Last Updated on August 20, 2023 by Mitch Rezman

Carina Writes,

I have been following your site on Facebook and receiving your emails for a few weeks now, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to opt out now. I was disturbed by your blog a few weeks back advising owners to clip parrots’ wings, but I understand that is a controversial subject.

But today I saw you post a link to the cheap/free bird toys section. I cannot believe that you would consciously recommend that people give their parrots whole fortune cookies. Even for a big macaw, that is WAY too much sugar for a parrot to have in one sitting! It’s like giving a toddler an entire cake and telling him to have at it!

Can a Cockatiel Choke on a Fortune Cookie in a Plastic Wrapper?

I volunteer for and am the former vice president of a parrot rescue in Southern California, and I’ve seen firsthand the horrible things that a poor diet and too many sweet treats do to a bird’s health and mental well-being. You, who portray yourselves as experts in the field of avian enrichment should be setting an example, NOT encouraging people to give their parrots junk food.

Hi Carina

We appreciate your thoughtful comments. The likelihood that any bird would actually consume an entire fortune cookie in one sitting is slim to none as they crunch it, 90% falls to the floor. We had a Ringneck who never had less than 2 fortune cookies in or on his cage and he lived 30 years.

Find more free bird toy ideas here 

I personally delivered a 3-pound bag of fortune cookies to a rescue whose staff (board-certified avian) vet happen to be there and she thought it was a great idea.

The internet is laden with bad information about birds and sugar.

Many knock Zupreem because of its sugar content. After talking to one of the developers of one of the biggest brands of bird food on the planet I’ve come to learn birds get more sugar from fruit in the wild than they ever would from eating pounds of Zupreem let alone a Fortune cookie or two and yet they are able to live for decades – then again they don’t have clipped wings.

Your fear is over-stated but we respect your opinion and we’re sorry to see you go.

Thank you for contacting Windy City Parrot.

Mitch Rezman, CMO

I love the idea of giving my birds a fortune cookie to explore. I agree with you they would chip it apart but would not consume much. More fun to destroy it.

Mary L.

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Mitch Rezman

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