*disclaimer*This post is based on a paper I wrote for an animal nutrition class, so it’s a bit long.

Parrots are primarily found in the tropics and often are associated with tropical paradise imagery. There are over 350 species in the order Psittaciformes, which are commonly referred to as parrots. This order is divided into 2 families (Koutsos 2001), Cacatuidae and Psittacidae. Cacatuidae contains cockatoos, cockatiels and corellas. Psittacidae contains lores, lorikeets, parrots, macaws, parakeets, rosellas, and love birds. Psittaciformes are some of the most common birds kept in captivity due to their high level of intelligence and distinctive physical form. A large number of zoos have parrot collections, and at large pet store retailers they are available as companion animals. Unlike other birds, they are not used for commercial use of their eggs, meat, or feathers. Therefore only the maintenance values are important in the feed formulation of these birds.

All of these parrots have specialized nutritional needs. As a result, most common cause of vet visits is improper diet (Torregrossa 2005). Therefore this paper will focus on the basic nutritional needs of parrots. Similar to horses, these diets have become adapted to human needs, and thus is not reflective of parrots in the wild. In the wild parrots eat roughly 70 percent seeds (Gilardi 2012) but their diets range from nectarivores to granivores (Matson 2006). Renton (2001) also observed a high flexibility in the diet of wild parrots. Pullianen (1972) found that birds do not select the foods based on their nutritional needs. Because these diets are so varied it is hard to produce a feed that meets the nutritional needs of all parrots.

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