Last Updated on: 20th October 2022, 09:26 pm
All colors and types of peppers, including green, red, yellow, and orange peppers, are safe and healthy for canaries to eat. The red bell pepper is the sweetest and most nutritious of the four colors.
The chances are that your canary will like peppers. All peppers are crunchy, juicy, and brightly colored. No matter how spicy they are, your canary will not experience burns or stomach upset.
Can I Give My Canary Peppers?
By feeding canaries hot peppers and chili peppers, they’ll benefit from the nutrients and fiber without experiencing the signature heat or stomach upsets others experience.
Hot peppers are spicy due to capsaicin. When this compound interacts with our nose, mouth, or eyes, it activates a protein dedicated to sensing heat.
Birds are immune to hot peppers because they have different pain receptors than mammals. So, when a canary eats a pepper, it doesn’t taste the spice.
According to Cell, this is because hot peppers benefit from avian consumption. Specifically, birds can propagate chili peppers as they fly and poop out the seeds.
Are Pepper Seeds Safe For Birds?
Pepper seeds are completely safe for a canary to eat. Unlike those from other fruits, pepper seeds have no toxic compounds for birds. Your canary may love pecking at the tiny, flavorful seeds.
Can Canaries Eat All Pepper Colors?
Most peppers come in assorted colors, including red, yellow, orange, green, white, and purple. All these colors are, technically speaking, the same plant. The most common variety starts as green, eventually turning to yellow, then orange.
Nonetheless, there are nutrient differences between green, yellow, and orange peppers. For example, red peppers have more vitamins C and A.
Other varieties of pepper will produce different colors. The Permagreen, as its name implies, stays green even when it is fully ripe; others may be yellow or purple when unripe.
Pepper Health Benefits for Canaries
Aside from diversifying your canary’s meals, peppers contain beneficial vitamins. Making them a regular snack will give your canary a boost of:
- Vitamin C: While best known for bolstering the immune system, vitamin C is also responsible for wound healing and iron absorption. Also, it’s a powerful antioxidant.
- Vitamin A: Important for the immune system, cell growth, and organ function. Notably, the form of vitamin A in red, orange, and yellow peppers is beta-carotene.
- Vitamin E: Vitamin E plays a role in the immune system and keeping blood vessels healthy.
- Vitamin B6: Crucial in the formation of red blood cells.
- Antioxidants: According to the Journal of Food Science, bell peppers are full of antioxidants. Each color has varying amounts, but all are anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer compounds.
List Of Peppers Safe For Canaries
All pepper types are safe for canaries to eat. There’s nothing in peppers that is toxic to birds, making all the popular varieties ideal as a snack or an addition to a meal:
- Bell peppers (green, yellow, orange, red)
- Sweet peppers
- Jalapenos
- Poblano
- Serrano
- Habanero
Sweet Peppers
Sweet peppers are completely safe for your canary to eat. Each type contains different levels of nutrients, but all make for a healthy snack.
Sweet peppers refer to mildly spicy peppers. Alternatively, they can be used to refer to peppers that have a fruity or sweet flavor. Types of sweet peppers include:
- Cherry peppers: Shaped like a small ball, making them a good source of enrichment for your bird.
- Cubanelle pepper: This makes for a nice garnish for a canary’s food due to its aromatic appeal.
- Purple bell pepper: Sweeter than green bell peppers and provides color.
Bell Peppers
Bell peppers are healthy for canaries. Of all the options, they score the lowest rating on the Scoville scale, which measures spiciness.
Their rubbery skin and inner seeds allow canaries to peck and gnaw for enjoyment and then eat them to gain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Green Peppers
Green peppers are the most common color of bell peppers, as they’ve yet to ripen. They’re full of nutrients and minerals but contain less vitamin C and beta-carotene than other types.
Green peppers make up for this texture since they have the most crunch. Because they’re unripe, green bell peppers are harder and maintain their structure, which can be satisfying for canaries to play with.
Green bell peppers are also the most bitter compared to the other colors of bell peppers. A canary may enjoy this new flavor if your canary is used to eating sweet food.
Yellow Peppers
When green peppers are left on the vine, they first turn a yellow shade. Yellow peppers are just a step above green peppers; they’re slightly more nutritious and less bitter than their green counterparts.
Orange Peppers
After yellow, you get orange peppers. If your canary doesn’t like the bitter green taste or the soft red texture, then orange peppers are a good compromise. They offer almost as many nutrients as red peppers but provide a crispier texture since they’re technically still unripe.
Red Peppers
Red peppers are the fully ripened version; They’re the most nutritious of all colors and are sweeter than yellow, orange, and green peppers.
What Happens If You Feed A Canary Red Pepper?
Red peppers are rich in carotenoids, which equip the plant with its deep red color. If you feed a canary enough carotenoids, it might develop an orange color.
Red-factor canaries need a diet rich in carotenoids to produce their iconic plumage. Without carotenoids, red factor canaries have duller copper or burnt orange shades.
