Seed Sprouts

[Christian]

I recently sprouted organic red clover for my fife canaries.
They weren't very interested in it.
I did read that it tastes like alfalfa, which most birds don't care for.
If this is true, I don't know.
I tried sprouting millet spray, again with little fan fare.
Not sure if I should sprout something else.
Maybe they would it eat if they were hungry.
They tend to have a quality millet mix available at all times.
They do eat greens such as kale, dandelions, broccoli.
Perhaps hunger will make them less picky.
Rest assured I won't starve them.

[lovezebs]

Christian

Why not sprout their regular seeds? That's what I do...

[Dave]

Birds don't really taste stuff, that sense isn't developed very well in most birds.

Do you think they just weren't sure it was food? It might take a while, and some wasted sprouts, for them to catch on. I'd keep offering them. Usually some brave (foolhardy?) bird will try them.

[wildbird]

When I added a little apple cider vinegar to my birds water, he took a drink and looked at me like I was trying to kill him! He would not even drink water out of that cup again. So much for birds not being able to taste food.

[lovezebs]

Dave wildbird Christian

I think they can taste just fine, because they certainly have favorite foods and foods that they definitely don't like.

I would definitely not withold food to try and force them to eat something else.

I might offer the food you want them to eat first, and offer their regular diet half an hour or so later .

[Dave]

lovezebs, I couldn't find any real information about birds and their sense of taste. Most of the articles I read said that birds have 50-500 taste buds, while humans have 9000.

There is quite a bit of information on sense of smell for birds like vultures and some sea birds. And I know that smell and taste can sometimes go together.

I couldn't find any scientific information on the sense of smell or taste for OUR birds, i.e. perching birds like finches. I found lots of generalizations, and quite a few articles that had the identical paragraphs which means someone just copied something.

One article said that most birds choose food for reasons other than taste or smell. That is what I've always heard, and there are lots of exceptions (Kiwi, Vultures, etc).