Basil

Another academic question. My neighbor gave me a lot of fresh basil saying it would be good for my birds. I later noticed that my conure was dipping the small pieces of very fresh basil in her water bowl. Any thought about this? I found it interesting as she never dips any other food in the water that I have seen.

Hm...Maybe it's like when people put fruit in water---added flavor?
One of my favorite drinks for myself if a basil flavored kombucha, so I get it haha

Fresh Basil, along with a lot of other fresh Herbs, usually are loved by birds (especially the wild birds outside who feast all summer long on my Herb Garden, little jerks)...Some Herbs are a little strong for them and can make them sick, not seriously sick, but they can upset their stomachs and cause vomiting, such as raw, fresh Rosemary (ask me how I know this, lol), or some of the stronger species of Sage, Thyme, etc. And Chives are TOXIC to birds, so stay away from them! But most of the Basils, Mints, Lemon-Balm, Bee-Balm, Butterfly-Weed, Cilantro, etc. they love...And whenever my guys don't like a certain fresh Veggie or type of fresh Greens, or a Chop-recipe, I'll usually try adding some fresh Herbs to them that I know they love and then they'll eat them and love them! And most fresh Herbs (the dark, leafy Herbs, such as most of the Basils) contain the same nutritional-content as most of the fresh Greens do, and can be substituted for them once in a while...

***I have no idea why your bird would be dunking the fresh Basil-leaves in his water, except that he's doing it for the same reason they dunk Pellets, certain Seeds, and other foods, and that's because they're too dry for them to eat by themselves. Dunking their food in water is a natural, innate instinct that all birds possess and do on a regular basis, some more than others but they all just do it on their own, it's not like we teach them to do it...So no matter why he's doing it, your bird has his reasons!

Boki said:

Another academic question. My neighbor gave me a lot of fresh basil saying it would be good for my birds. I later noticed that my conure was dipping the small pieces of very fresh basil in her water bowl. Any thought about this? I found it interesting as she never dips any other food in the water that I have seen.

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My Jenday never STOPS dipping food in her water - it's basically a wet food bowl at any given time. My last GCC was the same. Not only that, but she seems to have taught my Caique that this is the proper way to eat food, because now his food bowl is a floating mess, too!