Bird Nutrition
Foraging enhances your birds' environment
What Should I Feed My Bird:
As a general rule, any nutritious food items that you and your family eat, can and should be provided to your bird. (There are some exceptions - please visit this webpage to find out what foods are toxic to birds.)
Fruits, vegetables (including leafy greens), sprouted seeds should account for approximately 20 - 25% of your bird's diet. Please note that pale vegetables, including celery or iceberg salad, offer very little nutritional value.
- Organically grown fruit and vegetables can be given to your pets with its skin on; otherwise remove the skin or wash very thoroughly to remove pesticides, insecticides and other toxins, and cut into manageable pieces depending on the size of your bird. (Click here to learn about safe, non-toxic pesticides / insect control)
- My parrots love fruits that wouldn't even occur to us as being foods they would eat. For example my parrots' favorite fruits are cranberries -- they taste bitter to us, but not to birds - and are very healthy. Another fruit I serve daily is pomegranates. These fruits are said to have anti-viral / anti-bacterial properties. Eating pomegranates gets messy as the red juice will go everywhere. Clamping plexiglass onto the cage will save your walls from getting messy. If you have carpet, placing plastic sheeting on the floor would be a good idea. I actually used to have chair mats underneath my birds' cages when I still had carpet. They are usually made from vinyl, acrylic, co-polyrubber and are available at office stores. They are easy to clean and protect your carpet. The least messy method of feeding them to your birds is to cut through the skin only - up near the top (at the crown) and then pull apart the pomegranate into big chunks. Then I submerge the chunks under water and break them apart into sections. As this is a seasonal fruit, I buy and freeze them for future feedings, or feed them dried
Avoid Milk Products: Most birds lack the enzyme lactase to break down lactose. It is recommended, in most cases, not to feed milk products to birds. This being said some birds do not suffer from lactose tolerance. I have fed small pieces of cheese to my parrots without problems. If milk products are fed, please look out for symptoms of indigestion and diarrhea.
Calcium: Incorporate plenty of calcium-rich foods into your bird's diet.
- Even though most dark leafy greens are rich in calcium, broccoli, rapini, turnip greens, collard greens and mustard greens are better sources than spinach, chard and beet greens because of the high oxalic acid content that blocks absorption of the calcium in spinach, chard, and beet greens.
- Calcium-rich vegetable / fruits and greens are: bok choy, kale, parsley, mustard greens, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, dandelion greens, apricots, figs, endive, okra, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), pinto beans and kidney beans
- Other food sources of calcium: egg shells, oatmeal, almonds,
walnuts,
hazelnuts,
sesame seeds, and tahini - "nut butter" made of sesame seeds.
- Cuttlebone is often provided to birds as a calcium supplements and some birds will eagerly use it, while others ignore it. If your bird is not eating from the cuttlebone, there are a couple of ways to handle it.
- You can scrape of shavings every day with a knife and mix those shavings in with your bird's soft food.
- Another method is to smash cuttlebone up. One easy way is to place the cuttlebone into a Ziploc bag, close it up and wrap it in a dish towel (or other strong cloth). Take a sledge hammer and start smashing it until it is in pieces. Then you can pulverize it with your mortar and pestle. Put it through a sieve to get out any sharp pieces and put it into a salt shaker for convenient daily use.
- Cuttlebone is often provided to birds as a calcium supplements and some birds will eagerly use it, while others ignore it. If your bird is not eating from the cuttlebone, there are a couple of ways to handle it.
- NOTE: Care must be taken with vitamin supplements not to provide too much calcium. It has been shown that calcium levels in the diet of over 1% decrease the utilization of proteins, fats, vitamins, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, iodine, zinc and manganese. At a level of 2.5% in the diet nephrosis, hypercalcemia, hypophosphotemia, visceral and renal gout, and decreased food intake have been observed."
Grains: The best sources of carbohydrate content in the diet of seed-eating birds are cereal grains such as: canary seeds, millets, wheat and oats. Softbills, lories and similar feeders require fruit. It is not recommended to feed other carbohydrate foods to your parrots.
Protein: I found that hard-boiled eggs, mashed up, and supplemented with a quality avian vitamin-mineral supplement is readily eaten by even picky eaters. I found that giving it in the morning (when they are REALLY hungry) before feeding them anything else, will ensure that they get a nutritious headstart. This mix needs to be removed within 30 minutes, as it will spoil.
