That's very helpful! I'll have to try that, I know I could at the very least weave a little ball with some millet inside to get her to chew through, that might give her something to do.
She doesn't get much, because I don't put a lot in the food that I make and she only gets a little bit of the food (because she'll eat a lot if she likes the taste, and I don't want her to overeat) but I will keep that in mind and try to lower the amount or keep it away from her in general. I've used a few herb spices, and she seemed to like those, but I was cautious because I wasn't sure which would be safe.
I haven't hung them up before, every time I've tried to present leafy greens to her, she's either acting disgusted or terrified of them. I want her to try them, but I don't want to traumatize her by forcing her (that being, holding her and holding it up to her beak so she bites it, which unfortunately as a young child I did a couple times to make her try new foods and it's literally come back to bite me on many occasions) and also don't want her to be afraid to walk across her cage because there's something she's afraid of in it. She seems to like dried stuff in small pieces fine, but she doesn't like the fresh greens so much. Still working on that with her, I know I can introduce it slowly and eventually she'll try it.
She's a pretty picky eater, but do you think it would be easier to introduce new foods to a younger bird? I can't tell if being super picky is an every bird thing, species specific, or just because she's 9 years into her habits and doesn't always want to allow new things into her routines. My cousin usually has better luck getting her bird to eat new things, but she's had the bird since hatching and it's a green cheek conure (well, some kind of variation of that but I can't remember which one) and as far as I know, conures are a little more willing to try new things, and in this bird's case, accept new foods from the person she's known her whole life that has never given her anything bad - so even though she's got routine she'll still openly try new stuff whereas Alder will sometimes simply refuse to try (but usually she'll give it a nibble.. just not with leafy greens.)
Also, I just want to thank you sincerely for all your advice and information thus far, it's very helpful and I appreciate it sincerely.
As pets, they are somewhat the same in my experiences. Shy, quiet, sweet, gentle - I find them to be a lot like cockatiels and budgies. They aren't that sort of "crazy playful and cuddly" you get with birds like conures or lorikeets or cockatoos etc, but they still love attention, company and scritches. They usually seem to like the same sort of toys cockatiels and budgies do (bells, soft toys, mirrors etc) and the are't very destructive. They aren't terribly loud either. I think they're really cute little birds. 
) but never really so much wood or sticks. She chewed on her wooden dowel perches for a short while, but that was the only wood she touched, everything else she showed no interest in, even other wooden perches.
