Abstract
We are talking about lories here. When you have witnessed these birds at liberty in their daily routine, you will see that they investigate their surroundings in detail. Their keen eye and tongue sample many areas and substances other than flowers and fruit. In fact I was surprised how little fruit (apple, pear, grape) they took from our orchard, preferring flowers. Of course, they were receiving a ration of home brew lory slop every evening and snacks from our plates during outdoor lunches. But I saw Stella's Lorikeets consuming what must have been fungus from a rotting log. I have seen Dusky Lories intently "licking" some unknown substance from conifer needles for an hour at a time. I have seen a male Goldie's Lorikeet carrying spiders to his caged mate. I witnessed Blackcapped Lories crushing and lapping the succulence of sedum leaves. But the most amazing observation that appeared at China Prairie concerning lory behavior was the madrone phenomenon.
It didn't take us long to discover how important new tree buds are to all parrots. Green twigs of the madrone tree Arbutus meziesii, a north coast native, were the favorite, with willow, grape, rose (with thorns), and mulberry close behind. When the green, flowering madrone twigs were given to lories a truly remarkable display occurred. Remember that these birds had never seen a madrone twig before and there are no relatives of this tree anywhere in the native range of lories, the only other member of the family being the strawberry tree Arbutus unedo of the Mediterranean. Within a few seconds after first contact, it was as if a light bulb were switched on the in bird's awareness. The tongue began wild flicking, eyes dilated and vigorous preening ensued. A frenzy developed, the bird rapidly masticating the tissue of the new bright green growth of the twig, ignoring any older bark and leaves - then transferring the liquid secretion first to
its plumage and then to its feet until both glistened with it. The process began to wind down with the bird often lying on its side momentarily as if exhausted. After 15 or 20 minutes, normal behavior returned. Or had the need been met?
What was going on here? Could it be related to anting behavior seen in other avian series with other substances? Was madrone a substitute for a similar compound produced by a plant native to the lories' range? Was it a vital nutrient missing in lory aviculture?
Was it a mesmerizing agent, the avian equivalent to catnip for felines? It is interesting that even handraised lories respond to the madrone substance with equal acuteness. We treated our lories to this ritual for years with no apparent harm, much obvious pleasure, and the resulting beautiful glossy legs, feet and feathers.
Where am I going with this? Caged parrots do not have the choice as to what they consume and in what proportion at a particular time. Captive lories are usually presented with an over-sweet blend of wet or dry material that is the same every day. The birds intelligence to balance itself is lost. Once out of balance, the stress that follows produces abnormal cravings (for sugar and protein) and the resulting physical abnormalities such as overgrown beak and claws, hyperactivity, plumage anomalies (red in black birds and yellow in green birds), and unseen internal ailments.
At China Prairie we recognized the advantage of live food many years ago. The 50 or so species and sub-species of psittacines we have worked with (other than lories) thrived on our all-natural, nearly all-live diets, but it was somewhat by accident that this approach was applied to lories as well
A young couple came to purchase a pair of Green-naped Lorikeets. They were given the tour of the facility and went home with their new birds having asked many questions about their care.
Three years later I was asked to sell the numerous off-spring from that pair. When I went to pick up the youngsters, I noticed a bowl of sprouts in the adults' flight. The birds looked even better than my own and were obviously productive. I said, "I see you are feeding your lories sprouts also." There was this silence as they looked at each other, then she replied, "Also? You feed your lories more than your sprouted diet?" They had misunderstood and thought that all of the birds at China Prairie were fed our sprouted diet. For three years this pair of lories were fed primarily sprouts. They were breeding prolifically and raising their young on that diet. They were in exceptionally beautiful condition and had a contented and playful manner. We had noticed that young lories in the company of other weaning parrots would eat some sprouts, but had always kept plenty of nectar before them.
Keep in mind that our sprouting system is quite different from ordinary soaked seeds. The items to be sprouted are all human grade, preferred types of grains, seeds and legumes, all of which are hulled, except for the buckwheat which must be in-hull to germinate. Hulling prevents segregation while soaking. It eliminates waste cleanup leaving only a few skins with the buckwheat hulls when fed in appropriate servings. And most important, hulled sprouts can be evenly coated with a completely natural , but highly concentrated supplement, of spirulina, trace mineral marine earth, six herbs and spices, and, six beneficial microbes.
I am sure there are many of you who have tried sprouted food for your birds, but could not control souring or fungal bloom. These hazards are easily dealt with by using a citrus biotlavonoid stabilizer (500 ppm).