Every species of parrot and every individual bird can have specific diet requirements – depending on so many different factors.
Besides their species, things like age, activity level, weight, existing health issues and even the time of year all need to be taken into consideration when planning what and how much food you’re going to provide for your bird(s) each day.
Plenty of parrot diet specifics are detailed on this site, but at the most basic level you can rarely go wrong by organizing your birds’ diet around these healthy categories:
- Vegetables
- Leafy greens and fresh herbs
- High quality parrot pellets
- Wholegrains
- Legumes
- Nuts
- Fresh fruits
- Human grade seeds
We need to avoid giving human junk food to companion and captive parrots. Refined grains (like white rice, pasta or ANY type of bread) and processed food should be off the table completely – and out of their bowls.
Healthy Toppings
Once you’re base meal is planned out, you can add extra interest and variety by mixing things up with little additions to each meal. A small sprinkles of flaxseeds, sesame seeds, pepita (pumpkin seeds) and milk thistle seeds gives those seed eating birds added incentive to dig into the healthy foods underneath. But as always be careful: many seeds are high fat so should be provided in small amounts according to the size and activity level of your birds!