Tea & sunflower seeds

Question
Could you please advise me if tea is very very bad for parrots - mine loves it!
Also, he really only wants to eat sunflower seeds though he does eat other things. If I cut out all the sunflower seeds and only gave them to him for a treat, would that be harmful? By harmful I mean would he reject other foods then?
Hope you can advise me.
Thank you
Penny

Answer
Hi, Penny.  Thanks for posting.

Tea is not good for parrots.  It has way too much caffeine in it, not to mention sugar, if you sweeten the tea.  An occasional sip now and then wouldn't be too bad, but keep to absolute minimum if at all.  Some of my parrots like coffee, Mountain Dew, ice cream, etc., but I don't let them have it because I want them to be healthy.

Seeds to parrots are like candy to a kid.  Of course they love them, they are full of fat and little nutrition, i.e., seeds taste good to parrots.  Similar to fast food for humans...we like it because it tastes so good, but it isn't good for us!  A parrot will usually always eat seed over other food that is good for them.  Absolutely not, it would NOT be harmful to only feed your parrot healthy food that is good for him.  Your parrot will most likely reject other food if you provide seed and the other food at the same time.  I recommend you provide the healthy food (and pelleted food 24/7), and if your parrot eats his healthy food, then allow him to have the seed treat (but not a seed treat every day).  For many years, my parrots only get a seed treat at the end of the week if, during the week, they have consumed their nutritional foods.  Of course, if your parrot isn't used to eating nutritional food, he won't eat what he doesn't recognize as being food.  In other words, if you start offering him veggies and fruit every day, and he isn't used to eating veggies and fruit, he won't eat the veggies/fruit because he won't recognize them as food.  As far as he knows, this food could be a toy or something else besides food.  If this is the case, keep offering the nutritional food every day.  He'll eventually try the food once he realizes the food won't hurt him or once he realizes the food isn't a toy, etc.  

Come back if you need to.  

Chrys