Parrot Diets & The ‘Idiot Factor’
by Sally Blanchard

This article was first published in Pet Bird Report Issue #26 and may not be reprinted without the written permission of Sally Blanchard or the PBIC, Inc. Contact us for permission.

Contributing To The Death Of Many Parrots?

A few years ago, a manufactured diet company representative suggested that I was contributing to the death of many parrots because I refuse to recommend any pelleted food as a Total Diet. I believe this statement is based on what I have heard called the "idiot factor."

Simply put, it was explained, the vast majority of people who own birds are not knowledgeable enough to feed them a balanced diet. Therefore, according to many parrot diet manufactures anything bird owners feed in addition to or instead of a pelleted diet will cause malnutrition and disease leading to early death for their parrot.

At a conference, I heard a representative from one of the pellet manufacturers say, "We want to control your bird’s diet." I can not help but believe that at least part of this desire is financial. If you feed nothing else, the pet shop or veterinarian and the manufacturer get all your money. None of it is shared with the supermarket.

My emphasis is behavior and I believe providing a varied diet for companion parrots is essential for their well-being. I do not believe that any one food should be a ‘total diet’ and I abhor the trend to recommend feeding nothing but a manufactured diet to parrots.

Parrots are foragers and much of their behavioral stimulation involves food gathering, food manipulation, and food consumption. I am not a nutritionist and can only offer nutritional information based on reading and conversations with knowledgeable people in the field.

The "idiot factor" does exist - a visit to the bird department of almost any pet super store offers proof that the majority of bird owners still feed their birds a substandard diet. These stores stock what the public demands. A great quote someone told me, "Asking a clerk at a pet super store how to feed your parrot is like asking the bag boy at the grocery store how to feed your children."

If the majority of bird owners wanted pellets instead of seed, these stores would stock a good variety of pellets. They don’t. In fact, most of the warehouse type stores I have been in still have rows of shelves with 95% seed mixes providing evidence too many bird owners still feed a predominately seed diet. Do these people not know any better, do they not care, are they too busy, too lazy … ?

Defining the "Idiot Factor"

Although the term certainly sounds judgmental, "the idiot factor" must be considered in any aspect of education. This concept has much more to do with willingness to learn than it does with IQ or innate intelligence.

In any endeavor, there will be a percentage of people who want to take the time and energy to be educated. They will analyze new information and use what is appropriate for their situation in a positive manner.

At the other end of the spectrum are people who are closed to learning. They are not receptive to new information, think they already know everything, and/or are not concerned enough to learn. This is sad when it involves sentient animals in need of proper care.

I devoutly believe parrot people who read the Pet Bird Report are more willing to learn and apply new information to their daily lives than the general bird-owning public. If I didn’t believe this I would probably quit publishing the PBR. It would certainly surprise me if a long-term reader told me they were still feeding their parrot a nutritionally abusive seed-only diet. I am also surprised when I hear that a subscriber has decided to feed nothing but a pelleted diet.

Not A ‘Total Diet’

I strongly recommend the feeding of quality manufactured diets. While they are clearly the most important development in avian nutrition, I will never believe in them as a total diet. Most pelleted diets can claim balanced nutrition within the parameters of what is known about the nutritional needs of parrots. But do we really know if the same nutritional parameters apply to all the different species of parrots kept as human companions?

However, it is not just the nutrients that determine the value of a food. Not all manufactured parrot diets are of the same quality. The quality of ingredients, the method of manufacturing, and the way the nutrient are delivered can all make a tremendous difference.

Are the nutrients combined with ingredients which may be harmful to parrots on a long term basis? I believe the more natural a product is, the healthier it is for parrots. I do not feed or recommend pelleted diets which contain certain additives - particularly artificial fool colorings (even if they are human grade).

Parrots evolved to eat natural, ‘organic,’ unprocessed foods and I believe they have a relatively low threshold for artificial additives in their diets. I have worked with several plucking birds, especially Eclectus, who have stopped picking their feathers when they were gradually weaned off of diets with artificial food coloring. I sincerely believe that the long term use of manufactured diets with food coloring and perhaps some other artificial ingredients will eventually cause health problems for our parrots. Some of the parrot foods on the market today are so brightly colored, it most likely takes a great deal of artificial coloring to make them this bright.

