I read a comment recently by a person born in an Asian country, where it was normal for babies or children to be fed by their parents “pre-masticated”. Makes complete sense to me. You might also do it for someone who was ill.

They mentioned that getting fed food was something they still occasionally did, that it was a supremely intimate thing to do.

The "bird" didn't mention chewing gum.. They take plastic, so possible they can also take gums..

https://www.blastic.eu/knowledge-bank/impacts/plastic-ingest...