Foraging

In the wild, parrots typically spend at least 60% of their time foraging for food. Each species have their own dietary requirements, however for most parrots the diet includes multiple foods. Seeds, nuts, fruits, etc. ripen at different times of the year and locating available food requires detailed knowledge of the territory as well as the flora and fauna that is within the territory. Most of this behavior is taught to young birds by their parents and/or more senior birds in the flock. Knowing what's good to eat and when it's in season are, thus, learned behaviors.

Responsible bird owners learn about the dietary needs of their pet and strive to provide a balanced healthy diet. Not surprisingly, birds within any given species may have individual preferences for types of food as well as the manner in which it's prepared and served. Tiki, our Director's Moluccan Cockatoo likes broccoli while most of the other birds (like George Bush) have little use for the vegetable. Tiki also likes carrots, but ONLY when they're sliced into rounds. Carrot strips are rejected - go figure.
A companion bird living in a person's home, however, can park itself in front of its' food dish and fill their crop and belly in a few minutes. Accordingly it's no surprise that some companion birds get bored - they have too much free time.

Foraging toys serve to both provide certain foods as well as occupy time, stimulate the bird's intellect and amuse and gratify the bird when it solves the toy's working and gets its' food. Foraging toys can be purchased and they can be made at home with simple materials. My Charly, a 16 year old Lesser Sulfur Crested Cockatoo absolutely loves pistachio nuts in the shell. I used this to teach her to forage for food.

First I would take her daily allotment of nuts and wrap each nut in a piece of paper towel and wedge it between the bars in different parts of the cage. To provide a challenge, I would wrap some empty shells in paper towels too and hang them in the same way. I allowed her to watch what I was doing to help her understand the project. Very shortly after I placed the paper towel parcels throughout her cage, she went to investigate. Once she found a nut she understood the game and raced around the cage looking for more nuts. She quickly figured out that empty shells weighed less than real nuts and would start towards the little packages as soon as I began to distribute them throughout the cage. From there we moved to a commercial foraging toy = a clear plastic can shaped object with nut sized holes in several spots. It took some time for her to accept the toy’s presence in her cage.

Once she was OK with the toy, I put Charly's allotment of nuts into it and she could see them and had to figure out how to get them out of the toy. Initially it took her some time to figure out how to get her nuts, but she enjoyed using her mind and loved to get her treats after working hard to get them. Even though she knows how to solve the toy's challenge, she still has to work to manipulate the toy so the nut is in the correct position to be wiggled out, unshelled and eaten. And she can only get one nut at a time and has to repeat the process to get the next one. Now she only gets her pistachios by foraging and is a happier bird for it.

There are many objects that are safe for your bird to play with and can have a treat hidden inside such as what we called Chinese Finger Traps ages ago when I was a kid. It doesn't matter if you make foraging toys for your bird or if you use commercially produced ones. What matters is that you work with your bird to help it learn to forage just like parents and senior flock members would do in the wild. Both you and your bird will benefit from the effort.

The picture at the top of today’s blog entry shows an Eclectus parrot playing with a toy made from a clean paper coffee cup. This image may or may not show a foraging toy, but it should help you to develop ideas for foraging toys for your bird.

Wilton Parrot Rescue is a 100% volunteer run operation which is totally dependent on contributions for support. Please visit our web page (http://www.wiltonparrotrescue.com/default.html) and our Facebook fan page (https://www.facebook.com/wiltonparrotrescue) where you can learn more about the rescue and the birds available for adoption.