Green Wings and Things

Why a Proper Diet is Important

Your parrot's diet can change many things about them and their lifestyle. A poor diet can lead to diseases, obesity, poor feather quality, an unfulfilled life, or even a short one. You're probably wondering why so many owners push for chops and pellets. Chops are crucial because seed found at pet stores has no nutritional qualities. It is like candy for your birds, which may clog their arteries and give them various nutrient deficiencies. If a proper diet for your bird seems like too much work, other needs your parrot has will seem like even more, so a parrot may not be the best choice for you.

Fruits & Veggies

Your bird will need a variety of foods to maintain colorful feathers and a healthy body! These foods are known as a chop, which contains fruits, veggies, whole grains, and leafy greens. Veggies your parrot can eat include carrots, bell peppers, jalapeños, zucchini, asparagus, peas, lentils, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, corn, broccoli, artichoke, pumpkins, radish, squash, turnips, beets, cauliflower, okra, celery. Fruits your bird can eat include apples, bananas, oranges, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, cantaloupe, cherries, dragonfruit, pears, coconut, cranberries, guava, passion fruit, nectarines, kiwi, mango, papaya, pineapple, plums, pomegranate, star fruit, strawberries, figs, dates, tangerine, honeydew. Leafy greens your bird can eat include spinach, Romain lettuce, broccoli leaves, kale, radish tops, dandelion greens, basil, rosemary, bok choy, Swiss chard, cilantro, beet tops, parsley, arugula, collard greens, mustard greens, watercress, dill, fennel. Lastly, your bird can eat whole grains, including oats, flax seeds, whole grain pasta, hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, chia seeds, quinoa, brown rice, sesame seeds, broccoli seeds, and sprouts.

Pellets

Pellets are a big part of your parrot's diet and can provide organic and fresh grains and ingredients. Pellets should contain no sugars, oils, artificial dyes and flavors, harmful metals, and strange elements. A good pellet brand will have a short ingredient list with all recognizable ingredients. Pellets may contain a small number of components, but they all benefit your bird's health. Ingredients such as rosehip and orange peel provide health benefits. In contrast, some elements, such as millet, are low in fat and may not have nutritional value, but they keep your bird interested in their pellets. Some great pellet brands include TOPS, Bird Tricks pellets, and Harrisons.

Sprouting & Soaking

Soaking seeds can aid in digestion and absorption of nutrients. Not all seeds will sprout like walnuts for example, but soaking will still provide benefits! Soaked seeds may also be more appealing to some birds and may create more of an interest in a new diet! Sprouting can provide even more vitamins than the fully grown veggie or plant itself! This process allows the entire composition of the sprout to be enhanced. Components such as minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, and vitamins are abundant within the sprouts! With parrots needing lots of nutrients each day, the sprout feeding process will provide lots of them.

Foods to Avoid

Foods that you should avoid in the feeding process include chocolate, mushroom, tomato, rhubarb, dairy, avocado, garlic, fruit seeds, onions, sugar, caffeinated products, canned items, vinegar and eggplant.

Portion Sizes & Messy Eaters

Birds are big foragers, so they pick what they want and toss what they don't! This behavior may mean most of your chop is thrown to the floor, mainly if you feed too much! Most bird-feeding bowls are oversized and do not need to be filled to the top like we think. Large birds only eat around 3 or 4 heaping tablespoons of fresh chop, medium birds eat 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons, and small birds may only eat 1 or 2 heaping tablespoons of chop. You can serve in a separate bowl or in addition to the chop, and your bird may only need 1 or 2 tablespoons (however they may eat more and that's perfectly healthy)! But remember that mess is a part of owning a bird, so slimming down the amount of food will not eliminate the mess!

Engaging Your Bird in Their Meals

Some parrots like to be picky eaters, especially if they have been fed seed for some time. Different textures will provide distinct experiences for your birds and help them explore! You can chop, mash, dice, slice, and shred your bird's food to create a wide variety of ways to use their feet, beaks, and tongues to eat, and it may help them branch out to new foods! If your parrot seems stuck to seed, feel free to replace it entirely with a proper chop. However, if they don't eat it, you can do several things like eat it with them to show them they are eating a safe meal, sprinkle a small amount of seed on top to get them used to the new flavors, squeeze a fruit your bird loves overtop, use dried veggies and fruits as some birds may prefer dry foods instead of wet ones, or start with pellets and see if they choose those however pellets are not a full meal so try to push them to eat chops after! As you are feeding your bird, please take notice of their body language, as they may prefer certain textures (for example, some birds like whole, non-cut foods to peel and eat themselves). In the feeding process, patience is essential as new things can be scary for your bird, and it may take time for them to warm up to new experiences!

Diet