As a human being, I know how quickly I can tire of the same old foods, even ones that I love or know are good for me. There is typically a lot of variety in the wild parrot’s diet, so I try to change things up for my bird as much as possible while still maintaining a healthy diet. Here are some recipes for nutritious “sandwiches” for your feathered family that are soooo easy to make and fun to eat!
1 ) Almond Butter and Banana On Whole Wheat or Multi Grain Bread:
Smear almond peanut butter (very thinly or sparingly) on one side of two pieces of toasted bread. Push coarsely chopped pieces of banana into the almond butter and put the two slices of toast together. Cut the sandwich into 1 1/2″ square pieces for the larger birds and serve singularly or on a skewer. For the smaller birds, cut the larger pieces in half again and serve in a bowl.
Just FYI, it is very easy to make your own nut butters, which can be made from virtually any type of nut.
**This recipe previously called for peanut butter but based on updated information we have changed it to almond butter as it’s better for birds.
2) Tortilla Roll Ups:
Puree fruit, such as strawberries, blueberries and/or raspberries in the food processor. Smear one side of a flour or corn tortilla with the pureed mixture. Add a layer of cottage cheese over the top. Roll up the tortilla and cut into pieces appropriate for your bird’s size.
You can also mix finely chopped fruit with the cottage cheese and omit, or leave in, the pureed fruit.
3) Stuffed Pita Pockets Foragers:
In a food processor (or by hand) finely chop fresh or frozen spinach, carrots, raw zucchini or yellow squash, and walnuts. Add cooked brown rice and whole kernels of corn to the mixture. In a bowl, stir in only enough plain yogurt to the chopped veggies/rice mixture so that it remains thick. Spoon mixture into a pita pocket and serve whole or cut in half.
Birds of all size can burrow into the bread to get to the yummy stuff, you just have to let them know what awaits inside the bread to get them started. Just a taste from my finger or a spoon achieves that.
4) Breakfast Sandwich:
Stuff a pita pocket with scrambled eggs, cooked mashed sweet potato, and grated cheddar (or other) cheese. If your bird has been especially good, you might occasionally crumble in bits of bacon. Serve warm. To complete the breakfast scenario, serve with a side of sliced orange.
5) Lasagna Roll Ups:
Cook lasagna noodles until they are soft, but still firm. Let cool and cut in half.
In a small bowl, mix ricotta cheese with several healthy shakes of parmesan cheese and sprinkle lightly with garlic powder or ground nutmeg for a little extra flavoring (optional).
Smear the cheese mixture on a halved lasagna noodle and drizzle with tomato sauce or a low sodium spaghetti sauce. Roll up the lasagna noodle and secure with a toothpick. Warm in microwave being sure not to serve until safe from hot spots.
…Of course, there are any number of ways these recipes can be modified to suit your bird’s personal tastes. Do try to incorporate new foods into these recipes. It is a good way to get them to explore new possibilities and expand their diet.
1/08/11
There were so many comments about the inclusion of cheese in these recipes that I decided to put my response into the body of this post:
Hi to everyone,
When I wrote this post, I was aware that these questions would arise. I LOVE that so many are concerned enough about their bird’s diet to take the time to ask them. A few short years ago, most people weren’t as aware of diet issues, so this is a HUGE step forward in the care of our birds.
I have always said that a consistently healthy diet is the MOST important aspect of our care-giving with birds. Fresh foods should be the biggest part of their diet. Dr. Cook is correct in advising that birds are lactose intolerant which should preclude large amounts of dairy in their diet, and peanuts/peanut butter can present problems in some birds. However, I also have found that most birds tolerate these foods without problems at all, if given in moderation. But do be watchful for problems, as you should be with every aspect of your bird’s life.
My take on it is this: Apart from following the rules and making sure that you are giving the very best of everything to your birds, life is also supposed to be fun. An excruciatingly bland diet is as hard on parrots as it is on humans. Food is part of what makes life good. Unfortunately, the best tasting foods are not generally the most beneficial to us. Just as you would with your own diet, a bird needs limitations set, with the accent placed on good health.
Patty
Patty Jourgensen specializes in avian health, behavior and nutrition and has been working with and caring for rescue birds since 1987.
117 comments
Just gave my two greys a peanut butter sandwich. Didnt have banana so added thin slices of apple. The practically ate every crumb. A list oa other foods that we can safely feed out birds would be excellent and then we can make our own receipies!
It’s a pity these recepes are only suitable for the larger birds,but not for my two budgies.I really would like to get some tips for them two.
I love the ideas as well, what I would like to know is, first of all I thought and read somewhere that they are not allowed to eat bacon/pork.. ….is this true And cheeses, I take it in moderation, i have no idea about ricotta cheese and how its processed . I love the ideas. I always used to give the crusts of my toast to the birds in the morning or just give them a slice of toast and cut it into fingers. Does bread get sour in their crops?????
