Pet Bird Care: Diet and Nutrition

Topics: avian diet, bird diet, avian nutrition, bird nutrition, parrot diet, bird diet, pelleted diets for birds, pellet conversion, converting a bird's diet - do a Google search on any of these topics to find current articles online.

Web sites with links to numerous articles:

• avianeducationandresourcecenter.org - Articles on avian nutrition, food safety, converting your parrot to pellets, vegetable eating tips, and foraging.
• birdsnways.com - Articles on diet, nutritional needs and foods.
• drsfostersmith.com - Articles & food comparisons.
• naturalbird.com - Articles on avian nutrition and holistic health by Dr. Alicia McWatters, author of A Guide to a Naturally and Healthy Bird.

Select online articles:

• Blanchard, Sally. "A Healthy Parrot Diet," companionparrotonline.com.
• McWatters, Alicia. "The Mash Diet: Learn to make this nutritious blend of foods in your own kitchen," Bird Talk, 15 (Mar. 1997): 122-127, (read online: naturalbird.com).
• Nutrition for Birds - articles & food comparisons, drsfostersmith.com.
• Poole, David. "Safe and Unsafe Foods For Birds," Petcraft (1996).
• Schwab, Susan. "Nutrition: Foundation for a Healthy Bird," HotSpot for Birds.
• Wilson, Liz. "Is Your Parrot Really Eating a Good Diet," upatsix.com.
• Wissman, Margaret. "The Importance of Avian Nutrition," exoticpetvet.net.
• Wissman, Margaret. "20 Things You Must Know About Nutrition," Bird Talk, 17 (Aug. 1999): 62-77 read online: exoticpetvet.net).

For further reading, here are articles from various bird publications that you might be able to find at your local library. If none of these publications are available in your library, most libraries have an interlibrary loan service (may be a fee involved). Merely provide them with one or more of these citations.

• Armstrong, D. Stewart. "Diet and Nutrition" in The Bird Care Handbook & Resource Guide, 1st ed., Monterey, CA: Seacoast Publishing (1997): 12-13.
• Blanchard, Sally. "Parrot Psychology: Proper Nutrition and Eating Behaviors," Bird Talk, 15 (March 1997): 116-119 (mentions grey cheeks).
• Chamberlain, Susan. "Cage 'n' Cookin': Success with Fruits and Vegetables," Bird Talk, 19 (Jan. 2001): 68-71.
• Chamberlain, Susan. "Nutrition Dos and Donts," Birds USA, 2002/03: 78-83.
• Clipsham, Robert. "Fight Malnutrition With Table Foods," Bird Talk, 16 (April 1998): 98-107.
• Davis, Chris. "Do or Diet," Bird Talk, 20 (Mar. 2002): 38-47.
• Davis, Chris. "Foiling the Finicky Eater," Bird Talk, 13 (Aug. 1995): 46-54.
• Henzler, David J. "Avian Nutrition," Bird Talk, 10 (Jan. 1992): 36-40.
• Kauffman, Melissa L. "Your Bird's Nutritional World," Birds USA, (1998/99): 72-77.
• McWatters, Alicia. "7-Day Diet," Bird Talk, 18 (Feb. 2000): 23-33.
• McWatters, Alicia. "Stress Relief Through Dietary Support, Part I," BirdBreeder On-line (Nov. 1997) and "Stress Relief Through Dietary Support, Part II" (Dec. 1997).
• Nash, Holly. "Switching from a Seed-based Diet to a Pelleted Diet," peteducation.com
• Rind, Sherry. "Basic Avian Dietary Guidelines," Bird Breeder, 67 (Jan. 1995): 18-20.
• Sondel, Nancy. "Hooking Your Hookbill on Pellets," Bird Talk, 14 (May 1996): 34-40.
• Walz, Patricia. "Nutrition ABC, 123...," Bird Talk, 14 (May 1996): 42.
• Wissman, Margaret. "Basic Nutrition," Birds USA, (1997/98): 96-101.

Conure Care: What To Do and What Not To Do

What To Do

• Give your bird(s) a lot of love, time, and patience.
• Consider subscribing to Bird Talk magazine. This is a helpful source of information on caring for pet birds.
• Wash fresh fruits and veggies before giving them to your bird and give him/her fresh food and water every day.
• Allow your bird to bath frequently at least a couple of times a week and daily if possible. My bird prefers a bath taken in a small 5-6" wide (2-3" high) bowl of water (room temperature).
• Teach your bird the "up" and "down" commands. Although with green cheeks, they don't always wish to obey the "down" command. They sometimes grip their owner's finger even tighter when one gives the "down" command or try to scramble up your shoulder.
• Take your bird for regular well-bird check-ups with a certified avian vet. Also consider keeping an Avian First Aid Kit in your home and check out NetVet. 
• Consider purchasing a book on basic bird care and one on avian first aid.
  
