Should You Add Crushed Eggshells To Your Bird Feeder?

Having a bird feeder in your yard offers many benefits and is a simple joy in life. You can feed and help care for many birds in your area without having to house them as you would indoor pets, and the additional feathery friends in your space can help increase your own sense of relaxation. Of course, you want to give birds a good supply of nutritious food, and adding crushed eggshells to your bird feeder may be one way to help them get what they need.

Depending on where you live, you may have various birds visiting your bird feeder. Some types of foods offer the most broad-spectrum variety no matter what kind of bird eats it. Most birds will consume black oil sunflower seeds, but if you're looking for a type of birdseed that most birds will enjoy, those that contain a blend of sunflower seeds, millet, and cracked corn will usually do the trick. It also helps to separate certain foods to give your avian friends a choice of what to eat. For example, you can place peanuts and birdseed in their own bird feeders. You can also leave fruit out for birds that eat berries or nectar for hummingbirds. This lets birds pick and choose what they like best. Regardless of how you choose to feed the birds that flock to your yard, consider adding eggshells to the mix.

One way to boost bird health is to add some crushed eggshells to the feed, especially for nesting mama birds. Like humans, birds require extra calcium to reproduce and care for their babies. Birds have to find all of their calcium supply in nature which is no small feat. To help nesting female birds get the necessary calcium, you can either buy calcium-fortified birdseed, or you can add crushed eggshells to your feeder. This is especially helpful for birds that don't feed on birdseed, such as robins.

Before you set out the crushed eggshells, you'll need to bake them. First, rinse them off set them on a baking pan or cookie sheet, and bake at 250 degrees Fahrenheit. After 10 minutes, take them out, let them cool, and then crush them up into small bits. Add them to your birdseed or leave them separately in another bird feeder. If you don't have an extra bird feeder, you can leave them in a tray or on a plate, or sprinkle them on the ground.