Special Dietary Needs for Molting Birds: Since molting can be stressful and uncomfortable, some birds experience a decrease in appetite. However, an increase in metabolism to accommodate the production of several thousand new feathers can cause an increase in appetite. Whether they lose their appetite or eat more during the molt probably depends on their comfort level. Molting birds benefit from more quality protein in the diet which can be provided in the form of well done eggs, well cooked meats and seafood, as well as cooked beans and rice, which together form a complete protein. Nuts provide additional protein and the good fats needed to create strong and lustrous feathers. This is a good time to grind and sprinkle flax seeds over the birds' food. Hemp seeds also provide beneficial oils and the essential fatty acids (EFAs) necessary to produce quality feathers.
The Dangers Associated with Grit in a Parrot's Diet: Grit is an important aid in helping certain birds, such as finches, canaries and other passerines, digest food - but this does NOT apply to parrots. Parrots have a smaller exit opening from the stomach into the intestines, so grit remains trapped in the stomach causing internal blockage. The birds may show neurological symptoms, weight loss, and eventually death.
Species-specific Diets:
- Species-specific Nutrition: African Greys (African Parrots) Diets ... Amazon Food ... Budgies / Parakeets ... Cockatiels / Lovebirds ... Cockatoos ... Conure Diet .... Eclectuses ... Finches / Canaries ... Macaw & Large Parrot Diets ... Softbill / Lory Food.
- Dietary Sensitivities: Please also refer to this webpage for food items that may cause allergies / dry & itching skin.
- Generic Diets & Additional Food Items: Healthy Bird Treats & Snacks ... Cooked Diets ... Splay Millet & Millet Accessories ... Mineral / Calcium Blocks & Accessories ... Healthy Sprouts ... Veggie Bites
- Interesting Video on how nutrition affects your health. Very enlightening study - definitely worth watching!
- Relevant Web Resources: Toxic Foods (includes fruits, veggies & other items) ... Use Food to Heal and/or Prevent Disease ... Nutritional Diseases
Sprouting For Health: Sprouts - A Healthy & Simple Way to Provide Fresh Green Food
Nutritional Disorders & Holistic Treatment:
Most digestive problems can be traced to the quality of food we serve. In the wild, animals eat raw food that is abundant with the digestive enzymes.
Not only is the most commercial pet food heavily processed, which eliminates most of the natural enzymes, but many brands also contain artificial colors, preservatives and other chemicals. These ingredients have a negative effect on the bacteria in our animals' digestive tracts. Like us, our pets' intestines contain "friendly" and "unfriendly" bacteria. Ideally, the friendly bacteria should outnumber the unfriendly
by a healthy margin, but typically, "bad" bacteria have taken over. This overabundance of bad bacteria leads to digestive disorders or organ 
failure. Consider switching your brand of pet food to one that is all-natural, with no added sugar or preservatives. Raw vegetables are a wise choice. Carrots and other veggies are chock full of natural enzymes and can really aid digestion. Additionally, try topping off your pets food with a teaspoon of plain yogurt. Yogurt contains friendly bacteria like acidophilus, which can help keep the ratio of good and bad bacteria in check. Be sure to read the label to make sure it contains live cultures and is low-fat.
Nutrition is an important factor as deficiencies will ead to serious health problems, including impaired immune system, weak bones, cardiovascular problems, even feather picking.
If your birds have health problems of ANY kind - look at the nutrition! Research done by Laurie Hess, a vet at The Animal Medical Centre in New York, came up with the following figure for major nutrient deficiencies in USA pet birds: Calcium 98% ... Vit D 97% ... Vit A 67% ... Vit E 27%
Home Remedies ... Diabetes: Treatable with insulin ..- Avian Nutritional Diseases by Valerie L. Campbell, DVM (NCS) ... Dealing With Vitamin A Deficiency in Birds - Hannis L. Stoddard, III, DVM (HotSpot for Birds) ... Whole Grains ... Toe Tapping In Eclectus - Ben Varner; Eclectus Forum, Birds n Ways
Following are 1-800 numbers of bird food companies.
Some will send samples.1-800-841-6800 - Ziegler Brothers Inc.
1-800-345-4767 - ZuPreen
1-800-346-0269 - Harrisons
1-800-353-2473 - Diamond Avian Dist. 1-800-942-3438 - Dr. Dee's
1-800-225-2700 - Hagen
1-800-529-8331 - Kaytee
1-800-842-6445 - Lafeber (my preferred bird food supplier)
1-800-332-5623 - L/M Animal Farm
1-800-356-5020 - Pretty Bird Int'l
1-800-326-1726 - Roudybush Feed
1-800-543-3308 - FeedL'Avian
1-800-327-7974 - Scenic
1-800-634-2473 - Lake's
If you would like to add to or correct any of the above information, or would like to share with web visitors your own experiences, please e-mail the webmaster.
Photo contributions are welcome!
