NUTRITION 101 – FIRST: The Myth of Vitamin C
Before I babble further, let me give you some background information regarding nutrition. First of all, everyone knows Vitamin C is very important for people, so they are forever trying to get their birds to eat citrus fruits. However, the truth is most animals don't need vitamin C supplementation in their diet, because they manufacture their own. The only animals I know of that don't make their own are the primates (that includes us, folks) and Guinea pigs. Most avian vets agree that healthy par-rots have no demonstrable need for vitamin C in their diets. So you don't need to worry any more if your parrot doesn't like oranges. (However, if your bird is sick, your avian vet may recommend vitamin C supplementation -- especially if there is any liver involvement.)
SECOND: The Calcium to Phosphorous Ratio
Of all the mineral interrelationships, the most critical in companion bird nutrition (and in most other species) is the relation between calcium and phosphorous. To maintain strong bones and pro-per health, the ratio of calcium to phosphorous should be within a range of 1�:1 to 2:1. [Richie, Harrison and Harrison, p.66] This means that a parrot needs about 1� - 2 times as much calcium to phosphorous in their diets. So if you feed something high in phosphorous -- like seed, for in-stance, or some of these cooked bean/corn/rice diets for pet birds, then you need to counteract the high phosphorous intake by getting your feathered friend to eat 1� -- 2 times as much calcium-rich foods like beet greens, mustard greens and broccoli tops.
THIRD: Calcium & Phosphorous Plus Vitamin D3
The calcium to phosphorous ratio is critical, but there is another factor that enters into the equation, and that is vitamin D3.
Vitamin D3 is the vehicle by which the body can absorb calcium and phosphorous from the diet, so it's crucial that adequate vitamin D3 be available. According to Richie, Harrison and Harrison (again), "Inadequate vitamin D3 levels in the body can cause calcium deficiency symptoms in an otherwise calcium-adequate diet." (p.67) Sources of vitamin D3 are simple: unfiltered sunlight (i.e., not through glass or plastic, so sunlight through a window does not count), full-spectrum lighting, avian vitamin supplements and pelleted or extruded diets for birds.
FOURTH: Vitamin A
By far the most common vitamin deficiency seen in avian medicine in this country, vitamin A is critical to a healthy immune system, and maintaining cell wall integrity in the mucus membranes, among other things. The mucus membranes cover the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, functioning to protect the organism from outside invaders or pathogens. Classic signs of vitamin A deficiencies (hypovitaminosis A) in parrots include signs of upper respiratory disease, and abscesses in the mouth.
Reptile Book Food Chart -- Fact vs. Fiction
Well-known reptile veterinarian Frederick Frye included an extremely interesting nutritional chart in his recent book Iguanas: A Guide To Their Biology And Captive Care, [1993]. It offered nutritional breakdowns for a variety of foods, and much of it was based on the US Department of Agriculture publication called "Composition of Foods" [Hand-book Number 8]. This chart was quite an eye-opener for me, considering what I thought was nutritionally valuable as opposed to what actually turned out to be. The chart outlined the content of several nutrients -- vitamins A, B1, B2 and C, as well as the minerals calcium, phosphorous and iron, plus grams of protein -- in each of a wide variety of vegetables and fruits.
People, lemme tell you, I was amazed. For instance, those apples that are supposed to keep the doctor away are simply pitiful nutritionally. Essentially sugar water and a little fiber. There were many items I had thought were nutritious, but turned out not to be -- things like oranges, grapes, pears and grapefruit (and I always feel so sanctimonious when I eat grapefruit!]. Bananas, another favorite on the parrot hit parade, has 3� times as much phosphorous as calcium. This means the human has to feed and the bird has to eat, 5-7 times as much calcium-rich foods to counteract it. Grapes are also a problem, with twice as much phosphorus as calcium. Yellow peaches had a nice shot of vitamin A (1000 IU [international units] in 3 halves), but white peaches had only a 1/10th as much at 100 IU. Otherwise, the two were identical nutrition-ally. (Neat, isn't it? The white peach is considered to be a wonderful achievement for fruit growers, but in removing the color they removed the only nutritional value of the fruit! And this is supposed to be an improvement?? Humans are so cool, sometimes, aren't we?)
