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Animal Care Studies - Western Sydney Institute of TAFE, RichmondThe regular inclusion of fattening or oily seeds such as sunflower seed, canary seed oroats, in this species diet can only lead to obesity and associated health problems. Suchfood items should only be fed on a limited basis just prior to the nesting season topromote breeding condition and fed in unlimited quantities to breeding pairs rearingyoung.Fat birds are not healthy birds and they are usually poor breeders as obesity adverselyaffects fertility and predisposes to egg binding. Obesity also contributes to heart diseaseand fatty infiltration of the liver and cases of acute internal haemorrhage.The following all year round diet is suggested for P. swainsonii:Dry seeds:Feed daily - (Non-oily, low fat) French white millet (main base seed – unlimitedquantity available in hoppers), Japanese millet, panicum, and red millet.Feed limited quantities prior to breeding season and unlimited to pairs with young -(Oily) Canary seed, sunflower seed, safflower, and hulled oats.Sprouted seeds:Feed daily - (Unlimited) All millets and milo.Feed limited quantities - (Few dozen seeds per pair per day - increase quantity a fewweeks prior to nesting season to stimulate breeding and unlimited to pairs feeding young)Canary seed, sunflower seed, safflower, hulled oats.Vegetables:Feed daily (chopped fine) - Silver beet, celery, endive, cabbage, carrot, beans,cauliflower, broccoli, kale, beetroot leaves, peas and leafy Chinese vegetables i.e. choysum. Corncobs chopped into small cubes.Sprouted pulses:Red and green lentils, barlotti, mung and lima beans, black-eyed and chick peas can alsobe offered daily.Greenfeed:(Offered whole when in season, correctly identified and if the source is guaranteed not tohave been sprayed with chemicals) Seeding heads of summer grass, winter grass, watermillet, oats, milk thistle, chickweed, dandelion, pigweed and dock.Seeding heads of sown grains: Millets, oats, canary seed.Fruit:Feed daily (diced)– Apple, pear, stone fruits, strawberries and any of the vine or bushberries i.e. grapes, blueberries.Berries from hawthorn, pyracantha and cotoneaster plants can also be fed whole if notsprayed with any chemicals.Keith Naylor 28/3/2005 Version 3 42