Nutrition of Caged Birds Formulated Diets Versus Seed Mixtures for Psittacines12

Psittacines are often classified as seed eaters despite studies that have established great di versity in food habits in the wild. While seeds are con sumed, so are flowers, buds, leaves, fruits and cam bium. Some psittacines consume parts of >80 species of grasses, forbs, shrubs and trees. In addition, insects may be important. Although there are few controlled studies of the requirements of psittacines, it is probable that most nutrient needs are comparable to those of domesticated precocial birds that have been thoroughly studied. Commercial seed mixes for psittacines com monly contain corn, sunflower, safflower, pumpkin and squash seeds, wheat, peanuts, millet, oat groats and buckwheat, although other seeds may be present. Be cause hulls/shells comprise 18-69% of these seeds and they are removed before swallowing, a significant proportion of typical seed mixtures is waste. Some of the seeds also are very high in fat and promote obesity. Common nutrient deficiencies of decorticated seeds in clude lysine, calcium, available phosphorus, sodium, manganese, zinc, iron, iodine, selenium, vitamins A, D, E and K, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, available niacin, vitamin B-12 and choline. Attempts to correct these deficiencies by incorporating pellets into seed mixes are usually thwarted by rejection of the pellets and dis proportionate consumption of items that are more highly favored. An extruded diet formulated to meet the projected nutrient needs of psittacines was fed with fruits and vegetables to eight species of psittacines for 1 y. Fledging percentage was increased to 90% from the 66% observed during the previous 2 y when these psittacines were fed seeds, fruits and vegetables. Al though this extruded diet was well accepted in a mix ture of fruits and vegetables and met nutrient needs, analyses have shown that not all commercial formu lated diets are of equal merit. J. Nutr. 121: S193-