UC-Davis has been doing Vitamin A research with Orange-winged Amazons using an American Federation of Aviculture grant for several years. Sight and sinus problems, as in humans, is a deficiency of Vitamin A. Dick Grau and Tom Roudybush found that Vitamin A stored in the liver as an ester which can activate a retinol binding protein (RBP) and move it to where it could be used; would stay there unless more Vitamin A was being eaten.
Going for Vitamin A |
| Carrot 2,813 IU (10 gram) | Cantaloupe 2,310 IU (1/8th medium) |
| Sweet potato 2,006 IU (10 gm) par-cooked 1,700 IU | Dandelion 1,400 IU (10 gm) |
| Kale 990 IU (10 gm) | Apricot 963 IU |
| Turnip green 760 IU (10 gm) | Beet greens 610 IU (10 gm) |
| Mustard greens 530 IU (10 gm) | Collard greens 330 IU (10 gm) |
| pink grapefruit 270 IU (1/2) | papaya 201 IU (10 gm) |
| Broccoli 154 IU (10 gm) | Red peppers; cheddar cheese (2 oz.) 150 IU |
| Above items cooked have less Vitamin A |
Seeds have little Vitamin A unless augmented. A parrot pellet maintenance diet has 6,000 IUs of Vitamin A*. Birds can store carotene (A) in the liver.
| Outer Symptoms | Inner Symptoms |
| Chronic runny nose | Candida infections frequent |
| Sight worsens over time | Weaker bones |
| Frequent sneezing | Sores in the mouth |
| Low fertility | Health loss of skin |
| Low hatchability | Susceptibility to bacteria, viruses, fungi |
Dr. Thomas P. Ryan said in a Dec. 1985 article in Veterinary Medicine that Amazons need 400IUs of Vitamin A every day for maintenance.
*by pellet nutrition studies of Grau and Roudybush at UC-Davis, Calif. More research is needed, they say, concerning needs of individual species.
**Doane, Bonnie Munro, The Parrot in Health and illness, Howell Book House, New York. 1991. Available from Avian Publications, Altoona, WI $24.95