Aussie Finch Forum

My hooded parrots hatched out their first chick this morning. Normally I would have expected them to begin eating vast amounts of greens, corn and green and seed.
However this isn't the case. They are more concerened with eating all the mealworms I have in there for the young tri coloured parrot finches.
I haven't read of any parrot eating livefood. Is this common?

Yes, they are just after the higher protein from the insect food. I used to breed Golden-shouldered Parrots (same genus as Hoodeds) years ago & would give regular mealies when they had young. These were keenly eaten especially for the 1st few days after hatching. They did also love grass seed heads, sprouted seed, etc. at the same time when feeding young.
Just recently had a clutch of my son's Scarlet-chested parrots fledge 4 young in one of my (former) holding aviaries. This aviary housed a spare young Variegated Wren until recently so was regularly given softbill softfood & livefood. The Scarlet parents didn't eat the livefood but would keenly eat the softfood before grass seed & sprouts. The softfood was a rich, high protein brew - egg, cheese, wombaroo insectivore, cous cous, madiera cake, spirulina, ID yeast, livamol & bread crumb.

Cockatoos & Linnies love them. My Linnies will eat them before anything else, & it's usually a fight between my Majors & the Black-Breasted Button-Quail to see who gets to the mealworms first ( I normally distract the cockies with some peanuts, or they'll eat the lot & leave the quail with nothing).

Lorikeets love maggots . . so would other parrots

Cockatoos and Macaws love c hicken bones preferably with meat attached

I have seen a great photo of a gang-gang eating a rat (purpose bred).

I know a bloke who feeds his gang gang mice and sparrows. They love meat these bigger birds.

Gawd. If our local plagues of sulphur crests get a taste for flesh we are all doomed.

Many people do not understand that the flocks of cockies that "attack" the ovals and paddocks, are in fact eating insects. Yes they will eat the crops too. But only as an add on to their preference for the insects. Biologists prooved this years ago.
LML

At Hamilton Island resort in the Whitsunday Islands the white cockies eat literally anything . . but probably not too many insects

Guests are requested to leave balcony doors shut as the birds enter rooms and eat anything edible that they can find . . and 'nibble' on anything that they can't digest

It seems they are particularly partial to potato crisps, but any 'human' tucker is OK

Strangely, management has adopted a "Don't Encourage the Birds" policy

See Galahs and Corellas eating roadkill when driving to and from mines...