It might not be the food of choice for most pigeons, but pigeons can certainly eat bananas.
In fact, it’s a great food option for them as it is a soft fruit with a variety of nutrients and vitamins that are beneficial to the bird’s health.
It’s easy for the pigeons to eat, and they can even eat the peel as long as it hasn’t been sprayed with pesticides.
Here’s what you’re going to discover in this article
- Are bananas good for pigeons?
- What other fruits do pigeons eat?
- What you shouldn’t feed a pigeon
Sound good?
Let’s get started!
Are Bananas Good For Pigeons?
The banana is a great food choice for birds like pigeons as the flesh is soft enough for them to bite through with no issues.
The pigeon’s beak is not designed for hard foods, so something soft and nutritious like a banana is a great addition to a pigeon’s diet.
Bananas have tons of health benefits and provide pigeons with a number of nutrients and vitamins that they need.
Some of these nutrients are potassium, vitamins A and B, iron, and magnesium.
If you plan to introduce banana to your pigeon’s diet, make sure to either feed your pigeon the banana without the peel or feed it an organic banana with the peel.
The reason for this is that peels for non-organic bananas often contain pesticides that are toxic to birds.
With organic bananas that are pesticide-free, you should feed the pigeon the peel too as it is quite nutritious.
Banana peels contain potassium, essential amino acids, fiber, and more.
What Kind Of Fruit Do Pigeons Eat?
Fruits are filled with great nutrients that are beneficial for pigeons, so it’s a great thing to give these to birds as a snack.
However, although a fruit like an apple might sound like a good idea, it’s best to avoid big and hard fruits like apples.
Pigeons won’t be able to rip into a large apple-like other animals can.
Instead, try feeding pigeons smaller fruits like berries, grapes, and olives.
If you own a pigeon as a pet, you can also feed your pigeon an apple, but only if it’s cut up into much smaller pieces.
In all honesty, although fruits can add variety to a pigeon’s diet, the majority of pigeons will generally choose vegetables, nuts, and grains over fruit.
It’s not necessary for them to eat fruits for their survival.
What Should You Not Feed Pigeons?
Pigeons are similar to many other birds in that they have a list of food types that should be avoided at all times.
Some of these foods might be common for humans to eat, but they are toxic to birds like pigeons.
When introducing a new type of food to your pigeon friend, always do your research to ensure that what you are feeding them is safe.
A basic list of foods that pigeons cannot eat will include:
- Avocado – The leaves, fruit, seeds, and bark of the avocado contain persin, which is toxic to most animals including pigeons. Ingesting persin can cause heart damage, respiratory damage, and even death.
- Salt – Eating too much salt or salty foods can lead to salt poisoning in pigeons. Although pigeons do need to eat salt in their diet, they will normally get this from their usual diet.
- Fruit pits and apple seeds – Fruits themselves are safe and healthy for birds to eat, but the seeds and pits are not. The fruit pits and seeds contain a cardiac-toxic cyanide compound which are toxic to little animals like pigeons.
- Chocolate – It might seem like a nice snack to give to a bird, but like dogs, pigeons and other birds should not eat chocolate. Chocolate contains both caffeine and theobromine which are toxic to birds. (I personally love chocolate so you can gift me one haha!)
- Caffeine – Caffeine will increase the pigeon’s heart rate and can even cause cardiac arrest if consumed in large amounts.
Wrapping Up
It’s good to provide pigeons with a varied diet so that they can get all the nutrients they need to lead a healthy life.
Although their diet mainly consists of seeds and grains, pigeons can eat many other things.
Bananas can be a great snack option for pigeons as they are nutritious and easy to eat.
Pigeons can eat other types of fruits as well such as berries and olives.
Whether you have a pigeon as a pet or you like to feed the pigeons in the park, it’s good practice to research what foods they can and cannot eat.
Here’s some other interesting articles about pigeons which I’m sure you’ll find interesting so do have a look around
Why do pigeons coo constantly?
Why do pigeons fly into windows?
