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Parrot News22 September 2009 Nutritional content of the diet of wild Ara macao chicks Translation of an abstract by Lizzie Ortiz Cam and Donald J. Brightsmith Abstract: Although parrots are important in the wild and although many are kept in captivity, little is known about their nutritional requirements. As a result, many are taken to consultants (vets) with a wide variety of heath problems; for instance breathing problems, swollen crops, or various states of malnutrition. Overall, parrot diets have been recorded from caged birds or cockatoos. Although the later are within the same class, they have very different and important ecological differences. Researchers at the Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center at the Texas A&M University have been studying parrot diet and nutrition with the aim of better understanding the ecological nutrition of parrots and to improve nutrition of parrots in captivity. To this end they have been studying diet and nutrition in wild parrots by analyzing concentrations of raw protein, raw fat, Ca, P, Mg, K, Na, S, Cu, Fe, and Zn, in the contents of crop samples from Ara macao chicks, in the Tambopata National Reserve, Peru. Samples were taken from natural and artificial nests, which were climbed using rope and jumar techniques. In total, 30 samples were collected and analyzed. The study showed that the chicks consume a diet with a courser texture than that used in hand-fed diets. Concentrations of fat, Ca and Mg were higher than those recommended in the literature. On the other hand, concentrations of Zn, K, Cu and P were within recommended guidelines. At the study site, adult parrots eat soil at a mineral claylick (or “colpa”) and feed the soil to their offspring. Results show that this soil in the diet is an important source of sodium. Without the soil, sodium levels are lower than those recommended in the literature. According to other studies, low levels of sodium can cause dehydration and slow growth. Although the results of sodium in this study are low in comparison to that recommended, work with chick growth in Tambopata have not shown any retarded growth patterns. This suggests further studies are needed to determine the critical lower level of sodium concentrations as perhaps this species is able to tolerate lower levels of Na than previously thought. Further research as well as education of parrot owners is necessary to improve the nutrition of parrots in captivity. As such, in the next few months further analysis will be conducted on further samples collected from the Tambopata, from Amazona aestiva chicks in Brazil, Ara ambigua in Costa Rica and Amazona finschi in Mexico. This study will be the basis for using nutritional levels and texture of wild parrot diets to create new formulas for hand fed diets. |
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