Parakeets diet

Question
Hi dear.
I have been using this great service for the last 8 months n have got much knowledge by ur advices. Thanx
My question is that i have an ALEXANDRINE PARAKEET of exactly 1 year of age, only 2 days before it's first birthday, it spoke it's first word. It was so exciting for us, so v started giving it SUN FLOWER SEED everytime it speak that word. It's diet is very healthy, i give him vegetables and fruits etc. I give my parrot around 25 SUN FLOWER SEEDS daily as treat (only when it speak, 1 seed at one time). A person told me that SUN FLOWER SEEDS have high minerals n that is why not more than 3 seeds should be given daily. My question is that should i stop giving him 25 seeds??  And my 2nd question is that is there an age limit for parrots to learn to speak. I mean that is there any specific age before which my Alexandrine Parakeet will learn to speak and after that age it will only repeat the old learned words???
Thanx a lot for listening to me. God bless u.
Bye

Answer
Sunflower seeds are actually very high in FAT. We don't allow them at all with any of our birds (well over 50 birds now at 3 sanctuaries).
High fat foods in a birds diet often leads to "fatty liver disease" - which can be very serious and awfully costly to treat.

One of our most recent consults was with a lady who has a macaw - in less than a week she weaned the bird off sunflower seeds completely.

3 a day shouldn't be a problem though, but certainly not much more than that.

 Try a piece of non-salted cracker, graham cracker, unsalted rice cake, or - if you're really lucky, your companion will actually LIKE a pellet (doesn't matter which kind, the fruity colored kind are fine). Also try a plain bite size shredded wheat square, corn flake, etc - get creative about rewards.  

 We have a lot more about bird modification, foods and nearly everything you can imagine at our page and it's all free, nothing for sale and no ulterior motives.

 www.4AnimalCare.org (click on 'birds')

It sounds like you care a great deal - and with your open mind and curiosity, this is a very lucky bird!