In the March 13 Cage & Aviary Birds special focus on feeding, Dot described best practice in feeding parrots as ‘a work in progress’. Here she explains where that progress has reached among responsible caregivers she knows, and what still needs to be clarified
LAST time I quoted a set of questions on feeding that I’d sent to a range of companion parrot caregivers. Here are some answers based on responses from people I know.
Exercise
Wild birds need a high-energy diet because they fly long distances. Our birds don’t. An American vet wrote that 80 per cent of his cases were down to poor nutrition. Obese parrots, like obese people, have been eating too many calories. Captive birds might need the same volume of food as free-flying birds but with lower fat content, so unless they take plenty of exercise, they need the fat content of their diet restricted. As with all animals, the more physical activity, the more fuel is needed.
Also, temperature is a factor. I live in East Anglia and the parakeets are outdoors 24/7. I increase the fat content of their diet when the barometer drops. I top up with added sunflowers and monkey nuts in shell and weekly cooked chicken bones. In the sub-zero temperatures of recent winters I have never lost a bird to cold.
Bobo, my rescue umbrella, was a thin cockatoo. She had a traumatic life and after two years still had a picky appetite. If allowed, she would have lived on chocolate biscuits and pizza, but she was not – although she did get tiny treats of what must have been her favourite foods in a previous home.
Pellets
The choice is overwhelming. Sadly, you get what you pay for. The cheaper pellets are less nutritious and less well balanced than products at the top end of the market.
According to the blurb on each brightly coloured packet, the contents “provide the best for your bird”. Many pellet diets have now been developed by avian experts and would seem to be a good choice for owners who are busy out at work. The cheaper brands contain too many fillers, colourings and chemicals that you would never wish to feed.
I have tried different brands of pellets, but never managed to get my birds to accept them willingly. Even Harrison’s Organic, with its superb reputation as the best of the best, was tossed out of the bowl by my greys. Baby birds who are weaned onto pellets appear to accept them more easily.
Commercial seed mix
It is now generally accepted that seed mixes are not a complete diet for parrots, even though they look more appetising than brown nuggets. You can of course buy the ingredients of a commercial seed mix separately and make up your own. That’s cost-effective, but it takes time.
Five a day for your parrot?
Fruit and vegetables do not come cheap, do they? But they’re essential. The question is how much is needed? There is no expert agreement on that. Debate about whether vegetables are much better than fruit because of fruit’s high sugar content is ongoing. My vet recommended pellets. His opinion was that non-professional caregivers could not easily make up a good diet with every vitamin and mineral added. I never managed to include pellets.
Wild foods
They are a boon for every species. This is one of my hobby-horses. I believe that green fresh garden produces and certain weeds are closer to a wild diet. Chickweed, dandelions, blackberries, sloes, hawthorn berries, plantain, fat hen, cotoneaster berries, nettles – it’s an almost endless list. And add fresh flowers, too. If you gather from an unknown source, give it a wash in a weak antiseptic solution in case of pollutants.
There’s no cost involved and you spend healthy time in the open air. I also grow sunflowers, wheatgrass and sweet corn for the parrots. Lists of poisonous flowers and trees are available on the internet.
Nuts
Aspergillosis can be caught from monkey nuts of uncertain providence. I buy human-grade and take that risk. My Alexandrine parakeets, which bred for two years, successfully consumed vast quantities in cold weather, but were less enthusiastic in warmer periods. Nuts are too high in fat for overuse, but they’re marvellous for training treats.
Mash and freezing
There is not space here to give details of the home-made mash diets. They are an interesting development. The Circus diet developed by Steve Hartman is well known in the USA. As a breeder of more than 4,000 birds over 20 years, Hartman has shared his expertise on his website parrotuniversity.com. He remarks that many parrots are picky eaters, so advises that food should be cut into pea-sized pieces. He says: “Small particles mixed together have residue from all the other pieces on them, making it impossible for a bird to avoid any food, so their brain is quickly programmed to eat all of the items. Once a bird’s subconscious and conscious brain is programmed to eat a large variety of foods, it’s much easier to change its diet.” He gives daily quantities of food.
Parrots Circus diet Treats
Small 18g 4g
Medium 32g 7g
Large 90g 20g
Portion size is crucial for captive birds. Never offer more than 10 per cent more food than the bird will eat. Remove the uneaten portion the next morning before offering more food. Portion size will vary for each species and each individual, and for seasonal moulting and breeding cycles.
Sprouted seed
Germinating and sprouting seeds and selected beans, such as chick peas and mung beans, release nutrients that are especially valuable. Sprouts can be fed on their own or as a part of a diet. Sprouting turns a seed into a high-quality food that contains fat as an energy source, which continues to grow as long as it is moist and at least at room temperature. All seeds benefit from sprouting. The quality of the seeds you use can be determined by the percentage that sprouts. Expect at least 90 per cent to sprout in three to five days. Once you get into the habit, sprouting is not much of a chore. There are commercial sprout mixes. Tidymix do a good one, as do Haith’s.
Evaluation
Simple daily observation shows you that a bird which eats well has bright eyes, shiny feathers and an active posture. Weekly weighing is a bonus. My greys have kept the same weight for 20 years, give or take a few grammes.
An expert perspective
Dr Alan Jones, now retired, is one of the UK’s most respected avian vets. I asked him what were the major changes he had seen in parrot nutrition over the past 30 years. He replied:
“The major – and most important change – is the realisation that the nutritional needs of parrots are complex and varied. There is no ‘one size fits all’ diet (mostly based on dried sunflower seeds!) that is appropriate for all parrots. Fresh fruits and vegetables are important in many species, while large nuts are required for big macaws, for example. ‘Complete diets’ in the form of pellets may provide all the nutritional requirements for parrots, but do not satisfy their foraging instincts and curiosity.”
To end with, here is a fundamental summary from Parrots of the Wild (Toft & Wright), page 42: “Within the Psittaciformes, different groups of parrots have diverged in the focus of their herbivory. From what we consider to be the more generalised diet of parrot ancestors, four specialised diet categories have evolved: granivory (eating seeds), nectarivory (eating nectar and pollen), frugivory (eating fruit pulp) and folivory (eating leaves). For some parrots, we can consider a fifth and generalist category, omnivory, which is one that combines one or more of the four plant-food categories with significant animal protein.”
Do your research and good luck. ■
Find more news and articles like this on the Cage & Aviary Birds website. Subscribe to Cage & Aviary Birds magazine now.
