Diet and Health Issues...

Diet plays a critical role,
not just for your bird's health,
but for its overall happiness
and well-being.

Imagine if you had to eat the same boring foods day after day! Food that looked exactly the same and was presented in exactly the same manner. Booorrring!

Parrots are highly intelligent and require mental stimulation. Lack of stimulation can lead any or all of the most common behavior problems. In the wild parrots would spend a lot of time foraging and ferreting out their foods. They would eat a great variety of foods, some of which would require a bit of work to get.
 

In our homes, food is presented in a bowl ready to eat. There is no foraging, no work involved in obtaining the food. It is vital to provide your bird with a variety of healthy foods presented in a variety of interesting, challenging ways.

The Companion Parrot Quarterly features many articles outlining creative ways of preparing and presenting food, as well as information on quality products to feed your bird. The most important thing to remember is that parrots were not born to eat seed alone. Parrot diets vary according to species and the part of the world the parrot species evolved in. For instance, cockatiels and budgies are seed eaters in Australia but the seed they eat is fresh, live seed, and when seed is not available they surely find other foods in order to survive. Parrots from South America eat a huge variety of fresh foods, vegetables and fruits, and probably very little seed.

It is important to continually offer your bird fresh, healthy foods and vegetables (organic if possible, and always well-washed), along with seeds and manufactured pellets. Anything that is healthy for human consumption, with a few exceptions, can be shared with a companion parrot. Converting a parrot to a healthy diet requires patience as birds are suspicious of new things. You may have to offer a particular food many different times and in many different ways before your bird realizes it is something worth trying. In the wild parrots "waste" a lot of food by letting if fall to the ground or by joyously flinging it in to the air. This "waste" helps to replant the forest and provides food to ground dwelling species. So it will be in your home "forest." A messy parrot is usually a happy parrot.

It is not the function of this web site to provide medical treatment or advice - this must only be done by an avian, or veterinarian with a large avian practice. To find a vet visit The Association of Avian Veterinarians web site. We do have some health-related articles on our site under Selected Articles. Please do not substitute any thing you find on-line for medical care for your parrot. In the wild, parrots are a prey species, as such it is a survival instinct to hide their illness as long as the possibly can to avoid being preyed upon. This means that by the time your bird acts or looks sick, it is VERY sick and needs immediate medical attention. Do not hesitate, do not ask others for advice, call a vet.

Please review our listing of selected Back Issues that address proper diet and nutritional needs of parrots. There are also some articles on our web site that might be helpful to you: Articles.

Especially read the following articles:

A Healthy Parrot Diet, by Sally Blanchard

Converting Pet Birds to a Better Diet, by Sally Blanchard

Parrot Diets & The Idiot Factor, by Sally Blanchard

The Companion Parrot Quarterly has many articles that address this and all other aspects of parrot care and behavior with in-depth, incisive articles.
 

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