SEEDS AND SEED MIXES
By Ron Woodhead
An article from Agapornis News, the Newsletter of: The African Lovebird and Foreign Parrot Society of Qld Inc.
A good avian diet often includes a high quality seed mix. Seed is the traditional backbone of a bird's diet, so much so that we still encounter people who think birds can live on a diet of seed alone.
A fresh, clean seed is a small miracle; a compact container that holds all the ingredients required to sprout a new plant. Depending on type and area grown, seeds can offer a rich supply of nutrients for many kinds of pet birds. Millet, for example, contains about 60 percent carbohydrates, the complex sugars and starches that provide quick energy for active warm-blooded birds like finches. Sunflower seeds, an oil seed, is about 55 percent fat, which, among other functions, keeps skin soft and feathers shiny.
Twenty or thirty years ago, few people would have guessed that seed would develop the well, seedy reputation it has in the last decade. When most breeders and hobbyists concentrated on raising zebra finches, budgies and cockatiels, the deficiencies of the 90 or 100 percent seed diets were not particularly obvious. The bodies of these birds seem designed to milk the last trace of nutrition from seeds and grains, allowing them to thrive and breed on diets that would slowly starve birds from richer environments. Although budgies sometimes develop iodine deficiencies if they don't receive the proper supplements, most breeders probably don't fully realise the importance of a varied diet until they begin working with more challenging species.
Today, some people are actually afraid of seed. Some breeders won't feed dry seed at all, condemning it as an unnecessary source of fat. Some owners complain that their birds weren't exposed to varied diets early and appear to be hooked on seed. Some breeders worry that they're inadvertently harming their birds if they must rely on seed mixes to get enough calories into the diet.
Some of this concern is warranted. A pure seed diet will almost certainly shorten the life of your bird, just as a pure rice diet will almost certainly shorten the life of a human. But that does not mean that seed and rice are bad or dangerous foods. Fed in appropriate amounts, seed remains one of the best sources of calories (energy) for many popular species of birds.
Seeds contain a varying mix of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, as well as trace nutrients like vitamins or minerals. Remember, a seed exists to produce a new baby plant, not to feed hungry birds. It contains such things as amino acids (the building blocks of protein) in a proportion designed to nourish a young sprout of its own species. These nutrients may be, and probably are, totally out of balance for a healthy bird. In the wild, bird flocks forage for many different types of ripening seeds at different times of the tear. An amino acid missing from seed is found in another food, providing a natural balance. Those of us raising birds in captivity must make sure our birds have a variety of seeds (and other foods) to supplement this balance.
Millet, the backbone of most finch diets, is a low-fat, high carbohydrate grain that provides a good source of quick energy to small, active birds. It is a good basic food commonly included in budgie, cockatiel and lovebird mixes as well. Birds enjoy eating it in the form of dried seedling heads (millet sprays) as well as in the seed dish.
Canary seed is, as the name implies, native to the Canary Islands from which the original ancestors of our domestic canaries came. It is another quick energy source for small seed eaters, but is too low in protein to be a complete diet by itself. Canary seed is not all you need to raise the next generation of healthy canaries.
Oats have received plenty of attention, primarily because they are high in fibres which are vital to healthy human digestion. Their tight hulls must be removed in milling, converting them to oat groats, so small birds like budgies can get at the carbohydrate-rich contents.
Sunflower verses Safflower. Safflower and sunflower seeds are usually the two most popular oil seeds that make up the main ingredients of large parrot mixes. Safflower gained popularity from mixes that boast "no sunflower".
Although considered a health food when consumed by humans, sunflower seed has developed a rather poor reputation as a result of being overfed to birds. In the bad old days, too many large parrot mixes contained nothing but sunflower seed, corn, peanuts and dried red peppers, certainly not a complete diet. Such a diet often leads to severe vitamin-E deficiencies in birds, contributing to everything from respiratory illness to egg-binding. These diseases were NOT caused by sunflower seed. They were caused by a lack of other nutritious foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.
For many years, bird breeders were also disturbed by a persistent rumour that sunflower seed contained a psycho active drug. Many people had noticed that certain imported birds, particularly Amazons, would devour sunflower seeds to the exclusion of everything else. These birds seemed addicted to sunflower seed, even though eating it exclusively resulted in ill health and greasy, dark plumage. Some people thought they contained LSD. Other people said the seeds contained a narcotic related to opium. Several laboratories investigated and found nothing harmful or addictive in sunflower seeds.
This is where the rumour started - conures sometimes appear to be a hypnotic trance as they merrily crack open sunflower seed after sunflower seed. I don't believe they behave like this because of any addictive ingredient inside, however, because they throw the seed to the ground as often as they eat it. I think they simply enjoy creating that satisfying crunching sound. Perhaps they discover that cracking these crunchy seeds is a comforting way to work off energy or tension.
Sunflower and safflower are grown primarily to produce oil for human consumption, not as a bird food. Safflower is not a low-calorie seed, as some people seem to think. (In fact, if you are cooking with safflower oil in an effort to lose weight, get ready for a nasty surprise - a tablespoon of safflower has as many calories as a tablespoon of butter!)
Safflower doesn't seem to have been analyzed by bird nutritionists as extensively as sunflower seed has, but it makes a good substitute for sunflower because it offers similar nutritional value. Both seeds are a good source of calories for energy. Both are relatively good sources of plant protein. Both should be fed in moderation. The important difference between the two is that safflower isn't as much fun for birds to hull, so it doesn't encourage them to stop cracking other kinds of seed.
Peanut is another oil seed that is included in parrot mixes. It's a good source of fat and protein for underweight parrots and young growing birds. I don't like to see it in a mix for birds with a tendency towards obesity, such as Amazons and certain lazy conures.
Corn is often an ingredient in parrot mixes. Some birds will simply not eat it, although some large parrots relish it. The same conures who turn up their beaks at hard corn are positively addicted to sprouted corn, small slices of corn on the cob or other corn treats.
A good parrot mix will contain much more than the basic ingredients of sunflower, safflower, peanuts and corn. Surprisingly, even the largest macaw may enjoy the tiny millet seeds. It is worth knowing that in a pinch, you can make a mediocre parrot mix better by adding a good finch mix.
No seed or combination of seeds contains a complete diet for parrots.
A wild bird foraging in a natural grassland environment would probably consume some insects or insect pieces along with the seed. Bugs, moths and other discouraging inhabitants of some seed mixes aren't necessarily bad for your birds. They may actually be a valuable source of complete protein.
We are lucky to be living in a time when a variety of fresh, carefully selected seeds are available to enhance the bird's diet. Variety is the key word here. Lots of ingredients have their place in a well balanced avian diet.
Here is a Good Seed Mix
This is the seed mix I use. Each portion is one cup, and this mix will last you for quite some time. With each portion being a medium saucepan, this mix should make up about 30 kilo, which in my case, lasts about two weeks. It depends entirely on how many birds you have to feed.
| Seed | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Plain Canary | 4 cups |
| White Panicum | 2 cups |
| Red Panicum | 3 cups |
| White French Millet | 2 cups |
| Jap Millet | 4 cups |
| Cracked Corn | 2 cups |
| Hulled Oats | 2 cups |
| Sunflower | 3 cups |
| Safflower | 1 cup |
