FEATURE
Along with the seeding grasses which have large heads of seed and seeding dock (any stage of ripeness), the favourite food of my Pyrrhuras is ears of wheat before ripe (green). Very few parrots eat the hard maize (yellow and red) that are included in most parrot mixtures.
and given the opportunity their diet is broader than that of most parrots. In fact, they eat hard seed because they
often have no option. Given a choice, fruits, vegetables, greenfoods, wild foods such as seeding dock, seeding grasses and sowthistle with flower buds and various flowers (especially dandelion) will usually be favoured above seed, with the exception of hemp. Along with the seeding grasses which have large heads of seed and seeding dock (any stage of ripeness), the favourite food of my Pyrrhuras is ears of wheat before ripe (green). Very few parrots eat the hard maize (yellow and red) that are included in most parrot mixtures. I remove these and plant them in containers. When planting for this purpose, the container must be at least 31cm (12in) high or the ears will be small. Someone asked me: “Why are you growing wheat when there are fields of it up the road?” A good question -- but I had to point out that it was not organic. What had it been
sprayed with? In any case, to take some would have been stealing! My conures also eat oats in the green
stage that I plant just for them. They are so easy to grow if they are kept well watered. Also grown in my garden and relished by these birds are raspberries (offered slightly under-ripe to our taste) and redcurrants. Raspberries are the best crop because with more than one variety, they fruit from July to October. Again, they are very easy to grow where I live and do especially well after a hard winter.
Foods that cost nothing With the price of seed increasing almost every year, it surprises me that breeders do not make more use of wild foods. Dock is especially good for its seed and the fact that one can cut it in the autumn, making sure it is thoroughly dry then store it in sacks for winter use. Most wild areas are covered in it, often until the beginning of October. >>>
My conures also eat oats in the green stage that I plant just for them. They are so easy to grow if they are kept well watered. Also grown in my garden and relished by these birds are raspberries (offered slightly under-ripe to our taste) and redcurrants. Raspberries are the best crop because with more than one variety, they fruit from July to October.
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