I just wanted to say that was the most concise and well written reports on any topic I have ever read in Cecil’s columns (which is hard to beat since all of them are written well). I didnt know for example, that the reason spices are “hot” isnt due to taste - it’s pain receptors. And their is just one chemical that is responsible.
And so birds are not affected. Hmmm… Very interesting.
Link:
Related:
Why does spicy food burn when you poop?
Thanks. That was my very first Staff Report.
All I know is that my conure LOOOOOOOOVES hot peppers! He thinks they are bird candy.
(He likes bell peppers, too - I wonder if they’re all much the same to him?)
More please!
One update.
The southeast Asian variety mentioned in the article and registering at 850,000 Scoville units has now been far surpassed by the Carolina Reaper. The hottest one of those bad boys according to tests conducted by Winthrop University in South Carolina comes in at a tongue-blistering 2.2 million Scoville Heat Units.
Another helping, Sir?
Oh, he has: Colibri is possibly the most prolific of the Staff Report writers. This is just an oldie, from when he was first starting out.
Now I understand. I should have checked the date, I’m always getting caught out that way with zombie threads too. Thanks, Chronos.
The people next door to us a few years back had two adorable backyard chickens. They ran about as they pleased, for the most part, and their favorite food was the hot peppers - the ones that are used in kung pao chicken. It was really cute, watching them stand on their tippy toes and streeeeeetch their necks to get peppers!
Pre-flavoring themselves for the skillet…
But you didn’t address the second question you raised ie what does it do to their tiny bungholes tomorrow morning?
It’s a serious question. Pain is only part of the downside of eating capsicum. It’s also a physical irritant. If a small bird is chowing down on a bush full of Carolina Reapers, what is that doing to its digestive tract?
Based on admittedly unscientific observation of my three resident birds…
…pretty much nothing out of the ordinary. I haven’t noticed a difference. No signs of discomfort while eliminating. No signs of distress.
The again, the conure comes from a species that in the wild regards hot peppers as a staple food. I’d be surprised if he experienced negative effects.
Note: he’s never had anything hotter than a habenero. I don’t know if a Carolina Reaper would make a notable effect.
Bell peppers literally are just chili peppers without the burn, so yeah, if the burn doesn’t affect you, then they’re much the same thing.
I’ve been growing the North American variety of chile tepin “bird pepper” bushes for about 2 years now. They can get really bushy, and the plants supposedly last many years. Peppers are pretty hot for being so small. They have a quick flash of heat which fades quickly, but you CAN really screw up a recipe if you add too many. (one per taco is almost too much, I dont really like super spicy food…and they are only raisin sized).
My 30 odd conures and other parrots dont really care for them much, I think cause they like grapes and apples more…so I get all the chiles. 
The bushes flower at about xmas here on the west coast, and the bushes look pretty Holidayish…with their red berries and dark green foliage.
Right, it was 17 years ago. The members of the SDSAB are no longer asked to do Staff Reports. I did 14 reports, the last in 2005. I also helped Cecil with 5 columns, including How do caterpillars have sex? and Is it true turtles breathe through their butts?
That turtle article is a doozy. The image of a sea cucumber’s innards emerging from its anus and attacking the enemy while the cucumber generates new innards is something that will stay in my head for life. If only our soldiers had that ability we’d be unbeatable! Evolution is incredible.
I know someone that had a parrot and the bird kept biting her finger so she told me that she put some hot spices on her finger to teach her bird a lesson . The person was the one that learned a lesson ,her bird liked hot spices. LOL! I would had told the person this if she told what she was planning on doing .
Why?
Mostly because Dex got tired of asking, because so few of us were doing them.