Birds Need People Food!
Feed your birds a wide variety of greens and fruits, vegetables, breads, meats and cereals. Be careful with meat - tear it up into small enough pieces so that your bird will not choke on it. Avoid milk, as birds lack the enzyme necessary to digest lactose and they may get diarrhea. Because of the way they are processed, however, cheese and yogurt can be fed without a problem. You should also avoid alcohol, avocado, caffeine, chocolate, rhubarb leaves and anything high in sugar, fat, or salt.
Feed the table foods in separate containers from their regular food, and remove after a few hours, especially in the heat of summer.
Suggestions:
Note that your birds will have looser, more watery droppings when fed more fruits and vegetables.
- Dark green vegetables like broccoli, kale, spinach, dandelion greens, collard greens, mustard greens.
- Vegetables high in carotene, such as sweet potatoes, yams, carrots, red peppers.
- Other vegetables: turnips, green beans, peas, corn, tomatoes, legumes (like chick peas and kidney beans), hot peppers.
- Fruits (no pits or cores, please): apples, grapes, bananas, oranges, melons, apricots, peaches, plums, oranges, tangerines, pomegranates, watermelon, kiwi.
- Table food: cheese, eggs, pasta, rice, potatoes, wheat bread.
It is not necessary to add vitamins to your bird's diet when it is eating a wide variety of vegetables and fruits. We do not recommend that vitamins be added to the water as they attract bacteria almost immediately, which feeds and grows off the vitamins.