be harmful. A bird’s entire diet should not consist of popcorn. If you’re caring for a pet bird, consult with your veterinarian to learn what complete diet is healthy for your pet.
Learn More About Backyard Birds
To learn more about backyard birds, visit the Happy Birding blog to explore topics such as:
- Where Do Cardinals Nest At Night?
- Why Do Birds Stand With Their Wings Spread?
- Do Birds Fly At Night?
- How Often Do Birds Poop?
Happy birding!
James has always been an avid outdoorsman. Since a kid, he kept a journal of all the different birds and species he saw. Now he wants to share his passion with other birders with Happy Birding!
