FAQ: Food for birds

Cockatoos are often prone to weight gain, so a pellet-based diet with vegetables suits them, and fatty seeds and nuts should be given in moderation. They love shelling food, so foraging toys with hard shells help keep them busy.

Conures do well on pellets or a mix for medium parrots and plenty of vegetables and fruit, which they love. Sunflower seeds and nuts should be only a small part of the diet.

Ringnecks do well on a medium-parrot mix or pellets with vegetables, fruit and sprouted seeds. They also enjoy fresh twigs with buds from safe trees.

Eclectus parrots eat more fresh plant food than many other parrots, so their diet is rich in vegetables and fruit, and pellets are often recommended in natural form without dyes and with moderate vitamin levels. Their diet is worth discussing with an avian vet.

Zebra finches do well on a small-seed mix, mainly millet, made for finches or exotic songbirds. Add greens, sprouted seeds and egg food, and more protein during breeding.

These species eat seeds of a similar size, but finch mixes have more millet and canary mixes more canary grass seed and oil seeds. Swapping is fine for a short time, but in the long run choose a mix made for the species.

Lories feed on nectar, pollen and fruit, so they need special lory nectar or powder mixed with water, plus fresh fruit. An ordinary seed mix does not suit them, and liquid nectar spoils within a few hours.

Pigeons are fed grain and legume mixes with maize, wheat, peas, barley and smaller seeds. Pigeons swallow seeds whole, so they need grit and a mineral mix for digestion.

Small doves such as diamond doves do well on small-seed mixes similar to finch food, with greens and grit. They feed mostly from the ground, so place the bowl on the cage floor.

Quail do well on special quail or poultry feed with enough protein, and laying hens need extra calcium. Greens and small grains can be added, and grit and clean water must always be available.

Older parrots often need more easily digested, lower-fat food and more frequent health checks, as their activity and metabolism change. Discuss diet changes with a vet, especially if the bird loses or gains weight.

For many parrots it is recommended that vegetables and greens make up a significant part of the daily diet and fruit only a small part. Start with a small portion the bird finishes within a few hours and gradually increase the variety.

Fruit is high in sugar, so too much can encourage weight gain and picky eating, while vegetables and greens provide vitamins and fibre without much sugar. Fruit works as a treat or extra.

Give apples without the core, because apple seeds contain substances that are toxic in large amounts. Also remove the stones of cherries, plums, apricots and peaches.

A small amount of orange or mandarin does not harm most parrots, but citrus fruit is acidic and can upset digestion. Give it rarely and in small pieces, as one of many fruits.

Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, rowan berries and cranberries are suitable for birds, well washed. Frozen berries can be thawed, and wild berries should only be picked in known safe places.

Bananas and grapes are sweet, so give them only in small amounts as a treat. Grapes are best cut in half so a small bird does not choke, and always washed well.

Birds enjoy chickweed, dandelion leaves and flowers, plantain, seed heads of couch grass and other grasses, and young nettle leaves. Pick only plants you can identify, in clean places away from roads, dog-walking areas and sprayed fields.

Sprouted seeds are more nutritious and easier to digest, and birds often like them more than vegetables. Soak the seeds, rinse them several times a day, and serve them as soon as they start to sprout, on the same day.

Use a clean container or sprouting jar, rinse the seeds often with cold water and do not let them stand in water. If the sprouts smell bad, look slimy or show mould, throw them away.