What Is Grit in Wild Bird Food?
Many people enjoy watching wild birds and their interactions at a backyard bird feeder. According to the Wild Bird Centers, more people engage in the hobby of backyard bird feeding than in any other outdoor activity. In addition to providing bird seed and suet, some hobbyists also supply their feeders with grit.
Other People Are Reading
-
Definition
-
Grit is a hard substance that, according to BirdsNWays, can be insoluble, consisting of tiny stone of silicates or sandstone, or soluble, including organic substances like cuttle bone or crushed shells, which mainly consist of limestone (calcium carbonate). Some wild birds ingest grit in the form of tiny pebbles that occur naturally, and some people opt to add a small amount of grit to commercially available wild bird seeds.
Purpose
-
A bird has a muscular portion of its stomach called the gizzard or ventriculus to grind and crush food. Grit acts as an abrasive within the gizzard to grind the hard shells of bird seed so digestive enzymes can reach the nutrient-rich inner portion of the seed. Sunflower seeds, for example, a common ingredient in wild bird food, have hard hulls that a bird cannot digest.
-
Requirements
-
Pet birds like parrots and mynahs and some wild birds like starlings and finches remove the hulls of seeds as they eat them. They don't need grit in their diet. Other wild birds, such as pigeons and doves, swallow seeds whole and must have grit to effectively digest them. Although wild birds can find their own grit in the form of small pebbles or even sand, providing grit along with their seeds makes life a little easier for them. If supplementing bird food with grit, the Wild Bird Center recommends using a ratio of about one part grit to 20 parts bird seed.
Benefits
-
Besides aiding digestion, providing grit along with wild bird food might prevent birds from ingesting dangerous substances when they forage for grit on their own. The National Audubon Society has reported cases of swans killed from lead poisoning after ingesting a single shotgun pellet and other waterbirds dying from lead poisoning after ingesting sinkers that had fallen off fishing lines.
Caution
-
BirdsNWays cautions that commercially available grit can pose serious health concerns. Insoluble grit cannot be digested so over-consumption can cause an obstruction. Grit that contains charcoal can interfere with the body's absorption of the important vitamins A, B2 and K. Soluble grit, though digestible, can also cause impactions with over-feeding. Also, cuttle bone or crushed shells harvested from polluted waters can contain toxic heavy metal contaminants.
-
References
- Photo Credit bird feeder image by tomcat2170 from Fotolia.com
