Wild parrots spend up to 70% of their time foraging; providing foraging opportunities is fundamental to captive parrot welfare.
Foraging is the central behavioral occupation of wild parrots — it provides physical activity, cognitive stimulation, and social engagement. Captive parrots fed from a bowl have none of this. Foraging deprivation contributes to boredom, frustration, and feather destruction. Providing forage through wrapped food parcels, puzzle feeders, hanging skewers of vegetables, and rotating novel substrates transforms captive parrot welfare.