Have your kids turned their noses up at the cornflakes sitting, dusty and abandoned, in your pantry, if you answered yes, have you thought to yourself, can birds eat cornflakes?
The quick answer is yes, birds can eat cornflakes and this tasty morning cereal is perfect for wild garden birds to eat and here’s why below.
It’s a shame to buy a whole box of cereal just to toss it out when no one touches it. Let me pose a solution.
What Options Are There for Uneaten Cereal?
Well, most cereals that contain copious amounts of sugar are excluded from this musing, but why not toss some bland cornflakes at your local birds? Is that allowed, or will it harm the wild birds that visit your property?
Cornflakes won’t hurt them a bit! Birds actually love cereal, and will gladly fly to your yard to consume it after a long day’s flight.
The main ingredient in cornflakes is corn, which is often used in many brands of commercial bird feed. There is a small fraction of sugar in these flakes as well, but not enough to do harm to your feathered friends.
Help your neighbourhood birds get an afternoon snack by supplementing birdseed with dry cornflakes!
Now, they likely won’t like it if you leave out a bowl of cereal and milk, but on its own cornflakes are an attractive snack for most wild birds.
From crows to robins, your yard will flock with hungry beaks to feed, and leftover cornflakes are a wonderful way to satisfy their rumbling stomachs!
Read Here > Can Birds Eat Weetabix?
What are the Benefits of Cornflakes for Birds?
Dry cereal such as cornflakes also help birds with healthy digestion, just take care not to overfeed them, and when you can you should scatter some birdseed out there as well.
Cornflakes also contain folic acid, which has numerous health benefits for both humans and birds. It helps their cell division process.
The niacin in cornflakes is also beneficial, as it builds up their bone strength.
They will need that strength for their long flights ahead!
Alternatively, if it has been raining or still is raining, you may want to wait for a drier day because birds won’t normally eat soggy cereal.
As a disclaimer, this article is covering wild birds and not family pets. If you have a pet bird, it is always best to give them approved brands of birdseed.
If you would like to give cornflakes to your pet bird, consult your bird’s veterinarian first.
What are the Main Ingredients in Cornflakes?
Cornflakes primarily contain corn, but in addition to this common cereal ingredient, there is sugar, barley malt extract, and beneficial vitamins and minerals.
The sugar contained in cornflakes may seem alarming at first, but it is not at a harmful level for birds.
In proportion to the other ingredients, the sugar is less than 15%. The corn alone takes up 88% of the total ingredients, so this cereal is completely harmless to wild birds.
Can I Give Birds Cornflakes with Milk On Them?
Many birds are lactose intolerant, so it’s not a good idea to add milk to their cornflake snack.
They cannot digest dairy products, and it can potentially give them a nasty case of diarrhoea. We don’t want to give the local birds more of a reason to leave poo on your car windows, now do we?
Moreover, the milk would likely make the cereal soggy and unappealing to birds, who prefer a drier meal.
While cornflakes are safe for wild birds to eat, always check the ingredients on your particular box of cereal before serving it up to the flock.
Make sure that corn is the first ingredient on your box of cereal, and check to see how much sugar is in the cereal.
Like I said, most cornflake brands don’t contain a harmful amount of sugar, but you can never be too careful.
Sugar can cause stomach issues and diarrhoea in birds, especially small ones like robins, so it is better to read the ingredients to be absolutely sure that no harmful amounts of sugar get to the mouths of those hungry fowl.