A neighbor with a Yellow-Naped Amazon (like my own) told me how his bird LOVES cooked oatmeal! Now when I make oatmeal for myself, I make extra for Tess, and keep a little extra in the refrigerator to warm up for snacks. She gobbles it like no other food. (Served warm, of course, with whatever fruit and nut additions I am enjoying with my own oatmeal.)
Yes Yes, its all very good to inspire your bird, and giving them a good healthy diet of variety is great, but and I hate to be negative after this has been kindly posted, but salt, not good at all, cheese is full of salt, and it has no benefit for your feathered friend, milk, cheese etc can not be digested by birds, lactose intolerant would be the term, my own birds love to pinch my cornflakes out of my cereal bowl, but they only get one or two and choose nothing else, even if I have a mixed bowl. Sweet potato, only last week, the vet advised that this is a bad food and to class it with avocado, as foods not to feed. Peanuts and peanut butter, can have cancerous causing agents, I keep fresh peanuts in the fridge in their shells, and give about 2 per month, the cancer causing agent is a fungus that many foods harbor. Same old story, keep it simple, keep it fresh and stay away from all processed food, its not good for you, and its certainly life shortening for your little bird, who only weighs grams! Yours Dale.
Excellent ideas. Good for us too, as I am “His Highness’ Official Taster” – won’t eat anything unless we try it out first….
These are some great ideas, Chet, but Two things I would like to clarify for your readers: first, make sure to use only natural peanut butter. The stuff they sell like Jif, Skippy, etc, is full of hydrogenated fats and sugar. Birds don’t need that! One might also try almond butter, tahini (sesame), or cashew butter, as long as they don’t have any additives. Second, I have completely stopped using my microwave after finding out about how it changes the molecular structure of the foods we put in them. I would use a toaster oven, griddle, or regular oven to warm foods. Likewise, I have stopped cooking the birds’ sweet potatoes in the microwave, just have to think ahead and put them in the oven. I do hate feeding my two macaws the same things over and over, but when I try to incorporate new foods, they invariably end up on the floor or just left in their bowls. I will try these great ideas and see what happens! Thanks for them!
Thanks! appreciate new recipes to vary their diet!
I noticed that alot of the receipes had dairy products in them. I was told that birds are lactose intollerent and should not have any dairy. Is this true?
Did you know that birds are lactose intolerant? They don’t have the enzyme lactase to break down lactose. They are not mammals and do not have mammory glands. They do not find dairy products in the wild to eat because dairy comes from mammals. I would not suggest to feed parrots or birds dairy products. They can congeal in the crop and in the gut and cause problems. Also peanut butter contains aflotoxins which causes aspergillosis a very serious toxin that can make your parrot sick. I would stick to other nuts. Hope this helps. And do your research before you feed anything to your parrot.
If this is safe for my birds to eat, I will try giving it to them. So it is ok to feed it to Green-cheeked conures, princess parrots and cockatiels right?
great recepies Thanks Again for your help. Thehow to peanut spreads really are great for me here in Israel were is`t really costly and with all kinds of add sugers that I hate. For my birds and I
What fabulous ideas! I am printing it out and going to begin preparing some of them tomorrow for my flock. Thanks!
great suggestions!!
This is safe and good for your bird. Parrots are not fragile beings. Generally, what’s good for us is good for them. Just remember that we eat a lot of things that we consider “good” for us. Out cockatiel, Jack, loves just about anything we eat.
Hi Parrot slave, I agree completely! An example: beta carotene, a substance which converts to vitamin A in the body and is SO important to our birds, is water soluble. When we boil sweet potato or squash, for instance, all the good stuff is being thrown away with the cooking water. Steaming is preferable to boiling, but still nutrients are lost. I love the microwave for cooking these foods. You are correct about natural peanut butters being more likely to contain harmful fungi. We should stay away from raw honey as well. Patty
Thanks for the great recipe ideas. However, birds don’t digest cheese very well and they don’t need it in their diet to be healthy. In fact, cheese can lead to disease and obesity. If you’re insistent on giving your birds cheese, please keep it down to a minimum and serve only low fat. Only serve pure organic peanut butter that does not have any added hydrogenated oil, such as palm oil or other added oils. Most peanut butter has this added fat. There are only a few companies that don’t add fat to their peanut butter. (This tip is important for people too.) It’s important that your bird not fill up on too much “people food”. Our companion birds need a well rounded diet that consists of all the necessary vitamins, calcium, and minerals. Most people are unable to provide these nutrients in a birds daily diet with people food, which is why a pelleted diet is preferred. Thanks Chet for sharing. I love the pita pocket idea.
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