Diet                                                

Species Specific Diets

Are you familiar with the book: Diets For Birds in Captivity, by Kenton
C. Lint & Alice Marie Lint. Publisher, Blandfood Press (UK), 1981
ISBN:  0 7137 1087 X   

I've found this book to be very informative.  It covers all types of
birds from native/wild (owls) to our captive bred exotics. The book
lists a different diet for EACH species. It may not be all-conclusive,
for is a good guideline for variances per species. This was given to me
a couple years ago when I had bought out a local breeders tiels. He had
some of the best cockatiels I have ever seen locally.  He also raised
other species of smaller birds (grasskeets, bourkes) and patterned a lot
of the diets from the book.

NOTE: Although commercial dog kibble was used prior to the manufacture of avian pellets, it may not be entirely safe to feed them to birds. Manufacturing standards for dogs and cats may not be to the standards required for birds because dogs and cats have evolved to handle a higher bacterial load than birds have, due to the nature of their natural diet. It is best to substitute bird pellets for the dog chow in Lint's diets.

Daily diet for Eclectus Parrot:

Seed: 14g choice od sunflower, safflower, wheat, corn on the cob (fresh)
Fruits: 37.5g choice of fresh figs, papaya, orange, apples, grapes,
banana, pears.
Berries: 5g choice of blueberries, blackberries, hawthorn, mulberries,
eugenia or pyracantha.
Vegetables: 18g cooked sweet potatoes or carrots in 2.5-cm pieces.
Purina dog chow: 5 g.
Nuts: 14g choice of peanuts, pine nuts, almonds. One drop of wheat germ
oil is placed in opened end of peanuts during breeding season.
Cuttlefish bone: free choice.

The above diet is used for Grand Eclectus Parrot, Cornelia's Eclectus,
Red-sided Eclectus, and Solomon Island Eclectus

Diet for Gang Gang Cockatoo ( the books list several types of
Cockatoos.  AGAIN, each diet varied, with the exception of the Gang Gang
that is listed with a large and varied diet. Other species had less
listings of food items)

Purina dog chow: 14 g.
Seeds: 14 g. choice of sunflower, safflower, wheat, oat groats,
eucalyptus, melaleuca (bottlebrush), acacia, banksia, casuarina pine.
Nuts: 14g peanuts, pine nuts, or almonds. (one drop of wheat germ oil is
placed in end of peanuts during breeding)
Fruits: 37g apple (cut in quarters), eugenia, hawthorn, pyracantha,
cotoneaster berries, mulberries, or hakea.
Greens: 21g swiss chard, comfrey, spinach, beets or hydroponic sprouted
oats or barley.
Free choice of gastopods, marine snail shells, dried and crumbled

Daily diet for Lovebirds:

Seed: 5g milo, canary, hulled oats, millet sprays, acacia or sunflower
Greens: 14g choice of chickweed, sow thistle, dandelion, spinach, dock,
New Zealand spinach, swiss chard, comfrey, lantana blossoms, shepard's
purse, groundsel or hydroponic sprouted oats or barley (7-day)
Minerals: 5g cuttlefish bone, mineral block or mineral grit
Berries: 5g pyracantha, cotoneaster or eugenia berries.
Bread: 11g whole wheat bread

The above is used for Peach-faced, Fischer's, Nyasa, Black-masked,
Black-cheeked, Abyssinian, Madagascar, and Red-faced lovebirds.

Daily diet for Budgerigar

Seeds: 5g mixed 2 parts canary seed to 1 part millet, millet sprays, oat
groats.
Greens: 18g choice of chickweed, dandelion, shepherd's purse, sweet
alyssum, New Zealand spinach, chicory, or hydroponic sprouted oat
(7-days)
Bread: 11g whole wheat
Cuttlefish bone, mineralized grits or block.

Daily diet for Cockatiel:

Seeds: 5g canary, millet, hulled oats or sunflower.
Greens: 18g chickweed, swiss chard, comfrey, dandelion, sweet alyssum,
sow thistle or New Zealand spinach
Bread: 11g whole wheat
Cockatiels should receive 5g pond cake each day during the breeding
season

Daily diet for Senegal Parrot:

Seeds: 14g choice of sunflower, kaffir corn, canary, millet, safflower,
millet sprays (soaked)
Fruit: 37.5g choice of cherries, plums and apples.
Greens: 18g choice of twigs of willow, ash, hawthorn, acacia blossoms,
sow thistle or chickweed.
Nuts: 28g hazelnuts, peanuts, almonds, or locust beans.
Bread: 11g whole wheat
Vegetable: 18g boiled carrots.
cuttlebone: free choice

Diane

Amazon

Purina dog chow: 14 g.
SEEDS: 14 g. choice of corn, sunflower, safflower, oat groats, milo
maize.
NUTS: 14 g. choice of peanuts, pine, almond.  One drop of wheat germ oil
should be placed in each peanut in breeding season.
FRUIT: 37.5 g. apple, oranges, bananas (cut in pieces)
GREENS: 21 g. choice of spinach, dock, dandelion, Swiss chard, comfrey,
or hydroponic oats or barley (7-day old)
Corn on the Cob: 18 g. (fresh)
VEGETABLES: 18 g. sweet potato or carrots cut in 2.5-cm pieces.
Cuttlefish Bone: free choice

Susanne

Lory

Much has already been said about lory diets so I'll try to keep this short.
When using the lory powders close attention should be paid to the %protein
they contain. According to Eb Cravens an adult lory should only have around
9% protein in his daily diet. Most of the powders are between 16-24% and
meant to be used in a diluted form either liquid or if yours lives inside
like mine you can make a fruit & veg. slurry with the powder added in the
blender. I like to make up a 2-wk supply and freeze then thaw ea days
portion over fresh cut fruit.

Another flower besides hibiscus (which I grow outside and cut branches off
the the birds so the plant can replenish itself) that both my lory and
eclectus love is crepe myrtle, they eat the flowers, leaves and bark. They
also enjoy daylilies (I try to plant my garden for my birds enjoyment
Diane