Your birds favorite treats?

[Serafisk]

I was wondering what your birds like to eat, and what their favorite treats are?

My amazon Elliot is crazy about sunflower seeds - he's like a cat on catnip around them, and he'd do anything to get one. It's our number one treat for training, since it's the only thing I've found that can really motivate him like that.
      Problem is that sunflower seeds are so fatty, so I don't want to feed him very many. Therefore I don't want to have to rely on them as a treat for training.

Which treats motivates your birds? And which fruits and greens do your birds enjoy the most? So far Elliot is a very picky eater so I want all sorts of inspiration!

[Strawfrawg]

Marvin will eat anything I give him, luckily, except he isn't so fond of greens because he likes to really tear into things hard and greens aren't so great for that. I hang them in clumps/stacks to make them more appealing.

Marvin is especially fond of walnuts and whole almonds, pistachios, the firmer and more tart varieties of apple, coconut on the shell, well-cooked edamame, corn on the cob, raw carrots cut in sticks, cauliflower in sticks with a little tuft on top, pineapple, cucumber, sweet potato in large cubes like toy blocks, garbanzo beans, blueberries, sunflower seeds, organic mini shredded wheat, brussels sprouts (which he loves to peel) and Nutriberries. Raw coconut on the shell has been a great discovery. He loves to destroy it like a toy and chew out the moisture. He prefers his veggies in stick-like form, for the most part. Some veggies he wouldn't touch any other way. He likes his berries, garbanzos and edamame strung on a string like a necklace. I like to hang foods in unexpected places so he can find it while he's climbing around.

[Pajarita]

Nuts and birdie bread is everybody's favorite thing (the larger species also love their birdie cookies but the little ones are not that fond of them). For fruit, pomegranate, apple, oranges and blackberries are everybody's favorites. For veggies, hands-down is corn on the cob. And, for greens, Red Swiss Chard (the tiels go crazy for it!) but they don't get it very often because it's high in oxalates.

[Serafisk]

Thank you both, those are some great tips. Especially corn on the cob and raw coconut on the shell. What I want, besides the treat to motivate him for training, is foods that are "fun" for him to eat, and both those things I imagine will be fun for him to pick at and break apart. The berries on a string is a great tip too - do you use actual string or like a sturdy straw of grass or something? I've blackberries, strawberries and raspberries in my garden so I'm definitely trying that when they become ripe later in the summer :]

Pajarita, what do you mean by "birdie bread" and "birdie cookies"? Also, is there any special type of nut that your birds prefer, or more like nuts in general?

[pennyandrocky]

i use raw almonds for mya she'll put up with almost anything to get one. penny is my flying pig he'll eat anything.

[Pajarita]

Birdy bread is just that, a bread made for the birds. It has different kinds of whole grains (including actual grains like oat groats and wheat kernels, for example), yeast (very nutritious), a bit of honey (just a little bit to activate the yeast in the spicy version and more for the fruity one), a bit of oil (I use virgin olive oil for the omegas) and whatever else you are putting in there to make it good and nutritious -pureed pumpkin, mashed sweet potatoes and grated carrots always and unsweetened organic apple sauce, organic and naturally dried bits of fruits like apple, mango, papaya, etc., dried figs/dates/raisins/currants, unsweetened grated coconut, a bit of cinnamon, etc for the fruity and sweet bread; and, for the spicy: corn from a can that is thoroughly drained (get the no-salt kind and put it on a paper towel after you drain it), chopped pimento and/or green peppers, grated zucchini (coarsely done and drained after grating on a paper towel), habaneros, jalapenos, etc. And, of course nuts! They all love it, from the budgies to the macaws.

The cookies are just a mix of whole grain flours with oat groats and wheat kernels, a bit of baking powder (aluminum-free!), some oil and whatever you want to use to moisten the batter, it can be pureed pumpkin, mashed sweet potatoes, apple sauce or just plain fruit juice and then you add raisins/currants/chopped figs/dates and nuts, of course.

There is really no science or recipe because the birds don't really care if neither the bread or the cookies are too dense or too dry or too anything, they like them anyway.

As to nuts, I buy a mix of tree nuts from ABBA (they sell bird seed mixes and such), they come in a 5 lb bag and it has almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans and hazelnuts which I toast in the oven to ensure there is no aspergillus left in them and then keep in the fridge. But they do get a peanut (human grade and roasted) every now and then because they just LOVE them!

[Serafisk]

Thank you for clearing that up for me :] I don't think it's too common in Sweden, since I've never heard of it before, but I'm definitely going to try that for Elliot. Is it poosible to do a big batch and then freeze it to preserve it, or do you usually bake small amounts often?

[Pajarita]

I use a 2 lb bread machine. I put everything in there at night before I go to sleep and wake up to the bread already made and already cooled and, as I have a lot of birds, I use the whole thing in one single feeding.

[Serafisk]

Oh man, I wish I had one of those xD

I just tried to make some sort of an inbetween bread/cookie thing for Elliot. I threw in some banana, apple, carrot, eggs, peanut butter, shredded coconut, nuts, parrot seed mix and some grain in a blender and left it for about 30 min in the oven and it turned out pretty decent for a first attempt.
      Elliot seemed to like it, though I'm not sure if it was just the texture and plucking it to small pieces he enjoyed He seemed to be trying to fish out the nuts, but that's fine I suppose. The important thing is that he had fun, and if he actually ate some of it then all the better. I'll give him some more tomorrow and we'll see what he does then. :]

Huge thanks for the tip, nonetheless. I'll be working on my recipe for sure :]

[Lucky1too]

Al literally begs for strawberries and yogurt. He loves birdie cookies also. They are a win/win!