The Granola Board

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Feeding a Blind Bird

When we picked up Luna we were told, "she's a good eater." Although it was mentioned casually to us, we should have taken it more as a warning than a commentary on her normal behavior. When Luna arrived, she literally was eating us out of house and home! This is the one area where we've had to make the least amount of accomodations.

Just like any normal bird, Luna gets a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, some table foods, nuts and some seeds. We also feed Harrison's High Potency Pellets to all our birds as a supplement to their daily fare. Sometimes she eats them, and sometimes she throws them, but as a general rule she seems to really enjoy them. Her favorite table food without question is meat. She especially likes chicken and fish, and when she's given those items she'll hunch down over her food bowl and growl appreciatively. Once something is in her bowl, however, don't try to remove it. She'll defend her bowl while eating quite vigorously!

Luna has well-developed sense of smell for a bird, and usually can smell when food is being prepared. If it smells good to her, she'll make a small squawking noise that lets us know she's ready to eat. When we fill her bowls, she'll usually hear the food landing in the bowl, but if not, we'll tap the bowl with our fingernail and she'll come running to investigate.

Although we've read on the Internet that it's NOT a good idea to move food bowls around if you have a blind bird, Luna doesn't seem to be bothered if her bowls are switched. She spends most of her time on her gym, and it's got two usual spots for food crocks, with a spot for an optional third. We've found that as long as food and water is placed in one of the three usual spots, she'll find it. Whenever we put a fresh crock on her gym or in her cage, she'll go and investigate. She'll dip her beak in and feel around and then move to the next one to see what's there. If she finds something really tasty, she'll growl appreciatively, and if not, she'll move on to find out what else is available.

Just like our other two birds, Luna is intelligent and needs to be kept busy. Because she can't see, some activities (like watching television) aren't much of a thrill for her. Just like our sighted birds, we've tried to develop foraging activities for her, too. Our other two birds have food puzzles where we keep their pellets. Luna hasn't quite mastered the puzzles, since they are much easier to solve with vision. However, we've found that scattering a handful of seed on the tray of her gym can keep her busy for quite some time while she hunts around with her beak looking for the seeds.

If you have a blind bird, it's important to recognize your bird's capabilities and strengths. Luna was "lucky" in that she was blinded at a very young age, and she's managed to adapt quite well. If you have an older bird that's recently blind, you may find that moving dishes around doesn't work. Our fear, when Luna came to us, was that she'd be disoriented with the new environment and that she wouldn't find her food or water. However, with a few minutes of showing her where things were, and a bit of exploration on her own, she mastered the layout of her new surroundings in only a few minutes.