common weeds/plants to feed parrots?

I was looking around and found that you can find many foods in the wild. For example dandelion leaves are supposed to be good, at least that's what I have been reading.
Does anyone else forage for supplemental foods?

Dandelion leaves and flowers are wonderful for parrots and people though they are bitter to human taste buds in my experience.

You only want to wild-craft from places that you are absolutely certain have not been sprayed and that are not near heavy roadways though.

I actually feed my eclectus a lot of different dried organic or wild crafted flowers they love them! Rosehips are fantastic and full of vitamin C, they also make a delicious tea for humans.

Sounds good. I am going to start looking for a list of safe wild plants. I live in the middle of nowhere so I only have to worry about the areas around farmland. Everywhere else is pretty much untouched
I love the idea of getting some free supplemental foods from the wild. I think Kali will enjoy the variety! I guess I should start looking around.

You just want to make certain you are identifying the plants correctly as there are look a likes that can be toxic. One example is cat tails, in a bind cat tails are very good food in a survival situation the new shoots and leaves in spring are very tender and good. BUT wild iris which is toxic is easily confused in the spring before the cat tails have grown the tails to confuse the two.

Unless you are 100% sure don't chance it for yourself or your birds. There are identification herbal guide books for each region of the country. I highly recommend these as a constant companion while out wildcrafting.

I was honored to be taught by some wonderful Native American friends growing up in Michigan. There are not many plants there I don't know the name of and how to correctly identify and use them, but I still carried the guide book and would recheck just to make certain. There are also parts of some plants that are toxic and some parts of the same plants that are not, case in point..tomatoes. Part of the deadly nightshade family.

Oooh, great thread!

I am not educated enough about plants to go harvesting myself but I did just replant a few young dandilion plants I found in my lawn . I know what these look like so I believe they are safe. I've noticed them before but our garden service usually pulls them out when they come once a week. Sooo, I kept a beady eye out and when I saw babies sprouting, I quickly covered them with mesh domes to (a) protect them from my dogs who are hell bent on marking their territory every five steps and (b) protect them from over zealous gardeners . This weekend, they were big enough to transplant so now the waiting begins!

I asked for seeds/seedlings for dandilions at our local nursery but the people there looked at me like LOL!!

Since I can't get weed seedlings from the nursery, I'm currently researching "proper plants" that can be grown in pots to create a parrot garden.

Chrysanthemums, Hibiscus, Marigold, Chamomile, Bee-Balm, Borage, Basil once it flowers, Anise Hyssop are all good edible flower choices.

I went ahead and planted some dandelion seeds a few minutes to ago. I just wanted to have some close by. I will research other plants and go from there.

I might need to start a new thread but does anyone know if hyrdoponically grown veggies are safe for parrots. It is far from organic, but I do grow a few plants that way. I get huge harvest. I don't think it would be any different than other produce grown with non organic fertilizers. I do also grow organic veggies that I will be feeding Kali.

There's quite a few websites about edible flowers for parrots.


Bird-Safe Edible Flowers

The Kitchen Physician XI (Edible Flowers for Parrots)

flowers

Edible flowers for parrots

Edible flowers, grasses and herbs | A story on wings

Posies for Parrots! | For Parrots: Posters for Parrot Advocates



I don't feed much in the way of fresh plants to my birds, but mainly because I don't grow any plants, and living in the desert, there's not a lot of greenery.... plus, I don't trust that the plants grown within this city are actually safe, considering that many are located by roads. If I go out of town and away from civilization, I'm guaranteed to find sagebrush!








I'm sure I could find some edible plants if I went to the right areas (that actually grow something!), or if I grew my own plants.... I've just never been interested in gardening.