About
I adore parrots and have shared my home with them for over twenty years now. I’m always trying to come up with fun new ways to feed the flock nutritious and enriching meals. I buy most of my “bird food” in health food stores so I know that the ingredients are all fresh, human-grade and organic. I still feed a quality pellet mix, sprouts, and lots of fresh leafy greens, vegetables and some fruit and flowers. I make all different types of meals so that they get a good variety of fresh foods daily. I have written a special feeding section for the Florida Parrot Rescue newsletter, and have provided healthy recipe ideas for the Arizona Aviculture Society newsletter, as well as for Posters for Parrot Advocates and various bird sites and groups. I have a healthy parrot feeding ideas/recipe group on Facebook too, The Parrot’s Pantry, where members can share their healthy meal ideas with one another. I hope you and your birds will enjoy some of these homemade recipe ideas too.
Elle
The Happy Cockatoo: Elle's Avian Cuisine 
Thank you for doing the recipes for the Arizona Aviculture Society. It is a great addition to our newsletter. Maybe at some later date we can have you as our guest speaker for one of our meetings.
April 7, 2012 at 3:04 pm
Thanks so much for thinking of me Bob, and for wanting me to contribute to your great newsletter and club. 🙂
April 7, 2012 at 3:10 pm
You do such a great job with your recipes & they look so pretty to. Hope to try some of these myself.
April 9, 2012 at 9:55 pm
Thanks so much Shirley! I have fun with it, I need to add a lot more here and am just getting the page started.
April 10, 2012 at 8:18 am
Hello there!
I am very interested in your site and recepty.Chovu parrots devote several years. I recently created a Czech Republic site papousci.net and I would ask you zdy could be from you publish some recipes on our website and use some of your photos.
Thank you for your time and answer. Miroslav Dubina redakce@papousci.net
December 7, 2012 at 5:24 am
Sure thing. They are here for everyone to enjoy.
December 28, 2012 at 9:36 pm
I have to commend you Michelle for this website youve created. This is just about THE most helpful parrot nutrition site/info I have ever seen. You have done a wonderful job with your clear instructions & ingredient lists, etc. Some of your ingredients I had never heard of prior to YOUR information. You have introduced my birds *AND ME* to a new healthier diet. You have changed our lives. I say “our” because I am on a mission to eat healthier myself & I have made a conscious decision to eat THEIR (my birds’) diet too…..because they eat better than I! (p.s….I love that you note that you share their goodies too) 🙂 If we’re going to feed them healthy….why not take advantage of that & include ourselves?
Michelle, your information that youve provided is invaluable. It is apparent that you have provided an education for us parrot caretakers (& FOR US humans too). I see that you have put your heart & soul into this endeavor of the wellfare of parrots everywhere. I hope you get lots of exposure so people will provide the proper nutrition for their birds far & wide. That would be a true blessing in itself..
You have put much time into research, experimentation, time & the cost of providing this wealth of info for us. I just want to tell you how much I appreciate that.
Truly, you are to be commended for your tireless work in this endeavor. PLEASE KEEP UP the great work!
Cathy R (aka Paloma Perch)
January 4, 2013 at 5:04 am
Thank you for all of the wonderful feedback and kind words, I really appreciate it and it pushes me to continue on. Blogging is very new to me and I feel inexperienced at it, but I really do enjoy making healthy meals for the parrots, and I’m glad to hear others are enjoying it too.
January 4, 2013 at 4:25 pm
Looking forward to trying some of these recipes
January 4, 2013 at 7:10 am
Great, let me know how your birdie likes them. 🙂
January 4, 2013 at 4:26 pm
I discovered today (from your advice), you are so right about soaking the almonds. They are so much more tasty when theyve been soaked overnight (for ME at least)….the birds are being a little picky at first, but they always are at new stuff. I find them delightful! THANKS for that tip!
Also….I found Goji berries in the dried form at Sprouts groc store. Is that how you get them? (dried)? The only thing I found in “fenugreek” was in the supplement isles….can you explain in more detail how you find/use that? And what is it’s purpose….I wasnt even clear on that from what I read on the supplement bottles. Pls educate me on that.
Thank you Michelle! I really appreciate it!
Oh..also am I supposed to reconstitue the goji berries? I popped a couple dried ones in my mouth….they were cool. I just didnt know if I had the right stuff &/or I was supposed to rehydrate them or not first.
Pls feel free to email me too. … I think you still have my email addy.
Kindest regards & thanks,
I hope it’s okay that I did also share this on my fb page paloma perch. People need to know about this…..like I said, I’m using this for MY nutrition for myself ALSO. People always say the birds eat better than I do….so I figure….I might as well eat WITH them…the healthy stuff too.
Hugs,
Cathy
KEEP bringing us MORE recipes! 🙂
January 5, 2013 at 11:42 pm
Another thing that you taught me that I didnt realize is about the sprouting….which I have not yet tried but WILL now. Is that I THOUGHT I had to see a Tail on the bean or seed to consider it as sprouted. I had no idea that making it come to LIFE didnt require seeing that tail. I had tried to sprout once before & I did it in a very shallow dish, rinsing a few times over a couple days & they never showed signs of a sprout & they became smelly so I tossed them. I see your method is different & I am going to try that now.
