Depending on how it’s done, sharing your meals with your pet bird can be a great way to bond. More than that, however, it can be the best reason you’ve ever come across to start eating more healthy meals and perhaps even lose weight too.

When it comes to meal sharing with your favorite feathered friend, there are a few things you definitely shouldn’t do. The first thing is that you don’t want your pet bird eating out of your mouth. Why? Because the food that you touch with your saliva on your plate (whether with a fork or directly with your teeth) carries a lot of bacteria which is foreign to birds and will usually make them sick. Even if they have done this for some time, it is virtually inevitable that they will get a bad infection sooner or later. So whether you prefer to keep your bird in its cage or to give it its own seat at the table during meals, make sure it has its own plate and will not be nibbling from your food at any time during the meal.

Ok, so now what do we feed the bird? Do we need to hire a special birdie caterer to take care of the job? Not at all. According to veterinarian Julie Burge, you can make your bird a plate with “two or three bird-sized bites of each of the foods on the menu”. As long as you’re eating healthy food, your bird can almost always have a little of what you’re having. For example, you can give your bird a spoonful of corn, a little bit of the vegetables you use in your salad, a portion torn off from your roll, and maybe even a bit of apple pie. As long as you stay away from the fast foods and comfort foods that most humans sometimes feel drawn to, your bird will be more than able to share a meal with you in this way – with no extra expense to you. However it is helpful to remember this while preparing the food as any extras such as salt, fats, seasonings or salad dressings will not be good for the bird. If you plan to feed your pet bird a little meat, you can cook the meat without seasoning, take a portion of it for your bird and then add the seasoning for your family. Any cooked food must be cooled down to just on room temperature before it is served to the bird to avoid it getting a burnt tongue and certain foods should obviously be avoided – such as sushi, guacamole or chocolate chip cookies. If these items form a part of your menu, you can try to find a like-looking alternative that is healthy for your bird.

Many people find that they enjoy sharing their meals with their birds in the morning and evening. However it should not be done during the day as the bird’s pellets should form the base of its diet. With that in mind, you will be feeding the bird far too much if it stops eating its pellets. The idea is to simply provide some nutritious and tasty, and often raw, alternatives which can be added to its diet, not to replace its diet altogether. If you feed your bird too much, it will lose its appetite for its pellets and may end up suffering from nutritional deficiencies. Another thing to keep in mind is that any fresh food place in the bird’s cage or made available to the bird should be removed and discarded after an hour as this is when bacteria settles in to start breaking down the food. Sharing your meals with your birds is a great way to get yourself planning and eating more healthy meals with the result that both you and your birds will start to benefit from your mealtimes.

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3. Birds Naturally Choose Flavonoids

Recent studies conducted at the University of Freiburg, in conjunction with the Max Plank Institute for Ornithology, have revealed that fruit-eating birds show a definite preference for fruit with higher concentrations of antioxidants. These antioxidants help them to sustain a healthy immune system.

Researchers have been studying the effects of antioxidants – particularly flavonoids – for some time now, but much of the research has been conducted in test-tubes up until now. This was the first time that the effect of flavonoids on the immune system in living animals has been conducted. The results were surprising. The researchers in Germany offered the little blackcap fruit-eating birds a choice of two foods. The foods were identical in every respect except for the concentration of flavonoids contained inside the fruit. The birds repeatedly chose the food with the added flavonoids. Thus they demonstrated a natural preference for fruits with higher levels of this sort of antioxidant.

The researchers also conducted studies to see if the flavonoids affect the bird’s health to any degree. They discovered that birds in the control group who were not fed antioxidants had weaker immune systems than those who were fed modest levels of flavonoids for four weeks. The flavonoids were fed to the birds in the form of one or two blackberries, bilberries or elderberries on a daily basis. While birds may be able to have more than this during the peak of the short berry season, researchers thought it more appropriate to study the levels that would be available on a more long-term basis. The study clearly shows that flavonoids can boost the immune systems of living organisms and that wild birds actually show a preference for foods containing flavonoids. The results of this research will be further used to study the ecological relationship between plants and birds as well as other animals that disperse seeds.

Some might argue that the berries with more flavonoids make the food darker in color and this is why the birds chose them. However the studies revealed that blackcaps do not show a color preference if the food is nutritionally identical, so they are confident that blackcaps choose the darker berries because they know they have a high flavonoid value. Flavonoids can be found in high concentrations in fruits and vegetables and are one of the most common antioxidants naturally available. So best take a lesson from the birds and make sure to eat all your fruit and vegetables to ensure that you stay healthy.

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