How nutritional deficiencies in captive parrots cause disease and welfare harm, and what a species-appropriate diet looks like.
Nutritional deficiency is one of the most common causes of preventable disease and welfare compromise in captive parrots. The tradition of feeding seed-only diets — reflecting what parrots are assumed to eat based on their wild behaviour, without accounting for seasonal variation and geographic breadth of wild diets — has caused enormous suffering from nutritional deficiency disease over decades. The transition to pellet-based diets with fresh food supplementation is one of the most impactful dietary welfare improvements for captive parrots, but owner resistance to change and parrots' own food conservatism make it challenging. Gradual diet transition using appropriate methods is achievable for most parrots and significantly improves long-term health outcomes.