Can Birds Eat Sunflower Seeds with Salt? (Explained)

Last updated on May 10th, 2023 at 09:52 am

Most birds love sunflower seeds, so most people put the seeds in their backyard feeders, whether whole or hulled. Some people wonder if they can offer salted sunflower seeds to their pets or wild birds. 

Birds can eat sunflower seeds with salt but in limited quantities. Most birds can’t metabolize excess sodium, so eating a lot of sunflower seeds with salt may have serious effects on their health. Besides, wild birds can satiate their salt requirement on their own.

Can You Feed Sunflower Seeds With Salt to Birds?

You can feed sunflower seeds with salt to birds if you know that a species isn’t consuming sufficient sodium through its natural diet.

Otherwise, incorporating salt isn’t necessary because most birds consume adequate sodium through many other foods.

Whether or not you’ve tried feeding sunflower seeds with salt to birds, people don’t have an identical experience while using salted whole or hulled variants. 

Some birders failed to entice several wild species in their backyard with salted seeds. But others that tried have encountered a completely contrasting scenario.

A few people routinely offer sunflower seeds with salt to birds. However, there are certain species that can and will eat salted sunflower seeds.

Those species include: 

• Blue jays
• Finches
• Mourning doves

I’m excluding pigeons from this brief list, although they love salt, because any high-sodium feed is dangerous for them if they aren’t adequately hydrated. 

While some species of birds can eat sunflower seeds with salt, that doesn’t mean that you should let them.

Many birds love salt, and some do need more sodium than others. So this creates a dilemma of what you should do for your backyard birds. 

Many people think that salt is fatal to birds, while others believe there’s no harm. Both perceptions are misconceptions. 

A Comprehensive List of Birds That Eat Salt in the Wild

Many birds are inherently drawn to salt.

Hunters are so familiar with this fact that some use salt licks or mineral blocks to lure a few birds, including the mourning dove.

This type of baiting isn’t legal, whether in Georgia or Texas, but the reality establishes that a lot of bird species eat salt.

Here’s a comprehensive list of birds that eat salt in the wild:

These birds are drawn to natural salt licks. People who want to entice these birds to come out will place mineral blocks, or salt licks out in the open.

If you’re not having any luck getting birds to come to your yard, you may want to try this. But, use caution, as it can eventually harm birds and can prove fatal.

Also, many are attracted to road salt, which is widely used in the north during the winter.

This might explain why there are more birds killed on the roads during the winter than in any other season.

However, these wild birds don’t have the same pattern of consuming salt throughout the year.

Many studies documented in Kathryn Julia Herson’s “An Analysis of Salt Eating in Birds,” as published by the Western Michigan University, reveal a few facts:

• Some birds, like the domestic chicken, tend to consume more salt during their breeding season because sodium is a prerequisite mineral in eggs.
• A few species, like pigeons and doves, need more salt while laying eggs and hatching them because sodium is a vital mineral or nutrient in their milk.
• The breeding season of red crossbills isn’t confined to time or season, so their pattern of consuming salt isn’t related to the other practices but is subject to food availability.

Therefore, many birds consume salt because they need it. But that doesn’t mean you should offer sunflower seeds with salt to any bird species.

Wild birds fare fine without any extra supply of salt or sodium. 

However, you don’t need to offer salted sunflower seeds to your backyard birds, especially if you also offer them bird seed fat balls made with peanut butter.

Since peanut butter already contains salt, the wild birds are getting more than enough salt in their feed. 

But the scenario is slightly different if you have caged pets.

The Risks of Birds Eating Sunflower Seeds With Salt

Birds shouldn’t consume excess salt, whether in the wild or caged as pets.

This salt intake isn’t limited to sunflower seeds, but all foods that you may offer to a bird or a species can eat on its own. 

Here are a few reality checks in this context:

• Birds cannot metabolize excess sodium due to the way their kidneys function.
• Salty feed can affect the nervous system of most garden or backyard birds.
• Wild birds can meet their sodium requirement from various sources in nature.
• Many people offer cooked foods to birds, which may already contain some salt.
• Providing sunflower seeds with salt is unnecessary for almost all birds. 

According to a study conducted by Pierre Mineau and Lorna J. Brownlee, as published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, avian kidneys cannot increase the glomerular filtration rate to remove excess sodium, which mammals are capable of.

That’s one reason for the excess fatalities of some bird species, including winter finches, that are drawn to consuming road salts.

Hence, there’s more than sufficient evidence to prove that you don’t have to provide salt to these lovely creatures. 

You can always gauge the response of a bird to sunflower seeds with salt, but don’t presume that salt is what the species is looking for.

Play safe with normal and unsalted sunflower seeds unless you are certain of what your pet or a particular bird species needs.

Sources

• ResearchGate: Mourning Doves and Salt: Is There an Attraction?
• Western Michigan University, ScholarWorks: An Analysis of Salt Eating in Birds
• Journal Storage: Road Salts and Birds – An Assessment of the Risk with Particular Emphasis on Winter Finch Mortality