Holistic Health

Food Pyramid for Parrots

The lay person’s guide to a healthy and natural diet for avian companions.

by gloria scholbe
Autumn 2002

click on images for a larger view.

Myths | Debunking |Greens | Oxalic Acid Content | Vegetables | Fruit | Nuts and Seeds |Animal Protein | Tubers, Legumes & Grains | Supplements | Foods to Limit |Avoid These| Putting the Pyramid to Work | More Pyramids | References

The Myths

1. “Avian nutrition is similar to rocket science. It is so complex, that it takes a college degree to understand it.

2. “Pet owners can’t feed their birds a healthy diet without using pellets .”

3. “Pet owners who don’t feed their birds pellets are condemning them to die of diseases caused by malnutrition.”

4. “Pet owners are too uneducated to design a healthy diet for birds.”

5. “Pet owners are too lazy and undisciplined to feed their birds a good diet.”

6.”Birds in the wild die from malnutrition.”

7. “Pellets are formulated by science; therefore they are superior to naturally foraged diets.”

8. “Pellets are good, seeds are bad.”