Good Nutritional Values for Veggies
On the other hand, vegetables did really well nutritionally. Green beans were OK but not great, but beet greens had an amazing 22,000 IU of vitamin A, as well as twice as much calcium as phosphorus. The broccoli leaf turned out to be the most nutritious part of that vegetable, having 4� times as much vitamin A than the flowerette and 15 times that of the stem. Weird, huh? Corn, on the other hand, had an almost 1:13 calcium to phosphorus ratio! According to this chart, there really IS a difference between sweet potatoes and yams, with yams the hands-down winner, containing almost 1� times the vitamin A as well as twice the calcium. (Nice to have THAT mystery solved!) As far as greens go, collards, endive, kale, beet greens and spinach were wonderful in terms of not only vitamin A, but also in their ratios of calcium to phosphorus. Parsley was excellent in both those categories, plus a hefty 20 grams of protein and 1� times the vitamin C as an orange.
But by far, the nutritional winner was the lowly dandelion, scourge of the suburban lawn. Dandelion greens contained an incredible 20,000 IU vitamin A, a 2�:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorous and (for humans) a whopping 100 mg. of vitamin C -- TWICE what you find in a medium-sized orange. (Boy, those citrus growers have sure done a fine
PR job, don't you think?)
Just How Big Is That Parrot REALLY?
We parrot companions often make a fundamental mistake when we feed our birds. We apparently believe our birds are actually as big as THEY think they are -- as opposed to how big they REALLY are. I don't know about you guys, but Sam, my 40+ year old blue and gold macaw definitely thought she was bigger than the 80 pound Doberman I used to have. A friend of mine has a Grey cheek parakeet named Cyclone who is bigger than a Great Dane. It's true -- just ask him.
There's one thing for believing in the psycho-logical size of a parrot -- there is another for FEEDING for the psychological size. The fact is that we all tend to overfeed our parrots. There is no problem with that unless we overfeed stuff a parrot loves, like pasta, as opposed to what is truly good for them, like dandelion greens and kale. I happen to like vegetables a great deal, but like I said before, if I were offered the choice of veggies or chocolate cake, well….
The other day, when a new boarding client brought her Congo African grey to stay with me, she brought the following foods: a large container of seed, a box of Fig Newtons™ and a jar of maraschino cherries. (Yup, this was a new one for me, too!) When questioned, she explained that they gave the bird a cherry when they left for work and a cookie at bedtime. When I expressed concern, she said "But it's only one cookie and one cherry -- that isn't much." I saw the same problem with the lady who "only fed her Amazon (another one pound parrot) nine grapes a day." Well, I believe it was Greg Harrison who worked out the math -- that one grape to a bird the size of a cockatiel [approximately 100 grams] was equal to 49 grapes to a human. And that, my friends, is A LOT OF GRAPES. With the lady with the Fig Newtons™ and maraschino cherries, I did some math. [Now, you math majors, be nice!!] The bird weighed 430 grams. As I understand it, birds can consume anywhere from 15-20 % of their body weight daily. (For those people who actually believe that old saying, "She eats like a bird " – at a 140 lb., if I ate like a bird, I would consume anywhere from 25-30 pounds of food per day.) ANYWAY, if a 430 gram bird consumes, say, 15-20% of their body weight daily in food, then that bird is consuming 65-86 grams of food per day (a-bout 2-3 ounces). A Fig Newton™ weighs about 15 grams and a maraschino cherry weighs 4 grams. (OF COURSE I weighed them, how else would I know what they weigh?), or 19 grams of junk. Di-viding 19 g. by 65 and 86 g., we find that 23-29% percent of that bird’s daily food intake is JUNK. That’s A LOT of junk, don’t you think? Maybe too much, eh?
I was talking to a lady the other day on the phone, and she told me that she feeds her budgie pellets, but since it loves them, she also gives the bird "just a little seed for a treat." I asked her how much seed, and her answer was one tablespoon daily. Well, American budgies weigh about 30 g. (one ounce), so 15-20% of their body weight would equal 4� -6 grams of food per day. Just out of curiosity, I weighed one table-spoon of small bird seed on my $50 digital kitchen scale, and you know what? That tablespoon of seed weighed 10 grams – almost double the bird’s total food intake for the day! Not exactly a little treat, no? Do you really think that little budgie is eating any pellets, with that much seed in it’s cup?