What to and not to feed

Question
 Hi Chrys,
I just got a great deal on an African Grey that is about a year old and I have found he likes cheese LOL and I want to make sure it is ok for him and how much I can give him since he can't seem to get enough LOL and I would like to know if there is a web site or somewhere I can go to get a list of do's and don'ts on feeding them?

Answer
Hi, Mike.  Thanks for posting!

Congratulations!  However, stop the cheese!  Birds are lactose intolerant and shouldn't have dairy products.  You can feed parrots any healthy, nutritious human food they will accept, except avoid citrus seeds (but the fruit is OK), chocolate, avocado, caffeine, soda, pasta (no sauces please), coffee/tea, etc., sugar, salt, high fat foods, fast foods, dairy products, etc., etc.  All seed is a big no-no, too.  Leave seed for occasional treats or as a reward for positive behavior (occasional nuts are fine).  Foods should be fresh, clean, and raw if possible...cooking tends to remove most of the vitamins.  However, some foods have to be cooked, such as brown rice, beans, lentils, these types of foods.  Veggies are best as are whole/multi grain foods, fruits are mainly water but melons are nutritional, blueberries, pomegrantes, bananas.  Parrots also like corn bread and things like this.  There are websites out there on parrots, but I don't know of any websites specifically just on food for parrots.  I recommend you search out sites specifically on greys, specifically Dr. Irene Pepperberg's website (search on any search engine).  You may have to try different methods of serving to see which your bird prefers, such as chopped, shredded, diced, sliced, etc.  For example, some birds will eat carrots shredded where others might prefer sliced.

Be aware that birds won't eat any new foods they don't recognize, so you will likely have to keep offering new foods until your grey accepts them as food.  It often helps if your bird sees you enjoying a food first...they seem to always want what we are eating!  With parrots, the key is variety.  Also, your grey should have pelleted food available at all times.  

Come back with any questions.

Chrys