The diet of the birds varies greatly. The birds that are omnivorous have a diet that is far more appealing to the human eye. They have a wide variety of fruits from avocados to papayas, of course they still need their meat group which is acquired from dog food, that has been soaked in water to soften it up a little. They also get something called an apple paradise pellet that was designed by the Zoo's nutritionist to make sure the birds get all the essential vitamins to keep them healthy. In regards to the animal behavior aspect of birds, they are among the easiest of all the animals to keep happy.
Much work goes into creating an environment that is very realistic to their natural home.
Part of Dave's job is to help design an enclosure that will be the most comfortable for the birds. Thanks to the small size of birds and their fairly high sociability, aviaries can be built that give the birds a large area of mobility that is as close as they can get to being in their native habitat. Not all birds are able to live in the large aviaries however. These are mostly endangered birds or ones that are too aggressive or not aggressive enough. In addition to not always getting along with each other, sometimes the birds get along too well with the public.