• Clip your bird's wings when the primary coverts grow out and trim your bird's nails when they get long and sharp. If you are not acquainted with these procedures, please have a professional do it for you; it is fairly inexpensive to have done.
• Dismantle and clean your bird's cage completely, including toys and perches, with hot, soapy water to which a cap full of liquid bleach (like lemon Clorox) has been added. This will clean and sterilize the cage to provide a safe environment for your pet.
• If you have a single bird, consider leaving a radio on during the day when you are away at work or school to keep your bird entertained and allow some supervised "out" time for your bird when you are home.
• Research a bird species, like green-cheeked conures, that you are interested in before you buy one to determine if it is right for you. 
• Visit Birds n Ways' Library of Articles/FAQs which has a listing of excellent bird care articles too numerous to reference here.

What Not to Do

• Never buy a bird merely for its color, buy a bird on impulse, or for the sole purpose of expecting it to be a talker (and then be disappointed if it is not).
• Do not lose your temper or get frustrated with your bird or its behavior. Birds, like other animals, are in tune with their owner's emotions and will react accordingly.
• Do not use teflon or other coated cookware (fumes from overheated pans can kill your bird if heated past a certain temperature). Some irons and hair dryers also contain teflon-like products. Update: One reader pointed out in her comment that there was an article in ConsumerReports.org in 2007 called "Nonstick Pans are Ok in New Tests." In the article, they didn't mention testing them with birds though, so I would still be cautious.
• Do not keep your bird shut up in its cage all the time. Birds have feelings too and will be extremely unhappy if shut up constantly and may develop behavioral problems as a result. During the week, spend at least an hour a day interacting with your bird and more on weekends.
• Do not feed your bird avocado, chocolate or foods full of sugar, fat, salt, or an all seed diet.
• Do not use soaps or other chemicals directly on your bird or use aerosols, paint, or other chemical products around your bird(s); they have very delicate, sensitive respiratory systems and could die from asphyxiation.
• Do not place your bird directly by a heater or place your bird in direct sunlight without providing a place for him/her to be in the shade (sun/heat stroke could occur). Do not place your bird near an open window or near an air conditioner as birds are susceptible to upper respiratory infections.
• Do not let your bird chew on jewelry, metal or painted buttons, dried paint, metal or plastic blinds, treated wood, etc. (paint and costume jewelry, especially, could contain lead; and wood can be treated with harmful chemicals).
• Do not walk blindly into bird care without knowing how to care for them.
• Do not let your bird's nails get too long as they can get caught in frayed ropes or other toys in its cage or let your bird's primary coverts completely grow out. Free-flying birds can accidentally escape through an open window or door, fly into windows, mirrors, water boiling on the stove or a hot frying pan, or land in the commode and drown. 
• Do not let your bird's cage go uncleaned as mites, bacteria, old food, and feces can adversely affect your bird's health.

Conure Diet: Taking Care of your Conure's Nutritional Needs

So, you've found yourself the brand new owner of a Green-cheeked Conure, a member of the Pyrrhura family of birds (Pyrrhura molinae). Now what do you do?

A cute little green cheek (just-weaned) was added to my flock back in 2002. Below is some information that a new owner might find helpful in providing a proper and enjoyable diet for a new green cheek or other small parrot.

Keep in mind that you need to make a concerted effort to make your conure's diet more well-rounded and healthier, so even the pelleted diets need to be supplemented with a variety of other healthy foods. I recommend keeping pellets in their cage at all times, to offer them seeds more as treats, but supplement their diet with fruits, vegetables and other healthy items from the list below.

Vegetables

Peas in the shell or thawed frozen peas, broccoli, corn (fresh or thawed frozen corn), green beans, cooked and cooled limas, yellow or green squash (baked), carrots (raw or cooked), red or green peppers, cucumbers, greens (such as chopped spinach or other greens), cooked pinto beans, cooked lentils, cooked white beans. Please note that is important to let cooked food cool thoroughly before offering them to your conure, otherwise they could burn their tongues and crops.

Fruit

Apples (mine's absolute favorite!), blueberries, cut-up oranges, tangerines, bananas, pears, grapes, peaches, melon (minus the rind), strawberries, mangos, papaya, plums, cherries, etc. Always remove seeds/pits from fruit before serving.

Starches

Cooked brown rice, cooked pasta, baked or boiled shredded potatoes or yams (note that corn/peas are also starches).

Other

Pellets (Roudybush, Forti, Zupreem and others), a good seed blend such as Kaytee's Conure/Lovebird Forti-diet (if the Kaytee conure blend is not available in your area you could substitute a cockatiel blend), spray millet, sprouted seed, Lafeber's Avi-cakes, a mineral block or cuttlebone, multi-grain cereals that are low in sodium, sugar, and fat.

