old bird--DIET?

after reading the link that antoinette posted about the physical examination of your parrot I got to wondering. The diet section seemed to say about everything we feed is bad for our birds.
My question is who has or knows someone with a really old bird and WHAT DO THEY FEED ???? We have all read that our birds live very long lives and we better will them to someone because they will definatly outlive us, but I dont know any of these old birds, Do you?

Well, there are some old birds I know of...

There's Darwin the Amazon on here, owned by 'Darwin's girl'. He is 27 years old already. There are a few others, but I don't remember their names.

I'm going to have my speil on businesses here... sorry.

I'm always scepticle of articles writen by companies with a hiden agenda, it was written by Harrisons who make bird food. If they can get vets and vet techs to believe their food is the only safe thing to feed parrots, that then gets passed onto clients, thier sales/profits increase over the lifetime of the bird then that's great for business.

I'm not saying the article was bad, most of the stuff writen was very interesting and I personally learnt heaps, I just wouldn't take too much notice of the diet side of it.


"we closely examined thousands of birds and compared the physical attributes of healthy, wild-caught birds to those of birds on a variety of captive diets."

They don't give you any history of the captive birds they compared the wild birds to eg. what were the captive diets? We all know there are many breed-specific diets, were these birds eating the right diet for their breed? Were the captive birds healthy to begin with?

I know I might sound like a nutter here but you can make studies show what ever you want. Like I said I'm not saying the article is wrong, just don't let the diet part scare you.

Mel said:

I'm going to have my speil on businesses here... sorry.

I'm always scepticle of articles writen by companies with a hiden agenda, it was written by Harrisons who make bird food. If they can get vets and vet techs to believe their food is the only safe thing to feed parrots, that then gets passed onto clients, thier sales/profits increase over the lifetime of the bird then that's great for business.

I'm not saying the article was bad, most of the stuff writen was very interesting and I personally learnt heaps, I just wouldn't take too much notice of the diet side of it.

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"we closely examined thousands of birds and compared the physical attributes of healthy, wild-caught birds to those of birds on a variety of captive diets."

They don't give you any history of the captive birds they compared the wild birds to eg. what were the captive diets? We all know there are many breed-specific diets, where these birds eating the right diet for their breed? Where the captive birds healthy to begin with?

I know I might sound like a nutter here but you can make studies show what ever you want. Like I said I'm not saying the article is wrong, just don't let the diet part scare you.

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I agree. For all we know the captive bred birds were on a seed only diet. When I read things I take the good and absorb it and take the bad and ditch it

Mel, you made a very good point. Exactly, where is their proof? They need to supply more information and proof, in order to make the article more believable.

Mel, My thoughts exactly. About the bird food company who wrote the article. I would like to know what people feed to get ther birds to old age? In my eyes that would be proof positive of a diet that promotes longevtiy

burley said:

Mel, My thoughts exactly. About the bird food company who wrote the article. I would like to know what people feed to get ther birds to old age? In my eyes that would be proof positive of a diet that promotes longevtiy

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I'll get back to you in 30yrs

There's a new member who's Amazon passed away at 60-70 yrs of age, would be good to ask them http://www.parrotforums.com/new-members-welcome/4400-new-forum.html

I had a Yellow-crowned Amazon parrot for 40 years. He lived to be more than 60 years old (his exact age was never known, but he was estimated to be 20-30 years old when I got him). 40 years ago, sunflower seeds were the centerpiece of a parrot's diet, and Amazon George was fed little else until he came to live with me. Over the years, his diet was improved; he enjoyed a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, and many kinds of "people food" like pasta and rice. He ate pellets, but without enthusiasm; I had to switch brands frequently because he'd quickly get tired of any one kind. For a treat, George enjoyed small amounts of cheese, various kinds of nuts, crackers and an occasional taste of something like banana bread or yellow cake. He liked roasted peanuts in the shell, but invariably ate part of the shell and threw the peanuts away. He continued to eat some seed daily for his entire life, as a supplement to the healthier things he was given. In his long life, George undoubtedly ate certain things that aren't considered beneficial or appropriate to a parrot's diet, but it didn't seem to do him any particular harm.

thank you cnyguy! I like the idea of a very varied diet, but I started questioning myself if it was good for the bird ,or not. A little assurance that a bird on a seed, fruit,veg.pellet,nut,table food, and occasoinaly a cracker diet can live to be a senior citizen helps me make choices for my feathered freind.

Glad I could be of help! I know not all parrot people would approve of that kind of diet for their birds, but it did work out well with George. He had no health problems, and was only really ill once during all his years with me (that was a bacterial respiratory infection).

I'm using the same approach with my new Quaker parrot Ralph, though he was already used to eating mostly pellets with a small amount of seed. Just about everything else is new to him, and he's gradually learning to like fruits and vegetables (and occasional treats of crackers or cake)-- though he's pretty fussy about what form they're in; most things have to be finely chopped. His vet approves of the varied diet I'm feeding him, but emphasizes that the less nutritious treats should be held to a minimum, and only a little seed should be given. So far, Ralph seems happy with that diet too.