Should Other Legumes Be Avoided in Your Bird’s Diet

Last Updated on October 6, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Thanks for your emails and your products.

We have a 10-year-old Yellow Nape Amazon. He is a constant source of entertainment and wonder. He eats several fresh foods regularly and also enjoys Roudybush medium pellets.

One of his/her favorite activities is to tear into a fresh pepper hanging from a spike in the cage. Anything from Hatch to Jalapeño, to Poblano, and even an occasional Habenero, is fair game.

The seeds are evidently the main ingredient of interest but some of the flesh is consumed too.

She also enjoys opening boxes, keyed chests, and other foraging devices. A fresh peanut is a treat about once a week that is spotted immediately when it is removed from the freezer. Another food that is enjoyed is English peas which she/he removes from the shell and then peels before eating.

Several months back you gave a list of fresh foods which were to be avoided which included fresh lima beans. We had been feeding him/her small baby limas for some time. What is the basis for not including this legume in a bird’s diet? Should other legumes also be avoided? Can they be used occasionally?

Thanks,
John and Trulah

Hello John & Trulah

other legumes should not be avoided but the comment you are looking for is:

RE: LIMA BEANS: This is where it’s safer than sorry. Lima beans contain a cyanogenic glycoside called ‘phaseolunatin’. Beans which are grown in the US contain less than 0.01% which does not cause a problem. There is a variety of small black lima beans grown in Puerto Rico which contain 0.3% and have been known to cause death in both humans and livestock.