I've seen many articles on giving tea to birds, for several purpose. I've also seen many specialized bird teas. It's common to give it to Toucans, though I have heard it being given to other birds as well, parrots being commonly accustomed to drink it.

I've even seen the same company that sells avian flight suits, sell specialized tea. Apparently, their tea helps give vitamins and nutrience in birds, to stay healthy. I've also heard of people using herbal teas like chamomile, to calm birds that feel anxious.

So I'm wondering if anyone here brews tea for their birds. Do you use a certain kind? I have a bunch of different herbal, non-caffeinated teas, and I'm suddenly a little bit curious, on what I may use for my birds (I say birds, because I'm considering my parents' pionus, as well). If you do use it, what is your experience with tea and birds?

I'm not a fan of the "tea for birds" promotion. I've talked to the guy behind it and he doesn't look too good in terms of either knowledge or character. The subject comes up often enough that I wrote an article about it: http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/i ... c-tea.html

Thanks Carolyn. This has been informative. I'll admit, some of the claims I've read on the internet did sound a bit sketchy. That's why asked for opinions here, since the information I've got from you guys have been the most reliable.

What about fruit teas, though? I would think that it would some good, especially for parrots who eat fruit in the wild. It does seem common for fruit teas to have some herbs used in herbal teas though, so it might not be that good of an idea.

My mam gives Tiko a sip of Tea sometimes I know their not supposed to drink tea but a little sip wont do any harm.

I'm not familiar with fruit teas, but this link indicates that it's basically herbal tea with a little bit of fruit added for flavor. The actual fruit is at or near the bottom of the ingredient list: http://www.celestialseasonings.com/prod ... ea-sampler

My preference would be to offer fruit instead of fruit tea. However cockatiels generally don't like fruit so good luck getting Lucy to eat it lol. Dudley would probably be a better candidate. You could make your own fruit tea by putting a slice of fruit or a little fruit juice in some warm water. Vegetables are higher in nutrients and lower in sugar than fruit, so fruit isn't an essential part of the diet for most birds. If they're major fruit eaters in the wild it's a different matter.

I would think a natural fruit juice would be the easier solution, as well as straight up fruit.

Dudley's kind of funny with truit. He likes banana chips, and he'll eat fresh fruit, sometimes. If I give him tiny pieces of apple, he'll drop one, eat the other, drop the third, eat the fourth, and so on. No idea why he does this.

Wild parrots are notorious for taking one bite out of a piece of fruit and leaving the rest. This is why fruit farmers hate them! Birds have better vision than we do and can visually identify the ripest part of the fruit, and that's the part they eat. If the fruit supply was limited they might eat more from the same piece of fruit, but if there's lots of fruit available they'll eat the choicest parts and let the rest go to waste.

That explains the birds with the plum tree we used to have in the yard. The birds loved to eat them, though they never ate it whole. Sometimes, you'll see a plum that looks unscathed, and when it finally gets ripe enough to pick, you turn it around, and there's a big chunk taken out.

Birds are just hilarious, sometimes (when they're not busy being annoying people trying to grow food)