Putting an Avocado in Your Bird Feeder Might Seem Harmless but Experts Say It Could Be Deadly
When slathering an avocado on a bread toast or eating chips dipped in guacamole, we prepare ourselves for a meal that is rich, not only in taste, but also in nutrients. For humans, avocados are a great source of vitamins C, E, K, and B6, folate, magnesium, potassium, beta carotene, omega-3 fatty acids, and more, as per Medical News Today. But turns out, despite an array of nutrients, avocado contains one chemical that causes more harm than good to birds. If you're thinking of leaving out leftover avocados in your bird feeder, beware!
Avocados might have conquered the community of artists who use fine ballpoint pens to doodle cute smiley avocados with round brown bellies. These pear-shaped babies might also have cajoled so many Hollywood celebrities with their bonanza of healthy fats and fibers, as WebMD describes. Its womb-shaped brown seed cushioned within the minty green pulp is often hailed by women as a “fertility fruit.” Yet, when it comes to birds, avocados are outsiders that are not allowed to enter the nutritional fortress of bird feeders.
Known by nicknames like “buttery fruit” and “alligator pear,” avocados, with their sea green-toned leathery rind, contain a mysterious chemical that can prove to be deadly for your feathery friends if they end up ingesting it from your feeder or garden. A toxin called “persin” lurking in avocados might be harmless to humans, but in birds, it can trigger dangerous symptoms, ranging from collapsing, sluggishness, laboured breathing, and sometimes, abrupt death. Since persin is present in nearly every part of the avocado plant, from stems to fruits and leaves, it is impossible to feed this food to the birds, no matter how many precautions you take.
MSD Veterinary Manual shares an episode when a flock of budgerigars was fed avocados. 1 gram of avocado triggered severe agitation and feather pulling in the birds, whereas ingestion of 8.7 grams of this fruit resulted in death within 48 hours. Some birds can also experience cardiac problems after eating small quantities of avocados. Caged birds, such as budgerigars, canaries, cockatiels, ostriches, chickens, turkeys, are more susceptible to the symptoms of this illness called “Avocado toxicosis” than other birds. Chewy adds that small birds, like canaries and parakeets, are even more at risk.
“A bird that has ingested an avocado should be rushed to the nearest emergency veterinary facility,” says Dr. Keller. “If the avocado was eaten very recently, it may be possible to remove it from the bird’s crop, a pouch in the esophagus where food is stored before it moves to the stomach and is digested,” said Doctor Krista Keller, a veterinary specialist in zoological medicine. Dr. Keller, who watches over exotic pets at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Urbana, shared in a press release.
The press release elaborates on various other emergency treatments for the birds affected by avocados. “Other emergency treatments include giving activated charcoal to bind the toxin and prevent absorption and giving cardiac medications to address any negative effects of the toxin. The best treatment is actually prevention,” the experts write. The cue is, it’s best to keep that guacamole brekkie to yourself.