FINCHforum

On my many dog walks, I come across many different kinds of wild grasses which are filled with new seeds this time of the year.
A question to all you diet specialists. Are these seeds safe for my guys? Enclosing a couple of photos of various kinds. Please let me know soon.

If you are collecting from farm or pubic areas, I'd be concerned about herbicides, insecticides, etc that may have been applied. Parks, roadsides and fields are often treated for mosquitoes, for instance.
I snagged some today from my backyard - the waxbills are loving it.

They all look good to me as long as they are pesticide free

I am always snipping something from the yard for my finches. They love it! I let patches go to seed. I have also harvested from other places along the bayous that I know are not treated with pesticides behind my house. After they have stripped the seeds off, they like to use the stems inside their nests.

Thanks folks
These are not sprayed.just from a wild hill side where I walk the pups. Dogs eat the grass there too, and so much of it is now growing seed that it's just irresistible .

Agreed! I'd give it a go, as long as there's no chance of pesticides.

They always seem to love the fresh picked goodies.

I'm always checking out the plants that the wild birds are eating. That's how I root out new things to try.

mine love the fresh green grass seed...they act like im not there ...just go for it...you will c

Hi All.
They all seem to be fine with it. Although my Orange Cheeks showed no interest. The rest played with it, chewd in it, tossed it around, fought over it, ended up throwing lots of it all over my floor... If nothing else, they had loads of messy fun with it all.

Well at the very least it was an enriching experience for them...lol

Odd the OCW weren't interested. Mine won't touch egg food. Won't even go near it. But I've seen a lot of people say that they really enjoy green seed heads.

Colt
Hi Guy.
My OCW's eat eggs and crushed meal worms. The just loiked at my weed offerings with a puzzled expression. Go figure.

It's funny how they're all so different. I won't offer mine any because we live close to potato fields here and they spray with planes. I just am not sure how the wind blew and if the soil is contaminated or not. As it is I'm paranoid my organic garden is not quite so organic any more. I never feed my birds out of my own garden though it's completely organic. It's sad! I'd bet money though if I offered my old man bird some grass he'd be building a nest with it. He's the expert and chronic nest builder. He'd sure love something new to work with!