Looking to the wild for answers is a common refrain among bird people when it comes to care advice, particularly nutrition. And while this concept seems well grounded in science, the actual practice is much more complex and nuanced. For parrots, we don't always know what, how, or why the eat what the eat. And when we do know, replicated the conditions and food stuffs can be impossible for those of us who have parrots in our care.

We sit down with fellow science communicator Dr. Stephanie Rosenbloom who not only has a PhD in chemistry, but a keen interest in parrot nutrition. We tease apart the idea of the appeal to nature fallacy, that occurs when a person assumes that what is natural is good and true, without considering the effects of their actions on the environment. We discuss a recent post that went viral on social media about parrots eating meat and other topics about diet and further into philosophy.

For more of Stephanie's talks, you can check out https://avianbehavior.thinkific.com/courses/avocet-2024