Many newly imported birds will eat banana but lose interest in it after a while.

Soft, but not over-ripe, pear is eaten in preference to apple by some lories. A favourite fruit with many species is pomegranate, an excellent source of iron. Birds love extracting the seeds but unfortunately this fruit is expensive and has a short season. Those who grow soft fruits can experiment with almost any in season, such as redcurrants.

Dried fruits, such as dates, soaked sultanas and dried figs, will be relished by some parrots. Dried or soaked figs are the favourite item of diet of  Fig Parrots, but they eat only the seeds.

In the autumn, berries provide a superb and favoured natural food. The purple-black berries of elder and the deep red ones of hawthorn provide a valuable supplement to the diet and one which is free for the gathering. Some birds I know would eat haw­thorn berries in preference to all other foods. A real effort should be made to introduce these berries into the diet of all parrots. Berries of ornamental shrubs, such as pyracantha and rowan berries, will also be eaten. Rosehips can also be offered. If accepted they can be dried well and kept in a re­frigerator in good condition for several weeks.

An item whose value as a food few fanciers have discovered is pussy wil­low or sallow. A breeder of Lovebirds discovered its use by accident when offering it as nesting material. The Lovebirds consumed the buds, bark, leaf, stalks and even the catkins and made the various forms the major part of their diet, out of preference. It was found that Australian parrakeets would eat it but in much smaller quantities.

One often reads of the dangers of feed­ing leftovers from the table to parrots but provided a little common sense is used and no foods are given in excess, little harm will result from this practice. Tinned fruit, cooked veg­etables, biscuit, cake and bread can be offered. Crusts from toast are enjoyed almost more than any other item of food. A good use for stale bread which would otherwise be wasted is to lightly bake it in the oven for the larger par­rots. It should be remembered that during World War II, when seed was unobtainable, many parrots survived almost entirely on food from the table. I am not recommending this but mere­ly pointing out that, in moderation, it adds variety and is not harmful.

Some aviculturists tend to forget that seed is not the natural food of all parrots. It is the natural food of the species most widely kept and bred, all from Australia: parrakeets, including the Budgerigar, Cockatiels, also Zebra Finches and grass finches. The reason why they have adapted so well to cap­tivity is that they originate from arid areas and for a large part of the year survive mainly on seeds.

Unfortunately, the recipe for success with these birds has, over the years, gradually been applied to most other members of the parrot family. In many cases, their requirements are totally different and, under natural con­ditions, seeds would form only a small part of their diet.