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Sources of Carotenoids:
Favorite Fruits, Veggies & Greens
| Fork MashedThawed Frozen Peas |
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| Notice the peas are not a puree. They won't like it if you make a mush out of their peas. |
PEAS - just thaw in microwave & mash coarsely with a fork.
These are, without a doubt, the claws down number one favorite treat in my bird room.
SPINACH (fresh or frozen) - squeeze excess moisture out of thawed
frozen spinach.
COLLARD GREENS - alternative to frozen Spinach. Thaw and
squeeze excess moisture out before serving.
KALE - See Collard Greens
MUSTARD GREENS - See Collard Greens
ANY LETTUCE except iceburg - not a lot of value to iceburg
lettuce BUT if you only have iceburg, feeding it is better than feeding nothing.
| Grating Carrot - A Great Source of Beta Carotene |
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| Finches love carrots so long as they are grated finely enough to be finch-beaked in size. |
CUCUMBERS (these are really a fruit though we treat them as vegetables)
- Make wedges, slices or dice. Your finches should devour them leaving only the skin behind.
FIGS - Buy fresh or dried fruits (without sulfur). Slice
in half. Gouldians will pick the seeds out but don't expect them to eat the sweetmeat.
CARROT - grated. Add to egg food.
SPROUTS - see sprout section. You can easily sprout your
own seeds. Sprouts only need to have the root radicle showing when they are fed. They need not look like those
purchased in the store.
GREENS - Kale, Collard, Mustard, Dandelion, darn near anything
that is green and grows they should eat.
GREEN SPICES - Coriander, Cilantro, Dill and Parsley are all eaten
by my birds - IN MODERATION. If you overload their egg food with Celantro, they are probably not going to be too happy
with that.
GREEN BEANS - I buy frozen, microwave until thawed, chop and serve.
SOY BEANS - My birds love these as well. Again, I buy frozen.
To serve, thaw, chop into small pieces and serve. My birds are chow them down.
BROCCOLI - Finches are bonkers for the
florets. I will cut them off and feed them to the birds, while I'll eat the rest of the stalk. Oh the sacrifices
we make... They can be served either from frozen or from fresh. I serve fresh broccoli raw.
CORN - Frozen & thawed or cross sections of cobs. Remove
cobs after ONE day. They can catch mold. To serve corn on the cob, take a knife and score open the kernels so
the finches can get to the inside easier. This is a favorite Bengalese (Society) treat.
ORANGE - Put a small wedge in with Gouldians. Some have a
penchant for this fruit.
| Finch Smorgasborg - Carotenoid Rich Greens |
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| Romaine, Dill, Cabbage, Boston & Ruby Red Lettuce, Spinach, Brocolli and Alfalfa Sprouts |
LUSCIOUS CAROTENOID-PACKED GREENS
While greens don't visually appear to have carotenoids - DON'T BE FOOLED. They have
tons of chlorophyll, and this green pigment masks the carotenoids which are also present. However, wherever there's
chlorophyll, there HAS to be the accessory pigments we know as carotenoids. Think of tree leaves in the fall.
They 'turn' yellow or red. OK, well they don't really turn any color, it's just that the leaves stop producing chlorophyll which
is then broken down and recycled by the plant. ONLY THEN can we SEE all those luscious accessory PIGMENTS which
are so VITAL to plant and animal HEALTH. Go dig out some greens for yourself and for your birds ~ It'll do a body
good!
BE IMAGINATIVE: If it is cut small enough and isn't really
wet or slimy or too sweet, most finches will eventually try most anything you put in their tray.
Dropping Color Changes
| Beet Stained Dropping |
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| If you feed beets, your birds' droppings will change color. Do not confuse this with blood. |
Finch poop can easily change color depending upon what they ate recently. Beets chopped
fine enough are eaten, but beware they can make droppings turn reddish pink, almost fooling you into thinking your finches
are bleeding to death. I've already given myself heart palpatations over that one.
Color intensive greens may turn finch droppings very dark almost blackish green.
Be aware that dropping color changes will occur if you feed your birds colorful foods.
Dropping Texture Changes
Feeding vegetables will increase the water content of droppings as well. If you do feed
vegetables, be aware that cage trays and papers or aviary bedding may need to be watched more closely for mold - particularly
in hot humid summer months.
Oxalic Acid, Greens and Calcium
| Rhubarb Leaves |
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| There is so much Oxalic Acid in Rhubarb Leaves, that they are poisonous and cannot be consumed!!! |
Some greens contain a very high level of oxalic acid (oxalate or OA) which can inhibit calcium
uptake and in the worse case scenario, is toxic. For example, the reason rhubarb leaves are not eaten is because they
contain LETHAL levels of oxalic acid, while the stems are quite safe to eat as long as you don't have a kidney condition.
A wild growing weed that is also high in OA is Phytolacca (common names are Pokeweed and Inkberry).
The roots, leaves and shoots of this plant are quite toxic, not only because of OA, but they also contain a glycoside saporin
called PAP which inactivates ribosomes (which are responsible for protein synthesis in our bodies). PAP is being investigated
for it's anti-cancer and anti-viral properties. While some people eat Pokeweed salad in the spring when the shoots
are quite small and tender, this is one plant you'd never catch me eating. I'd also never give it to my birds.
