Healthy Bird Project

Healthy Bird Program

The Healthy Bird Program started the day parrots and finches joined Leslie’s family. This was in 1997. As Leslie learned all she could from more experienced aviculturists she quickly discovered a fatal flaw in the way they feed these amazing, intelligent and sensitive feathered animals. The most common advise that was given decades ago, and that is still given today is: to ‘feed parrots a wide variety of foods’. Sadly, this is a recipe for avian malnutrition and unbalanced nutrition.

We can say this because of Leslie’s personal experience with parrots she had purchased for breeding. A beautiful pair of Scarlet-chested parakeets died. The hen died of cancer within a month of bringing her home. And the male died shortly thereafter from a vitamin K deficiency while at the avian vet and having blood drawn. When these two bird died Leslie was devastated with grief, but she knew that she could not let these deaths be meaningless. What the Healthy Bird Program does is keep detailed records on the balance of whole, real foods fed to the birds. And when a parrot or finch in the Healthy Bird Program dies the body is sent into our pathology lab at U.C. Davis for a necropsy (Animal autopsy). The results of these necropsies provide essential information for enriching our knowledge of avian nutrition for all the parrot species were care for here at Emerald Ark. Your donations help us continue this vital work that supports the good health and well being of all parrot species.