Galah FAQ and Diet

I have decided to compile a small Galah FAQ. I hope that it can help out people who are interested in keeping one of these parrots as a pet and it helps if you just have a general interest in birds. I would just like to make a tiny disclaimer saying I am not a bird expert or an avarian doctor, just an enthusiast and active pet keeper.

Galah FAQ

How Old Can A Galah Live For?

In the wild a Galah will rarely live past 25 years, but in captivity, if well looked after a galah can live for 50 to 60 years.. so you will have a friend for life.

How Can You Tell The Sex Difference Of A Galah?

The easiest way to tell the sex difference of Galah's is to look at the eyes. The males have a more dark, almost brown iris (area of the eye that surrounds the pupil) while the females have a lighter, pink iris. Other characteristics that can help you determine sex is that males seem to have a better ability to talk and females tend to sit on a perch with there legs apart more frequently than males.

How Can I Tell How Old My Galah Is?

Determining age is a little more difficult, but you can get an idea by again examining the eyes. The number of wrinkles around the eye (in the white area) is one way of aging a bird. Other ways include the number of layers on the beak and by looking at the feet. Generally, the more wrinkles around the eye, the older the bird.

How Many Types/Species Of Galah Are There?

There are to my knowledge three major sub-species of Galah - Western, Eastern and Northern. The most popular variety in captivity seems to be the Eastern variety.

What Sounds Does A Galah Make And Can They Talk?

Galah's make a fairly high pitched "Chet Chet" type sound when flying around in the wild. They will also make a much louder screech when threatened, fighting or having fun. Galah's are very clever and can learn to talk, or rather, imitate people's voices. The male galahs seem to be much better at this than the females. Galah's are also very good at impersonating everyday sounds such as a whistle, a horn or a telephone ringing.

Is It Normal For My Galah To Make Grinding And Sneezing Sounds?

Galah's will grind their beak when they feel safe and relaxed, usually before they sleep. When a Galah goes to sleep, they will quite often turn their heads 180 degrees around and rest their head on their back feathers. A heathly Galah will require around 10 hours sleep a night. A Galah will also sneeze when preening there feathers as a way to disperse the dust they have collected from their feathers so this is perfectly normal.

Should I Give My Galah A Bath?

Galah's are quite cutious when it comes to water so I don't really advise giving a bird a bath. A much better method is to either use a water bottle with a squirter nozzle and give them a misty spray so they fluff out or as my bird loves, being held in front of a air conditioner or enclosed fan for about 30 seconds to blow off the excessive dust.

My Galah Chews Everything - What Can I Do?

Galah's chewing objects is a natural method of keeping their beaks in top condition. It prevents overgrowing and discomfort if the beak is not regularly used. Make sure their enclosure has some inedible objects to chew to keep them occupied. Try wooden perches, rope perches, plastic chain, old belts (buckle removed), old shoe soles and thongs.

A Galah's Diet

Galah's like to eat seeds, nuts, berries and fresh corn. In the wild, they are known to eat grasses, leaf buds. flowers such as Gravillias and Banksias, seeds and on the occasion, insects for extra protein. It is essential that a Galah has fresh water daily.

From Woolworths/Coles you should be able to find a good staple seed diet such as "Lovitts Small Parrot Seed Mix". Try to avoid products that contain more fat and sugar than the other varieties - Trill has improved it's mixture in recent years.

You may also give your bird a few treats a week. I always give my bird a protein treat and a dairy treat and I will sometimes give a flower treat. When offering treat foods, you can measure them using a teaspoon, never giving more than a rounded teaspoon worth.

An example of a protein treat is some boiled egg, cooked salmon or a big 'chicken wing' bone (with no meat, gristle is ok). An example of a dairy treat is a spoon of plain custard, plain yoghurt or a square of hard cheese. For flower treats, only offer banksias and gravillias but be careful as giving the wrong flower type can poison the bird.

Here are some Diet do's and don'ts:

1. Never feed Galah's many sunflower seeds - while they love them - it will kill them due to their high oil/fat content over time. A Galah's diet should not be more than 10% fat and sunflower seeds contain over 35%.
2. Each day make sure your bird eats something fresh other than the seeds. This could be some fresh fruit like a cherry, passionfruit, pear, banana, peeled fig and berries like raspberry or blackberry (my bird does not like strawberry but I have read others do). Alternatively to fresh fruit, try lettuce, boiled spaghetti (no sauce) or a spoon of mashed potato (no butter), mashed pumpkin or boiled brown rice. You can also offer carrot and apple but the bird will usually use it to chomp up and make a big mess.
3. Only give a maximum of one or two protein and dairy treats a week.
4. Only let them drink water and change the water daily or every second day, depending on the mess.
5. In the morning, they will happily have a spoon of soft weet-bix or the crust off one side of your toast, but not too often.
6. Never feed your Galah lemons, grapes, soy products, cabbage, cream, chocolate, anything with caffeine, beans or avocado. It will kill them or make them very sick. Limit the amount of peas that you feed your bird - sugar snap peas are fine a few times a week.
7. Remember a Galah's crop is about the capacity of a rounded (not heaped) teaspoon, so never overfeed them.
8. Fresh corn can make birds aggressive if given too often. Try to only give it once a week.

Here is an example day menu that I give to my bird:

Morning: Check water and seeds in cage (and refresh if necessary) and offer a piece of toast crust - the bird will then graze more on seeds if still hungry.
Lunch: I'm usually at work so they will graze on seeds during the day. You can install a hanging device that will hang pieces of fruit or vegetables so they can have some variety while your away at work.
Evening: A teaspoon of boiled egg and a piece of fruit or some vegetables like mashed potato - the bird will still graze more on seeds if still hungry.

So there you go, hope you all have a better understanding of Galah's.

Photos of 'Pinkie' - My Galah

Here are some photos of our pet and best friend, Pinkie the Galah.

A very young Pinkie

Pinkie on her 'play tree' that I made

Pinkie about 3 years old

Pinkie almost 7 years old