Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.  It’s now well-established that pellets designed for cockatiels, budgerigars, Amazons, cockatoos, macaws and other parrots represent one of the most effective means of providing these birds with a balanced diet.  It is equally well-established that many of our feathered friends adamantly refuse to eat pellets, and easily thwart our best efforts [...]

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.
Insects are readily taken by most captive softbills (finches, canaries and other “non-parrot” species), and are often essential in bringing birds into breeding condition and for the rearing of chicks.  Those of us who keep birds such as smaller finches, Peking robins, shama thrushes and leafbirds are often hard put to find [...]

Hi Frank Indiviglio here.
Last time we took a look at some of the fine foods available to those who keep softbills and lories as pets (Please see Alternative Bird Foods – Yesterday and Today, Part I).  I mentioned that these products have greatly simplified the captive husbandry of a number of species, and alluded to [...]

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.
The nutritional needs of some of our most colorful and interesting pet birds are not met by seed-based diets. Lories and lorikeets, for example, require a soupy mix of fruits and nectars. Many gorgeous softbills, such as the shama thrush (Copsychus malabaricus) and Peking robin (Leiothrix lutea) subsist largely upon insects, and [...]