Also,….I loved seeing your idea of using canning jars for storage! I was tired of keeping bags of stuff from the store bulk areas & forgetting what they were & dealing with all those bags. I went to Walmart & bought a 12-pack of Kerr canning jars (comes with lids & rings) & just ran the jars thru my dishwasher this evening…..GREAT solution for storing these ingredients! Again…..I hate to repeat myself….but THANKS
January 5, 2013 at 11:50 pm
Soaked almonds are the best, that’s the one “bird food” I’m always sneaking into. You can eat the goji berries dry or you can rehydrate them in water, I also bake them in breads.
The fenugreek you use should not be in the supplements isle, look for it in the spice isle, it’s often used in Indian cooking and it smells fantastic. I started using it since so many of the sprouting mixes for parrots included them, I just use a small sprinkle occasionally in a big batch.
Remember with sprouting beans, must be fully sprouted until you see all the tails very well, but seeds and grains can just be soaked and served, or they can be sprouted. It’s best to start with seeds and grains until you are comfortable sprouting.
Those are the same jars I use, and yes, they’re great for storing all of your dry goodies from the health food store. It’s often easier for me to just use a bowl for my sprouting mixes but I love the jars for storing.
January 13, 2013 at 11:29 am
Thanks for the add’l info. I did soak some of the goji berries & the flavor/texture sort of reminds me of raisins, except maybe a bit of an earthier/woody flavor. At $20/lg (I got .26 lb @ $5.20), I think I may skip purchasing those in the future. I should probably Google to see what nutritional benefits they provide.
I still have yet to try the sprouting, but intend to shortly. I hope I can do it right….I can see that would be so healthy for the birds & something they might be fond of also.
I had no idea want fenugreek was…lol. thanks for explaining that.
The Kerr jars…..I am really liking the way that turned out for storing my ingred’s. I had even bought a plastic basket at Walmart (in that same aisle) which turned out to be perfect….& holds 11 of the 12 qt jars. I’ll send a pic if possible. (I dont see a way to do that here?)
I’m eating what the birds are eating too (just the “chop” (lol) w/ quinoa, barley, buckweat, etc)…& feeling mch more healthy from it. Ive even lost a couple lbs in the past wk. yay!
January 13, 2013 at 1:48 pm
Seems everyone is looking for Red Palm Oil now that Dr. Oz featured it on his show last week. Avitech still has it (organic, 100%) in 3 different sizes. Just fyi. I just ordered some more. It’s hard to find. I like to roast fresh veggies on a baking sheet that have been tossed with it…..we all eat it! (it is solid until warmed up….like coconut oil). There are mixed opinions on Red Palm Oil since some claim it is that it is depeting the trees….but….it only comes from the kernel of the Red Palm tree….not the tree itself. It is definately a superfood for humans & birds alike. The stuff that Avitech sells is human-safe/food grade quality.
January 13, 2013 at 1:55 pm
what’s your take on Palm oil? Just curious. It seems that is a touchy issue due to deforestation. It was my understanding that no harm was done since it is derived from the fruit/nut & not the tree itself.
Love your pic…too cute in the cockatoo apron. 🙂
February 4, 2013 at 9:55 pm
I have never used it, if people are going to use it they should at the very least be sure it is from a responsible source and not destroying the environment.
Thanks, I love the cockatoo apron, I won it in a parrot fundraiser auction.
February 26, 2013 at 7:51 pm
Your site was just passed on from a friend in the Ottawa Parrot Club. YEAAAA!! I have two ‘toos and one is a very picky eater. I try everything and keep offering raw, cooked, anything I can come up with. Thank you. I love your ideas.
April 7, 2013 at 4:47 pm
Hi Patricia, I love ‘toos, they are such wonderful birds. ❤
My Umbie was a seed eater when I brought him home, but with patience and persistence he now eats all of the good foods that I offer him. He was a little skeptical at first, but sharing food with me, after I made a big fuss about how delicious it was, helped a lot. Like you mentioned; keep offering, and offering in different ways. A chop, or mash, or salad one day, something else the next, raw, cooked, baked, sprouted. They all come around eventually and it's so worth it to see them eating well.
April 13, 2013 at 4:29 pm
I love your page. It gives me a lot of ideas on what to feed my parrot. I hope you start blogging again soon. 🙂
March 16, 2014 at 1:51 pm
Thanks so much, Ash, glad you are enjoying the page. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t get to this page often enough. In the meantime, be sure to check out The Parrot’s Pantry group on facebook. I’m much more active there and we have such creative admins and members to inspire each other. 🙂
March 16, 2014 at 2:05 pm
Thanks! I’ll check it out now.
March 16, 2014 at 2:20 pm
https://www.facebook.com/groups/156496311144601/
March 16, 2014 at 2:23 pm