Caring for the National Aviary's large variety of birds with diverse and changing needs can be very costly. We only use restaurant-quality products (and the best rodents money can buy). See how much food it takes each week to “eat like a bird” at the National Aviary:
4 cases of papayas
1 case of pomegranates
125 lbs. of smelts
20 lbs mixed dried beans and legumes
30 lbs. of parrot pellets
25 lbs. of apples
40 lbs. of capelin
10 lbs. of crane pellets
30 lbs. of bananas
16 mackerels
50 lbs. of softbill pellets
28 lbs. of grapes
50 day old chicks
10 lbs. of waterfowl pellets
22 adult chickens
10 lbs. of small bird pellets
25 lbs. of oranges
27 adult quails
35 lbs. of low iron softbill pellets
7 lbs. of zucchini
10 lbs. of cooked pasta
30 lbs. of flamingo fare
30 lbs. of frozen blueberries
88 weanling rats
50 lbs. of gamebird pellets
15 lbs. of green beans
226 weanling mice
4 1/2 lbs. of finch seeds
25 lbs. of cooked brown and wild rice
400 neonate rats
40 lbs. of bird of prey mix
20 lbs. of frozen peas
40,000 mealworms
11 lbs. of lorikeet nectar
20 lbs. of frozen corn
1,500 wax worms
1 1/3 lb. of vitamins and minerals
25 lbs. of carrots
8,000 crickets
4 cases of mangos
1 case of kale
250 lbs. of pigeon seed
20 lbs. of yams
2 each canteloupe and honeydew; sometimes watermelon
1 case of assorted squash (butternut, acorn, spaghetti)