Abstract
Flowers, leaves, twigs, herbs, and roots blended together with natural waters brewed by the sun's heat creates natural teas in the environment. There are many health benefits to those who drink the specially blended and brewed teas, specifically our birds. Customized tea blends can help birds in a variety of ways such as skin and feather quality, immune system function, detoxification and improving organ function, digestive aids, respiratory health, weight loss and fat oxidation, and hormonal issues.
Though water quality is important for our avian companions, what birds drink in the wild is far from sterile. It is commonly known that many species of birds visit water sources like tree hollows in which plant components leach their tannins and other compounds and minerals. And many of us have seen wild birds drinking from "dirty" puddles and other water sources that are brewing with fallen leaves and mud.
According to Chinese legend, Chinese emperor Shen Nung drank some hot, discolored water after some leaves had been blown into it. He was pleased and continued to experiment with the brewing of different leaves. The common tea leaf is from the plant Camellia sinensis, a flowering shrub native to China. Over time, this practice spread around the world and we now have many types of teas that are brewed using the leaves, flowers, buds, seeds and twigs from a variety of plants from which we garner important nutrients and minerals.
You may ask how this affects your birds. The purpose of this article is to simply share our experiences with the use of teas in our program and stimulate readers to begin their own research on this topic. Special thanks to avian veterinarian and integrative medicine specialist Karen Becker, DVM, NMD who has increased our knowledge on this topic and was the impetus for our research. We have incorporated these teas into our avicultural program and continue to recommend these additions to zoos and other institutions that have birds as part of their collections.
Different types of Camellia teas are commonly used and they differ according to the time the leaves are harvested and the process used to prepare them. The younger the buds and leaves, the more caffeine. They also differ in their benefits to animal physiology. It is important to mention that Camellia teas contain caffeine so they should be decaffeinated by way of a natural process using carbon dioxide (CO) and/or water, not chemically treated. Many commercial teas may say "naturally decaffeinated" but use ethyl acetate which should be avoided.
It is essential to choose your teas wisely and buy organic loose leaf teas whenever possible.
Teas from the Camellia plant include the popular green and black teas, as well as white and oolong teas. Green tea consists of young leaves that are picked and dried quickly to avoid oxidation. Oxidation is simply the absorption of oxygen by the leaves when drying which causes biochemical changes to the leaves, similar to fermentation. We've all seen oxidation at work when apples turn brown after being sliced. Black teas are completely oxidized before firing, giving them a more wilted look. White tea is picked before the leaf buds have even opened and they are steamed and quickly dried and are, therefore, also unoxidized. Each of these teas has its own benefits for you and your birds.
A note about caffeine: only teas from the Camellia plant contain caffeine. These include green, black, white and oolong. All other teas are considered herbal and...