FEATURE


are higher in sugar. (A rule of thumb when it comes to fruits and vegetables is that the more coloured the flesh is the better it is i.e. a red pepper/ carrot/ broccoli all have brightly coloured flesh as opposed to an apple/cauliflower which have pale flesh, don’t ask me why, it’s all very technical and has something to do with beta carotene) Use these foods as a base that you give every day and then you can add the other foods in for variety depending on what you have in your cupboards. If you do decide to make changes to your bird’s diet then take it slowly and be sensitive. Most importantly be patient with your bird when introducing something new, especially if your bird has a nervous disposition, the new food might not be accepted straight away but give it time. I have spoken to many people in the past who have told me that their birds won’t eat any fruit or vegetables only to find that they had offered it once or twice and then given up. Sometimes the way the food is presented can make the difference to whether your bird eats it or not. We chop our fruits and vegetables into small pieces, firstly because most parrots pick up a piece of fruit, take a bite and then drop it on the floor, if it is a small piece of fruit then less is wasted, secondly we have found that our parrots are far more willing to eat fruit and vegetables when offered


in smaller chunks. Grapes for instance will be ignored if left whole but when they are cut into quarters the birds can taste the juice and will


BIRD SCENE 31BIRD SCENE 07


eat them. Fruit or vegetables offered on skewers are always popular and treats can be hidden in foraging toys around the cage to make it a bit more interesting. It’s worth a try; you’ve got to be devious, just think of all those games that parents play with their children to get them to eat their veggies, I always thought that being clever worked far better than brute force. I hope this article has given you ‘food for thought’. None of us want our birds to be included in the shocking statistic above; we don’t want them to be part of the 80% dying from malnutrition. Don’t think it doesn’t apply to you, it could. There is a wealth of information to be found on avian nutrition, why not do your research and find out for yourself how to prolong your bird’s life or adopt my approach and come up with your own cunning and devious plan to get your birds eating a healthy diet.


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