For those looking for veterinary advice from a pure avian specialist, Dr Hamish Baron’s name is sure to come up. So when we had a golden opportunity to ask this “unusual pet vet” about species-specific nutrition for pet birds, we jumped at it!
Originally from New Zealand, veterinarian Dr Hamish Baron is one of Australia’s few registered avian specialists. After studying veterinary science at the University of Queensland, he went on to become Director of the Avian, Reptile and Exotic Pet Hospital at the University of Sydney. Now part of the team at Unusual Pet Vets, Dr Baron provides expert care for pet birds and other exotic companions in Melbourne.
We caught up with him to talk species-specific nutrition for pet birds, his expert perspective advocating for a balanced, adaptable and quality-focused approach to avian nutrition.
Why do some species of aviary birds require a more specific diet?
Because each bird species evolved to fill a different ecological niche, their diets are different. This evolution goes so far as their gastrointestinal tract. Some birds have a very long, convoluted small intestine. Others are very short, requiring more easily digestible foods that are processed quickly.
Fulfilling the metabolic, physiological and nutritional requirements of these aviary birds is something that is essential to their health and reproductive success.
Are supplements necessary?
This all depends on the diet that is being fed to the birds. If feeding a seed-only diet then the diet needs to be supplemented with vitamin A and calcium.
Vitamin A is available in a number of different vegetables whilst calcium can be provided either in drinking water or as a powder sprinkled over a soaked seed or wet mix. Vegetables and fruit should be offered to all cage and aviary birds on a daily basis and should be changed at least every 12hrs during the summer to prevent spoilage.
What are some common misconceptions about the diet of aviary birds?
That aviary birds should only be fed seed and water. This has been proven time and again to be untrue. Birds evolved hundreds of thousands of years before agricultural grain and as such, we use grain to fulfil a portion of their diet that would otherwise be filled with different food material.
Seed provides many of the essentials that the birds require, but is not something that will allow the birds to thrive on its own. The quality of the seed plays a big role in the nutrients available however. The beauty of Topflite seed is that most of it is grown in New Zealand, so it has not been heat-treated. This makes the nutrient value significantly better.
When rearing birds, what considerations need to be made regarding their diet?
The parent birds require a much higher plane of nutrition when feeding and rearing chicks. This diet should be implemented before breeding season starts to allow the hen to store calcium and other nutrients in her bones that are required for egg laying. It will also stimulate the adult birds into breeding condition and allow them to have the nutrient stores to rear healthy chicks. The diet should be supplemented with sprouted seed, calcium and live food, depending on the species. For example, many smaller finch species will not breed without the addition of live food or live food supplements.
When rearing chicks, the parents also have a significant increase in water intake. So fresh, clean water should be available at all times.
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