The young shoots actually contain extremely high levels of PAP.
| Phytolacca AKA Pokeweed, Pokeberry or Inkberry |
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| The fruit is eaten by wild birds, but all other parts can be quite toxic. |
Calcium Uptake Inhibition: Studies have been done which show
that in greens like spinach, despite having a high calcium level, the calcium is not actually bioavailable. This happens
because the oxalic acid interacts with the calcium to form insoluble calcium oxalate. Calcium oxalate crystals can
cause kidney damage if ingested in extremely high quantities.
| Luscious Red Rhubarb Stems |
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| While the leaves of Rhubarb are toxic, the stems are edible, though they still contain Oxalic Acid. |
From this finding, people have extrapolated that all calcium uptake (as well as iron if the
spinach is cooked) is inhibited if a bird ingests spinach. And from there, other people say you should not feed your
birds any spinach or other high OA containing foods because hens will become egg bound. To my knowledge, no
such connection has been proven. Given the gut throughput time of about 30 minutes for most finches, I'm unsure how
having a little high OA food present for a brief period is going to inhibit all calcium uptake. Plus, if you've been
supplementing your birds properly with Calcium, they should have ample reserves in their bones.
I feed spinach - I seldom have bound hens. I also feed many of the high OA containing
foods in the table below. I point out the OA and Calcium connection, just so that people are aware.
Note: OA + calcium yields calcium oxalate crystals which are
hard on the kidneys. If you have a bird with known kidney problems, then it's best to avoid all OA containing foods.
Note: Most nuts contain high OA levels.
Foods with High Oxalic Acid Levels
* Should NEVER be fed to birds.
THOSE CRAZY ZEBRAS!!!!
If you have Zebras, then you already know they are OCD when it comes to building nests.
They are not particular about what building materials they use, just so long as they can call it a nest when they are done.
While normally this is harmless or perhaps annoying, it can be disgusting when whole green leaves come into the picture.
Zebras will cart up huge hunks of Romaine or whatever the green du jour is right into their nesting basket or box, and make
a nest of sorts from it. Of course, it is going to rot in a day or two. If the weather is for high humidity,
it will make a nice slimy unsanitary mess of their nest. I've long given up with Zebras and have just learned to slice
greens or otherwise cut them into small sizes. Sure it takes me a few moments, but this way, what little bit they
do manage to drag up into their nest box does not become a health hazard. I've only experienced this problem with Zebras.
Cordons have a most intriguing habit of bathing on whole wet Romaine leaves or other wet fresh
greens. It can be quite entertaining to watch. Otherwise, most other finches just eat what they like and go back
to business as usual.
| Colorful Fruits Which Most Finches Won't Eat |
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| Mango, Banana, Apple, Orange and Tomatoes are rich in carotenoids but are typically not eaten. |
Most fruits are not taken by finches. They do not seem to like SWEET nor moist
and gooey things. Banana is perhaps their least favorite substance on earth. Strawberries are no more popular. At
best they will eat the seeds off the strawberry. It's pretty much the same story for most fruits: they
are too sweet, too mushy and your finches will probably turn their beaks up at most fruits. My finches do
eat apple, but I dice it finely for them and mix it in with their egg food. It is given as an occasional treat.
Some Gouldians are bonkers for orange wedges. Some finches will eat greener mango if finely minced. And others
will take grapes. Some of my Gouldians will pick all the seeds out of either fresh or dried (sulfur free) fig halves
- leaving all the sweet meat behind. The precision of their beaks is amazing. Kiwi? Same thing - seeds are
extracted with surgical precision, the fruit pulp is completely ignored.
Rather than to try to force birds to eat that which they seem to have a natural aversion to,
I feel it's best to focus on those foods which they prefer to eat: Seeds, grains, vegetables, egg food and insects.
Everything they need can be found in one or more of these foods.
| Comparison of Egg Food Color |
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| Paprika-Flaxseed Oil-Walnut Meal, Spirulina-Chlorella-Olive Oil & Turmeric-Grape Seed Oil. |
There are also other simpler places you can obtain carotenoids and all their
healthful benefits - primarily from dried powders. These work well because finches don't like overly moist
egg food.
| Sources of Carotenoids Purchased at Health Stores |
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| Wheat Grass, Spirulina and Chlorellas are all green in color and contain carotenoids. |
I use the following powders which are rich in carotenoids:
- Spirulina
- Chlorella
- Wheat Grass
- Barley Grass
- Alfalfa
- Turmeric
- Paprika
I use about a 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of the above ingredients in my basic egg food
recipe, except for spirulina and chlorella. These two are extremely colorful. Don't use more than 1/8 tsp in your
egg food unless you want it to be bright green.
I purchase the first five items from health food stores. I get turmeric
(a powdered root) and paprika (powdered dried red peppers) from a local Indian store. Try to find an Indian store
or Asian market. American main stream and health food stores charge OUTLANDISH prices for spices. Spice Island
is more like Spice Ripoff. You can get pounds of spice for what your local chain supermarket charges you for a
few ounces, if that.
| Spirulina Powder |
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| The color of Spirulina is so intensely Blue-Green it will turn egg food bright green if overused. |
NOTE: Spirulina has very powerful carotenoids
which can turn yellow mutations quite red. This happened to Saffron, my yellow mutation Pintailed Nonpareil
Parrotfinch cockbird. While it is not the same as using Red Factor Canary food, there are some of the same carotenoids
present, and you can get redder birds than you intended. Spirulina is also a good source of trace metals. But
again, too much is not necessarily a good thing.
NOTE: Spirulina really packs a carotenoid punch.
Only use 1/8 teaspoon in the above basic egg food recipe. If you use more, you will turn your egg food into green eggs
and ham, Sam I am.
| Saffron - Pintailed Nonpareil Parrotfinch |
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| This male is a Yellow Mutation. However, he loves spirulina which turned his belly a bit too red. |
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