‘But, it is what the public wants!’ is what I have been told. My response is that the ‘public’ is generally uneducated about nutrition and the proper care of their parrots. Consider the amount of junk food we all eat despite the fact that we know it is not good for us. Can we afford to feed our parrots foods that may create health problems for them just because they like them? The vast majority of our parrots can be converted to most foods if the owner is knowledgeable, consistent, and patient.

Bright artificially colored pellets became popular because one manufacture had great success with them and many others decided to duplicate that success with similarly colored foods rather than try and create a new market for a more natural, healthier food. I would not feed my parrots an artificially colored food and I recommend that my clients do not either. I believe this so strongly that I will not accept advertising for manufactured diets with artificial food coloring in the Pet Bird Report. Parrots do love color in their food but it should be foods naturally colored by nature.

Make Smart Choices

Most pelleted foods are nutritionally balanced to be fed as a total diet. If we presume a manufactured diet contains all the nutrients any parrot needs and we decide to feed it only as a portion of the diet, it is important to realize we need to make up for the nutrition we have lost.

Unfortunately, people often feed extra foods that don’t have good nutritional value. Too much junk food can create problems. Instead of feeding junk food snacks, and the types of fruits and vegetables that have low nutritional value, the extra foods should also be a quality source of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. While grapes corn, pizza, French fries, seed, peanuts, mashed potatoes, tacos, cookies, crackers, etc. may make a parrot very happy on a short term basis, they will not keep him very healthy if fed as any thing more than a rare treat.

Nutritional Values of Vegetables and Fruits

Not all veggies and fruits are good sources of healthy nutrients. The most popular parrot people foods seem to be apples, grapes, and corn. While these foods may make an enjoyable snack, they don’t contain high nutritive values and are pretty much empty calories. Although I do feed these from time to time, I try to make sure my parrots everyday eat at least one high vitamin A vegetable each day. These include sweet potatoes, yams, winter squash, carrots, pumpkin, peppers, broccoli, collard greens, turnip greens, kale and mustard greens. The fresher the better. Sweet potatoes and squash are best baked.

Bean, Rice and Corn Mixtures

I try to feed a rice/corn/bean type of mix a few times a week. My birds love these mixes but I know they are not a complete diet. For example, Crazy Corn is marketed as part of a complete diet. I cook up a large batch and freeze it in servings for my 6 parrots. I usually stir in a small jar of baby food sweet potatoes, winter squash, or carrots, a spoonful of nonfat yogurt, and a dash or two of Spirulina or Wheat Grass. I add these same ingredients to whole grain toast to make my "glop" - which is my parrot’s favorite food.

These soft food mixes are a great vehicle to provide other nutrients. Most parrots enjoy them and added supplementation will adhere to the ingredients guaranteeing the nutrients will actually get into your bird.

It is important to realize that bean/corn/rice mixes are high in phosphorous (as is seed). A balanced calcium/phosphorous ratio is essential for our parrots health. Calcium supplementation may be needed to keep bones and muscles strong and the nervous system functioning properly. If you feed corn/bean/rice mixes as a food staple in your parrot’s diet, make sure that you are using a supplement that only contains calcium. There is no need to provide extra phosphorous as there is enough of this mineral in the foods being fed.

Extra Work

With knowledge and a little extra work, it is possible to feed parrots a balanced diet without pellets or using pellets combined with healthy human foods added for variety. There are those parrot owners who do not care if a diet of pizza, burritos, corn, crackers, French fries, grapes, cheese, potato chips, and such junk foods is just as nutritionally abusive as a total seed diet. They may not have the inclination, time, or energy to prepare nutritionally sound foods. These are the people the pelleted diet company representative was referring to and they should probably be feeding a total pellet diet.

It does take more knowledge, time, and effort to prepare nutritious parrot meals but with solid nutritional information, it is possible. My parrots have pellets available all the time but watching them crunch on their carrots, unshell their almonds, or hearing pleasure sounds while they devour their "glop" makes the extra food preparation worth it. See "A Healthy Parrot Diet" online or in PBR Issue #13 for more information about healthy people food for parrots.

If this article helped you and you appreciated the information, The Companion Parrot Quarterly continues to have in-depth, practical articles such as this one. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE