Will Birds Eat Seed With Weevils?

Is it safe to eat weevil-infested seeds for birds, or should you throw them away? Will birds eat seed with weevils? Is it safe for them? Let’s find out.

We all know about the tiny black insects hovering around containers where we store our grains.

These tiny insects, known as weevils, are a huge nuisance to get rid of. These are always a kind of hazardous pests, however innocent they may look.

If you are storing seeds to feed birds, you need to consider this insect infestation. Or else, if you already have some food containers infested with them, you may think about feeding them to birds.

Here are a few things that you need to know.

Do Birds Eat Weevils?

Birds are known to eat a lot of insects, and weevils are certainly one of them.

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They are an efficient way of getting rid of unwanted insects in your garden. Insects like tiny weevils, aphids, earwigs, cucumber beetles, and grubs are a staple feed for birds.

If you are hanging out a birdfeeder for the winged visitors, you can add some worms and other insects to the feeder to make a nice protein-rich snack for them.

Is It Ok To Feed Weevil-Contaminated Birdseed to Birds?

Since insects are part of a bird’s normal diet, they will not care if the seeds are contaminated with weevils.

Weevils are actually a food source of protein for birds, and they will eat the pests present in the seeds along with the grains themselves.

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Sometimes, weevils can damage the quality of bird seeds, which can be bad for a bird’s health. Make sure to check the bird seeds for mold and fungus before you serve them up.

How To Store Weevil-Infested Birdseed for Feeding?

While birds may not mind eating bird seeds with weevils, it may not always be the best idea. As discussed above, they might cause molds and fungus.

Here are some ideas you can use to get the weevils to leave the birdseed alone.

Rice and Grain Weevils

Rice weevil (scientifically Sitophilus oryzae) and Grain weevil (scientifically Sitophilus granarius) are the two most common weevil species found in bird seeds.

These tiny beetles are 2-3mm in length and are very stubborn pests in seeds.

If you have to store bird seeds infested with these weevils, make sure to store the bags outdoors.

The bags should be kept open for a few hours to let the insects escape. But it might be impossible to get rid of them entirely.

How do I get rid of weevils in animal feed?

If your animal feed is getting infested with too many weevils, put the grain in a pot and start boiling it.

Heat the grains for an hour to about 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Take the boiled grains and store them in a freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

Keep the grain upto four days before the expiration date, and you will find that the weevils have died.

How do you keep bugs out of bird food?

The best idea to keep bugs away from bird feed is to refrigerate seed bags that have not been opened.

This will prevent the bird seeds from being contaminated by insect eggs.

Keep the pet’s cage completely clean so that bugs are not attracted to be feeder that contains the seeds.

Moreover, store the seeds in airtight containers so that the bugs cannot enter it from outside.

Frequently Asked Questions

Wrap Up

Weevils are not the worst insects to have in bird seeds, but they can be an annoying pest to have indoors.

Make sure you are storing the seeds right and avoiding bugs as much as you can so that they stay fresh till the expiration date.

Thank you for reading!