The most important insurance of a healthy, long life for your bird is feeding it a nutritionally sound diet. Parrots in the wild are foragers. They eat what is in season and available. Their diet includes fruits, seeds, and whatever else they can find. To feed your pet birds an all-seed diet is not natural and most importantly not healthy.
The practice of feeding seed-only diets began years ago and was largely due to the lack of information and knowledge at that time. Birds have a high metabolic rate and are sensitive to nutritional deficiencies. (An animal's metabolic rate indicates how many calories it burns to maintain itself.) Birds burn a lot of calories, and if on an inadequate diet they will quickly develop malnutrition and compromise their health.
A diet based for the most part on seeds is lacking nutrients, including vitamin A and calcium, and is too high in fat. This doesn't mean they should be excluded from your bird's diet but should be used in conjunction with other food groups. Many birds will actually pick out a couple of favorites from a seed mix, which further reduces the nutritional balance in the diet. Seeds should make up about 10% of the diet. Cockatiels are naturally seed eaters and can tolerate a higher percentage of seed in the diet, but even for these birds, seeds should only make up about 25% of the diet.
So seeds are not the best food source - Then what do you feed them?

Many birds are not too crazy about switching to pellets and with a little patience and determination almost any bird will eventually accept a formulated diet (Pellets) as an important portion of a well balanced diet. Transition time will very as you may need a day a week or a few months. Very important: Don't starve your bird into eating pellets, for obvious reasons this is dangerous and stressful. You should monitor your birds body weight throughout to ensure your bird does not lose weight during the process.

Tips

• Ideally, start them young, older birds are set in their ways and will resist.

• Never starve a bird into trying a new food.

• Don't attempt the transition in a sick bird.

• There are different varieties of pellets on the market, try different types to determine the best suited.

• Mix some pellets in with the seeds.

• Grind some of the pellets and sprinkle over the seeds or a favorite treat, with the aim of getting the bird to taste the pellets.

• Try moistening the pellets, perhaps with warm water. Remove any moistened pellets after a couple of hours though, due to the risk of spoilage.

• Offering new foods first thing in the morning is helpful, since this is when many birds naturally forage for food.

• Try hand feeding the pellets so your bird thinks they are a treat.

• If your bird is not used to a variety of foods, you might want to work on introducing some new vegetables and other foods before introducing pellets.

• If your bird is reluctant about switching to pellets, carefully monitor the number of droppings and the bird's body weight. If the number of droppings is diminishing and the birds body weight goes down by more than 1-2 in a week, back off on the new foods and offer more of the old diet.

• Remember there might be a change in the droppings (color, texture) when you feed pellets.

Balanced Diet

As indicated we provide our birds with a "Balanced Diet". Feed them a variety of colours, shapes, and sizes to keep it interesting. You should offer all the basic food groups separately to promote maximum nutrition. This way your bird will not simply pick his/her favourites. Below is the type of food group with percent daily intake we recommend you feed your pet bird to achieve a balanced diet.

Vegetables and Fruit (50%)

High vitamin A vegetables are one of the most important foods you can get your parrot to eat. Although there are fruits that are higher in vitamin A than others, fruits are not generally as good a source as vegetables for this essential nutrient. Vitamin A is essential for skin and feather condition, eyesight, and helps the body fight infection by keeping the mucous membranes healthy.

Green Vegetables (High Vit A)	Yellow-Orange Vegetables (High Vit A)	Other Fruits and Vegetables
- Spinach - Broccoli - Dandelion greens, - Green peppers - Alfalfa - Hot peppers	- Sweet potatoes - Yams (Try the "What I Yam" Recipe) - Carrots - Butternut hubbard acorn squash - Hot peppers - Red peppers	- Corn on the cob - Peas in the pod - Bean sprouts - Cauliflower - Brussels sprouts - Leeks - Artichokes - Zucchini - Green beans - Asparagus - Potato - Apples (Gala, Green, Yellow, Mac, etc...) - Grapes (Green or Red) - Banana (Ripe of course) - Berries (Blueberry, Strawberry, Raspberry) - Pomegranates - Tangerines/oranges - Figs - Kiwi fruit, etc.

Proteins (20%) and Whole Grains (20%)

Some foods while safe for humans, are lethal to parrots. So best to avoid them...

Avocado
Both the skin and pit of an avocado has been known to cause cardiac distress and eventual heart failure.

Chocolate
Most people enjoy chocolate, however for birds it is not a good idea. Chocolate can affects a bird's digestive system, causing vomiting and diarrhea. This could affect the central nervous system causing seizure and possible death.

Alcohol
This goes without saying as responsible pet owners would never consider offering an alcoholic drink to their beloved friend. There have been situations were birds have attained alcohol poisoning by helping themselves to unattended cocktails. Alcohol depresses the organ systems of birds and can be fatal.

Caffeine
Caffeine found in soda, coffee, and tea can cause cardiac malfunction in birds, and is associated with increased heartbeat, arrhythmia, hyperactivity, and cardiac arrest.

Dried Beans
Dried beans (Fava, Navy, and Lima) can be harmful to your pet.

Onions
Onions, cooked or raw can be toxic to your parrot. Excessive consumption of onions can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and other digestive problems. Prolonged exposure can lead to a blood condition called hemolytic anemia, followed by respiratory distress and eventual death.

Apple Seeds
Apple along with pear, orange, papaya, grapefruit, grape and some melon seeds contain trace amounts of Cyanide.

Mushrooms
Mushrooms have been known to cause digestive problems and some varieties can cause liver failure.

Dairy Product
Dairy items are not digested in birds. Birds do not have the digestive enzymes necessary to process milk.

Birdie Bread

•1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup yellow corn meal
• 2 tsp baking power
• 3/4 tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 2 eggs with shells
• 3 Tbs oil (your preference)
• 1 cup buttermilk

- Excluding the orange, put the ingredients on a cutting board and dice them finely. Place the ingredients in a bowl. Cut the orange and squeeze (over the bowl) until it is out of juice.
- Pack your ingredients into a ball and stick in a wooden Popsicle stick. Wrap with wax paper and put in freezer and let it sit for an hour before serving.

- Cut yams into quarters then boil until soft. Drop in raisins for the last 5 minutes of boiling. Cool. Peel off skins. Put peeled yams back in pot and mash, adding butter and pumpkin spice. Add back raisins and corn and mix into the yams.

- Mix all ingredients together. Prepare 9x13 inch pan with olive oil.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then at 350 degrees for another 30 minutes or until done.