I did a lot of research about this both when writing my book 101 Ways to Help Birds and when I was working at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Intuitively, jelly really does have a lot of sugar--it's far more concentrated than anything birds could find in nature. But I've found no evidence at all that it causes harm to birds feeding on it. Unfortunately, ALL the information we have is based on anecdotal cases. No scientific studies have been done. Aviculturists avoid it with captive birds, but they have far more limited diets than wild birds. That said, there's no data that it's beneficial to birds outside of cold weather during migration, so I've always tried to use a big dollop of common sense. When I've had catbirds, orioles, or Red-bellied Woodpeckers sticking around beyond migration, I've kept out the jelly as long as none of the birds seem to be visiting it more than a couple of times a day. There is one HUGE caveat about jelly: It's very sticky. Make sure you don't put it out in amounts that could get a bird mired in it. I found that out the hard way, and it almost killed a Red-breasted Nuthatch. I have photos of that on my website here: http://www.lauraerickson.com/way-to-help/49/ . By the way, I've digitized the content of 101 Ways to Help Birds, and am trying to update them all with links and additional information: if anyone notices anything I'm missing (including on this issue) please let me know. Best, Laura Erickson Duluth On Mon, May 29, 2017 at 1:47 PM, Nan <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > > I have a question I hope someone can answer. Does all the sugar in grape > jelly hurt the birds in any way? I have orioles coming to it of course, > but also red-bellied woodpeckers, catbirds, house finch and grackles and > they are all eating large amounts. > > Thanks for any help. > > Nancy Overcott > Fillmore County > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > -- Laura Erickson Duluth, MN www.lauraerickson.com For the love, understanding, and protection of birds There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. —Rachel Carson Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
