The Natural Diet
By Mary Wilson
Over the past few weeks, I've discussed the various aspects of the pet bird's diet. Through it all, one thought has been repeated over and over again. Variety truly is the spice of life. In the wild, our companion parrots eat fruits, nuts, seeds, bugs, leaves, and a host of other foods that provide their total nutritional needs. In captivity, we can only hope to provide a fraction of that variety, so what we provide had better be the best.
Avian behaviorists agree that a diet based solely on pellets or seeds damages the bird's mental and emotional state, not to mention the nutritional damage that can be done by an all-anything diet.
The natural diet seems the perfect fit for both parrot and human.
With the natural diet, the owner strives to provide as much variety in as many forms as possible. For example, my pionus receive a daily ration of seeds, along with vegetables, a cook and serve diet, bird bread. My cooked foods and the bird bread have vitamins and pellets added to ensure that the diet is lacking in as little as possible. Treats of air popped popcorn without salt or butter, Nutriberries, and AviCakes also add variety and nutrition to the diet. At first, it may seem like the natural diet takes more time than just tossing a couple of scoops into the bowl; however, as you work into a rhythm, alternating days and foods, the diet becomes easy to administer, and your birds look forward to a different mixture of food each day. Hide and seek toys and kabobs make alternate presentation, and when these toys are provided, the bird spends most of its day hunting and working for food, which is what it does in the wild.
The natural diet, aside from the benefits described above, has an additional benefit that I think outweighs them all. With a natural diet, the owner is involved in the care of the birds. Granted, feeding, watering and cleaning cages means that the owner cares for the birds, but when the owner actually thinks about what is given to the bird and prepares the food, then that is true involvement. Anytime someone is involved in the care of pet birds, education and a better bird owner result.
This is a very brief overview of the natural diet. I'm interested in all comments and suggestions regarding this approach to feeding our birds. Comments can be sent to birdymuse@suite101.com.