By Jim Hayward Jnr

Jim Hayward Jnr recalls many years of his family's involvement with breeding parrotlike birds and puts forward his view of seed diets.

I refer to a letter in the October issue when Karen Chudley stated that she only trusts the advice of avian vets with regard to avian nutrition and distrusts other experts as they only confuse the issue.  There was also a reference to another contributor who claimed there is a plethora of good scientific information that refutes the use of seed based diets.

First, I would like to point out that Australian Birdkeeper publishes a whole range of books dealing with keeping and breeding a wide range of parrotlike species, with most of the books recommending seed based diets and endorsed by avian vets.

Secondly, I would suggest the knowledge of one of the world's most experienced aviculturalists, Rosemary Low, who has recently written an article on seed diets in this magazine, should be considered sound advice.  Some of the species she has kept, let alone bred, include Lories and lorikeets, Hanging Parrots, Amazons, Poicephalus and Pyrrhura Conures, to name but a few.  She was Curator of both Palmitos Parque in Gran Canaria as well as Loro Parque in Tenerife.

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