Many people use the phrase "eat like a bird" to describe a person that eats very little or is picky about their meals. However, that could not be further from the truth. Some of the questions I am asked the most about my experience at the Bird Center involves the diets of all of the birds. I'm here to clear up the questions and describe the huge task of feeding over 100 birds the appropriate diets they need to make them happy and healthy.
What do they eat?
It depends on the bird. We have various diets for various birds and every species of bird is different. It also depends on the age of the bird, as young birds are not able to digest the materials that consume later as adults.
Most of our young babies and fledglings eat a diet formulated specifically for songbirds by a company called Mazuri. They also create balanced diets for reptiles, mammals, amphibians, and fish. It is a powder-based meal that we mix with warm water and syringe-feed by hand. While it sounds convenient, a batch is only fresh for an hour. Therefore, we are frequently making batches of Mazuri diet to ensure we are only feeding fresh food.
Young pigeons and doves however, require a different diet. While songbirds eat insects high in protein, pigeons and doves eat seeds, which are low in protein and high in fat. Because they are unable to digest high amounts of protein, they are syringe-fed what we call Basic diet. It is similar, however, contains the necessary amounts of fat and lower amounts of protein.
We also provide our birds with mealworms, organic fruit, and various types of seed.
How often do they eat?
In the wild, young hatchlings are completely dependent on Mom and Dad. The parents spend all of their waking hours foraging for food to feed its babies. We try to mimic this frequency as closely as possible. For this reason, our youngest hatchlings are fed every 30 minutes! Yes, you read that correctly. It is an exhausting task and it seems like the babies are never satisfied. However, if you think about it, it does make sense. As a baby, you want to grow up bigger and stronger than your siblings so you can survive better. For that reason, it's in your best interest to beg and act hungry as much as possible to maximize your chances of getting fed.
When they get a bit older and reach the fledgling stage, we continue to feed them the Mazuri formula. However, now we do it at 45 minute increments instead. At this stage, we also provide them with mealworms, fruit, and seed to help wean them off of the formula. As time goes on, they learn to beg less and less for formula and become more independent and self-feeding with what is given to them.
Young doves and pigeons are a bit of an exception and are fed by parents much less often. Therefore, we feed them Basic diet every 3 hours.
As for the adult birds that we have, it is hard to say. We watch as closely as we can but since they are usually self-feeding, it's safe to say that they just eat when they're hungry and don't when they're not!
Aren't the birds hungry overnight?
Just like you and me, birds go to sleep at night and are awake during the daylight hours. Our staff leaves the Center at 9pm at night. Soon after, the birds go to sleep and by the time we arrive again at 7am the next morning , they're up and ready to eat breakfast!
Though I do sometimes wonder... do the birds play while the staff is away?
What if a bird doesn't want to eat?
There are instances where birds do not beg for food or try to self-feed. This is relatively common in our sick or injured birds. For some birds, we can use our fingers to hold open the beak in order to get a syringe in the mouth to feed. For more stubborn birds, we sometimes use a metal gavage tube. It attaches to a syringe of food and is inserted directly down the throat and into the crop of the bird. It does not hurt the bird and allows for us to get food directly into the animal.
How does a baby learn to eat adult food?
When a bird reaches fledgling stage, we begin to feed them the formula they were fed at hatchlings less often. Though it is an adjustment for them, we make sure they have plenty of seed, fruit, and mealworms to snack on. Sometimes it takes time for the birds to pick up on the fact they can eat those things and we sometimes will offer worms or fruit by hand to show them. However, it usually takes no time at all before the birds are snacking on their new treats and it isn't long after that that they forget all about the baby formula and begin to feed on their own just like grown-ups!
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