All About Cockatoo And Macaw Diet

Preserving the health and lifespan of cockatoos and macaws require that they be fed the healthy, safe and tasty food. These birds should be fed a variety of foods; their diet should consist of 50% of grain products, 45% of vegetables and fruits, 5% of dairy and meat and less than 1% of seeds and nuts.  

About half their diet should consist of whole grains in the form of bagels, buckwheat and kasha, cereals, crackers, pretzels, quinoa, rice, tortillas, triticale, cream of wheat and rice, matzo, Melba toast, noodles and pasta, oatmeal, pearl barley, and wheat berries. These products provide these birds with the necessary proteins, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins.

Cockatoos and macaws should also have a lot of vegetables; vegetables are very healthy and could be served cooked or raw. Some of the recommended vegetables are Sprouted Alfalfa sprouts, Arugula, Cayenne, Baby corn, Bamboo shoots, Banana peppers, Cauliflower, Celery, Bean sprouts, Chard, Beets, Bell peppers, Chayote, Chicory, Broccoli, Broccoli flower, Cabbage, and Carrots. Vegetables like asparagus, beans, lentils, potatoes, pumpkin, pumpkin seeds, eggplant, and sweet potatoes could be served cooked.

Fruits like apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, cactus fruit, cantaloupe, cherimoya, cherries, Clementine oranges, coconuts,    cranberries, currants, dates, figs, grapes, grapefruit, guava, honeydew,    kiwis, Kumquats, oranges, mangoes, lemons, lynches, Mandarin oranges, pomegranate, raisins and tangerine form another healthy part of the bird’s diet; make sure you remove the seeds, rind and skin before serving the fruits. Ensure all the vegetables and fruits are washed and chopped well before serving it to the birds.

Serve your macaws and cockatoos dairy products; though parrots are lactose intolerant, dairy products as cheese, cottage cheese, cheddar, eggs and yogurt provide them excellent source of calcium. You could also serve them good sources of protein in meats like chicken, fish without bones, lamb, liver, ribs and roast of beef, salmon, steak, tuna fish and turkey. Ensure you cook the meat well before serving; given with bones most enjoy cracking open the bones to get to the marrow that is rich in iron and other good nutrients.  

Parrots enjoy seeds, however it is not advisable to give cockatoos and macaws an all seeds diet; seeds are high in fat content and low in vitamins and minerals. They could make parrots obese, to contract fatty liver disease and cause various other deficiencies. They are good as occasional treats especially during training.

Nuts like almond, Brazil nuts, cashews, filberts, hazelnuts, macadamia, peanuts, pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts can be also used as treats during training; make sure the nuts are unsalted. Nuts are high in nutrients and fat contents and should be only given in moderation, preferably as different nut butters.  

These are some of the important foods that could be included in a cockatoo and macaws diet; however you could also go in for pellet diets and diet mixes.   

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