My green cheek is partial to the Forti seed diet and the Zupreem Fruit Blend for cockatiels. Neither my conure nor my tiels will eat the yellow banana-shaped Zupreem fruit pellets. He seems to like the orange and red ones the best. For some reason he puts the green ones in his water tube. He likes avi-cakes and will occasionally eat the mini Roudybush pellets that the cockatiels like.

Food Preparation Shortcuts

As a working woman and head of household, I do not always have time to spend cutting and chopping in the mornings or evenings, so I started doing a few shortcuts. Cook up batches of the following items separately: cooked peas, carrots, corn, green beans, lima beans, brown rice, pasta, yams, acorn squash, potatoes, pinto beans, lentils, white beans, pasta, yams, acorn squash, shredded potatoes, and brown rice. Rinse the batches well, cut them up as needed, and freeze them spread out on a cookie sheet so that they do not stick together.

When the items are frozen, the pan is then removed from the freezer, and its contents broken up, placed in ziplock freezer bags, and dated. The same procedures works well with a cooked mixture of pinto beans, lentils, white beans and split peas. In addition, it is easy and fairly economical to purchase a bag of frozen mixed veggies (carrots, corn, peas, green beans & limas) when they are on sale and keep these in the freezer as well.

Then, as needed, open the different bag mixtures, take out some of each, place in a microwave dish, add a little water, and pop everything into the microwave for 2 minutes or so or until heated through.

Dump the hot mixture in a colander, run some cool water over it, so that it isn't scalding hot, and give your bird about a 1/4 cup serving dish of the mixture. They REALLY love it! Your bird will probably make contented little noises when she/he eats and have a mess on his/her beak afterward--not to mention the wall, floor, etc.

Cook enough of the mixture to last for a couple of days and keep it in the refrigerator. Also treat your bird with fruit from the list above. I use the term 'treat' when it comes to fruit since green cheeks definitely have a sweet tooth, and when fruit is mixed into their regular food dishes with the vegetables, they rarely eat the veggies! I found that it's wise to give them fruit at a different time than they are given vegetables. But it is important to provide fruit as a steady part of their diet.

It is equally important to thoroughly wash fresh fruits and veggies that you give to your birds. Any fresh or cooked food that you give your bird should be removed from their cage after an hour or so, otherwise it tends to spoil (bacteria) and is not good for your bird.

Foods to Avoid

Absolutely no chocolate, avocado, coffee or alcohol no matter how much they bob up and down and beg.

• Chocolate is poisonous to animals and birds.
• Avocado is poisonous to birds.
• Dairy products - there are mixed opinions about dairy products. I read an article that mentioned that parrots are unable to properly digest dairy products. Another source mentioned that it causes diarrhea. I made a personal choice not to give my birds dairy products.
• Caffeine should be avoided. Soft drinks, coffee, etc. Coffee, especially, contains some of the same elements as chocolate.
• Alcohol, a well-known poison with documented side effects, is a big NO! I personally believe that anyone who owns a pet should never give their pets alcohol. I often see idiots posting YouTube videos of animals they have gotten drunk and thinking it is so funny. Makes my blood boil!
• Avoid junk foods - anything that is high in fat, salt, and/or preservatives. An occasional bite of pizza crust is okay. Humans already have enough bad habits in regard to these foods but you don't want your conure to become a junk food junkie.

Yes, Conures Do Accept Bribes

Who knew that a simple green nut could wrangle a green-cheeked conure so completely?

Innocently eating a few pistachio nuts one day in front of my birds, it sparked an interest from my flock. At the time, the tiels had tried them before and liked them. Green-cheeked conure Frodo, however, was new to my home, so seeing me eating, he mooched one to try for himself and literally went nuts over them. If you have a conure that really likes a particular food and the happy little noises they can make as they relish the treat, you will understand the inference. He absolutely loved it!

I don't have pistachios in the house very often, because I think they are a bit spendy. Though they aren't very good for them and shouldn't be given to your pets on a regular basis, conures can be bribed with a pistachio nut. Perhaps not all conures feel the same, but my Frodo would trade his best friend for one.

When they first met, Frodo didn't like my dad at all. I think it was the baseball cap dad was wearing. If you want Frodo to scream, walk into a room wearing a baseball cap, and that little sucker will bring down the house, stirring up all the rest of the birds into a panic. The same thing happens when my brother walks into the bird room with his baseball cap on.

Disappointed that Frodo wasn't making a very good first impression on my parents when they came to visit, I asked my dad to remove his cap and gave Dad a pistachio nut. As soon as Frodo saw the nut in my dad's hand, he stopped screaming and began bobbing his head up and down and straining forward. If you own a green cheek, you know the behavior to which I am referring.

Dad gave Frodo the nut. Frodo took it right out of his hand, ate it and begged for more. No more screaming at my dad that day. It was really cute.