Parrot Seed

Feeding each kind of seed in a separate container, rather than a mixture, is advocated. Less wastage occurs because the birds are more likely to have before them the seeds they eat. Many parrots will steadfastly refuse certain foods and there is usually little point in persevering beyond a reason­able trial period. If mixtures contain­ing unwanted seeds are offered, and it is rare for all seeds to be liked, it may appear to the owner not familiar with a bird's preferences that the bird has plenty of food before it when, in fact, it may be almost starving. In addition it is impracticable to offer mixtures containing seeds of widely varying sizes such as sunflower and canary seed, as the smaller seeds tend to get lost. Each kind of seed should initially be offered in a separate container so that the owner knows exactly which kind each bird eats and can see at a glance how much food has been consumed.

To discover the food preferences of a newly acquired pet parrot which is eating hard seed, the owner should buy a packet of parrot mixture and care­fully note which seeds are eaten. Most parrot mixtures contain 90-95 per cent sunflower seed, the remainder being made up with peanut kernels, peanuts in the shell, pine nuts, chillis, hard maize and, in some mixtures, oats and canary seed. Having noted the pre­ferences, the favoured items can be bought separately and sunflower, pine nuts and peanuts, once found to be acceptable, can be mixed or offered separately. Small seeds and fruit and vegetables should be provided in sep­arate containers.

Birds must always have food available. There should be no thought of rationing. Considerably more non­perishable food than the bird or birds can eat in a day should be provided. Of perishable foods, quantities small enough to be consumed immediately should be given so that none is left on the feeding shelf to decay or to be dropped in the water container.

For most parrots, seed will form the basis of the diet. All large parrots should be offered sunflower, pine nuts and peanuts; small seeds, such as canary, white millet, buckwheat and hemp, should also be offered. Smaller species will make their choice from sunflower or safflower, canary seed, white millet, hemp, linseed and niger. Some will also eat peanuts. Pine nuts are usually too hard. Millet sprays are relished by most parrots, large and small; they derive great enjoyment from removing the seeds from the spray and this can be the means of tempting a sick bird to feed.

Of the small seeds, millet and canary are the best known and the most wide­ly used. Millet seeds are round and of several types, the largest of which is white millet; panicum is the smallest and is yellowish brown in colour; red millet is not normally used as a suet bird food and Japanese millet is offered mainly to finches. Millet will form a fair proportion of the diet for small species, such as Lovebirds and Grass Parrakeets and to a lesser degree for Cockatiels and some Hanging Parrots.

Many large parrots ignore it but some, especially Eclectus, will eat large amounts and should always have it available.

Panicum millet is the most useful for breeding birds as it is believed to break down more easily in the crop to a creamy consistency and is therefore of value to pairs with very young chicks. Millet grows wild in the Far East and Africa. It can thrive in conditions where soil would be too dry and poor for the successful culture of wheat or maize and it requires little water or cultivation.

Canary seed will usually be eaten by the same species which eat millet. It is a shiny, pointed, oval seed, yellowish brown in colour. It is grown in many countries, including Britain, and there is no reason why the aviculturist with sufficient land should not grow his own crop. If this is done, it is not necessary to thresh it. The birds obtain great enjoyment from removing the seeds, just as they do from spray millet.

Both millet and canary seed are deficient in fats and oils and should not be fed without the addition of oily seeds, such as niger or sunflower. For small species, niger is an excellent food but large parrots can seldom be per­suaded to eat this small, long, shiny black seed. It has a high oil content and a danger to watch out for is that if the seed coat is broken and the oil exposed, a chemical change could take place causing the seed to become ran­cid. Birds which will eat niger usually become addicted to it without any harmful resuit and, as its price has increased enormously in recent years, it is not likely to be fed in excess.

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