Is it ture that if you feed birds rice they exsplode?

Answer 1

No, it is not true!

The highly respected magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, has an article debunking a lot of myths about birds. This is one of them.

"1. You should not throw rice at the bride and groom at weddings because birds eat it and it swells up in their stomach and kills them. Sometimes the myth goes that it causes them to explode.

Not true. If it were, there would be exploding bird stories all over the national press every June. Think about it. Lots of birds feast in rice fields every year, irritating rice farmers to distraction. If eating rice caused birds to explode, most rice fields would look like a popcorn machine in the harvest season, with little puffs and explosions providing constant entertainment. Quite a vision, and one that the press would never miss.

And there is no difference between rice in fields and rice in bags from the supermarket. Birds have no trouble digesting rice, or any other "expanding" vegetable. I am all in favor of throwing birdseed at weddings, which is what proponents of this myth urge as a solution. I like the symbolism of throwing birdseed. But rice is fine, too."

http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyard_birds/myths/myths.aspx

It is also not true that feeding alka seltzer to birds will make them explode. From the same article:

"4. Exploding gulls.
Another exploding bird myth. I wonder why we are so attached to myths where something blows up. Must be the drama.

This myth proposes that if you feed a gull an Alka Seltzer tablet it will swallow the offering and when the lethal charge gets into the stomach and dissolves, the expanding gasses will cause the bird to explode. Every year there is another story about some mean kids doing this. Oddly, it always involves New Jersey.

After you stop giggling at the image of gulls exploding like flying land mines all over the Jersey shore, the unlikelihood of the myth starts to intrude. If it were true, it would be a big story. I can see the coverage now: Dan Rather in his safari jacket, standing on the windswept coast, hair blowing in the wind, gull feathers raining down in the background; PBS specials (who can resist the vision of a gull, cheerfully flying along and then suddenly exploding, right in front of the camera?); exposés in the tabloids.

If the body could not handle a little Alka Seltzer without an explosion, it wouldn't be legal to sell the stuff over the counter. If it caused gulls to explode, there would be a rash of reports every year. I do not know the physiological process by which the body processes a tablet swallowed whole (and I have no interest in trying), but I assume it involves, among other things, a fair amount of belching and a slightly gassy feeling. Actually, if I ate some of the stuff that gulls do, I would be thrilled to have a little relief, but they seem to do fine without it."


People should spend a little time researching their answers instead of just saying "I heard it somewhere so it must be true."

Answer 2

No, it is not true. This is the question and answer I got off of the website at Cornell called Bird Feeding Myths.



Myth: If birds eat uncooked rice, it can swell up in their throats or stomachs and kill them.

Fact: Plenty of birds eat uncooked rice in the wild. Bobolinks, sometimes called "rice birds," are a good example. While rice is okay for birds, many wedding parties now throw bird seed instead.

Answer 3

It's not true- my birds love cooked rice. They eat it every time I cook it. I've never had one of them explode.

Answer 4

No-ducks, geese and other birds eat rice from fields where it's grown. Rice has been banned from weddings many places because it attracts pigeons (google it).

Answer 5

It's not true. They don't bloat either.
They don't drink enough boiling water to puff it up.
Larger birds can pass it through their system undigested.
It's very hard to digest and plugs up the stomach and intestines in smaller birds.
As a result they starve to death with a full stomach.

Answer 6

No, not true. Urban Legend, Old Wives Tale, whatever you want to call it.

Answer 7

I heard that, so I don't throw rice at weddings anymore. I throw old bread out in my yard, and the birds don't touch it. Go figure!

Answer 8

Yes, it is true. And did you know that if you feed birds any kind of painkiller, eg. panadole. It stops them from burping or Farting, so their internal gases cant ecsape, eventually (within 1/2 an hour) they literally explode!!!

Answer 9

Yes, that's why rice isn't allowed at weddings anymore. Raw rice, when water is added, fluffs up, and the birds bloat so bad it kills them. (that would be "explode")

Answer 10

I'm not srue if ist ture. Wyh dnot yuo tyr it and see if it "exsplodes"?