Incredible Edible Seeds

Incredible Edible Seeds for Parrots

EB Cravens

It has been a first-rate summer for gardening out here on the Big Island Hawaii. We have had just enough rain, lots of sun, and a year of rather low rates of seasonal insect pests for our locale. So, both we and our psittacine flock have been enjoying the weekly harvests and consuming lots of fresh fruit and vegetable fare.

A few days ago, I ventured out to the burgundy okra patch and found that my plants had gotten ahead of themselves - and me! - and were loaded with deep red pods, some of which were far too big and tough for human consumption. On a whim, I stripped open the larger ones and to my surprise found several rows of nicely developed, crunchy white seeds. Offering one to Ohia, our King Parrot and the resident 'taste-tester', I watched while he happily crunched it up. Then I picked a half-dozen fresh pods, shucked all the seeds out, and added them into our parrots’ morning soak-and-cook wet food mix. At the end of the day, not a single okra seed was to be found. I even tasted one myself and found them to be like a crisp small white pea. Voila, I thought to myself, mark up one more item for my long list of bird diet nutritional seed offerings.