What Do You Feed Parrots? 15 Foods Perrots love

Raising a parrot is like carrying a baby in the house. Because similar to human beings, they also require proper nutrition, entertainment, and other necessities to grow up. Almost all professional breeders or bird owners offer a healthy diet based on parrot species like Monk Parakeet, Cockatiel, African Grey, Moluccean Eclectus, Macaw, and more. 

But what do you feed parrots? Is your diet routine similar to any professional parrot owner’s? If not, ensure you offer them nutrition-balanced crumbles or pellets, fresh veggies, fruits, plants, seeds, or nuts as a treat since breeders provide these foods.

Remember, malnutrition can be the root of any sickness in parrots! So, today we’ll provide some best healthy food tips for your newcomer parrot buddy to let them grow to be social and friendly, playful birds in the house.

The Importance of a Balanced Diet for Parrots

Parrots, like all living beings, thrive best when their dietary needs are met with precision and care. A balanced diet is not just about filling their feeders but ensuring that what they consume promotes their overall well-being.

Nutrition-Balanced Crumbles or Pellets:

These are specially formulated to provide parrots with essential nutrients. They are often fortified with vitamins and minerals that might be missing from other food sources. Brands have researched and developed these to mimic the diverse nutrients parrots would get in the wild.

Fresh Vegetables:

Vegetables like carrots, broccoli, and leafy greens are packed with vitamins and minerals essential for parrot health. They also provide hydration and can be a source of entertainment as parrots enjoy foraging.

Fruits:

Fruits like apples, bananas, and berries offer essential vitamins and are often favored by parrots for their sweet taste. However, they should be given in moderation due to their sugar content.

Seeds and Nuts:

While seeds and nuts are a natural part of a parrot’s diet, they should be given in moderation. They are energy-dense and can lead to weight gain if overfed. However, they are also a source of essential fatty acids and proteins.

Expert Recommendations on Diet Composition

Board-certified avian veterinarians emphasize that a parrot’s diet should consist of 50-70% high-quality pellets. The remaining 30-50% should be fresh foods, ensuring a mix of vegetables, fruits, and occasional seeds or nuts. Brands like Lafeber, Harrison’s, and Roudybush come highly recommended by experts.

What Do Parrots Usually Eat?

We claim parrot birds as scavengers that will eat anything they find nearby. Typically, parrots’ diet might vary based on the species, but they often prefer to eat fruits, vegetables, leaves, grains, nuts, seeds, or insects. Offering them these foods can be the best source of nutrition, and feeding them twice a day would be enough for their growth.

Fruits are veggies and first-impression food with low fat for the parrot to cover the need for vitamins and minerals. The best idea would be excellent quality pellets with fresh vegetables and fruits in the parrot’s diet. 

For example, small birds like monk Parakeet or Budgies can thrive on a blend of premium quality seeds, pellets, and veggies for having high metabolism and calorie intake. Bugdies will adore leafy veggies such as romaine lettuce, bok choy, spinach, broccoli, bell pepper, Swiss chard, and other foods. We also noticed parrots like cockatiels might like popcorn, lobster, eggs, asparagus, and even butter.

What Do Baby Parrots Eat?

Regurgitated foods are given on their diet for the little champ baby parrots. For more tips, we have some ideas below to feed your baby bird.

• Weaning a baby parrot onto soft food should be the priority, then moving on to pellets or other fresh foods.
• Birds like baby Macaw or other parrot species can consume fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, nuts, or insects. 
• Since young birds often stay inside the cage, perches will be great to offer.
• Baby parrots can wean more easily onto the cup of prepared parrot food with hot water moistened than raw veggies or seeds.
• And make sure you feed your baby bird with syringes or a spoon.

What Is A Parrot’s Favorite Food: 15 Foods Parrots Prefer

Most specifically, parrots love fresh foods and vegetables as these foods are easier to consume. But they enjoy foods such as

1. Apple
2. Mango
3. Banana 
4. Grapes
5. Orange 
6. Papaya
7. Pomegranates
8. Carrot 
9. Beetroot 
10. Peas 
11. Sweetcorn
12. almonds
13. walnuts
14. sunflower seeds
15.  Coconut meat.

Toxic Foods: What to Avoid

Ensure your parrot’s safety by avoiding:

• Alcohol
• Avocado
• Chocolate
• Coffee and Caffeine
• Onions and Garlic
• Certain fruit seeds and pits
• Uncooked beans

Transitioning Diets Safely

Switching from seeds to pellets? Introduce the new food gradually. Start by mixing a small amount of pellets with seeds, increasing the pellet proportion over a few weeks. Monitor your parrot’s health and consult a vet if any issues arise.

Essential Nutrition Types For A Parrot’s Diet Chart

You cannot guarantee that your parrot will get the proper nutrition each day since offering all the necessary vitamins or minerals on time is only sometimes possible. But lack of proper diet will cause health issues or suffering throughout the entire life of the parrot. Therefore, you should always ensure the ideal amount of vitamin, protein, or calcium level in your food diet.

Nutrition Type	Problems Of Not Having	Benefits Of Having
Protein	It can make it difficult to fly or take part in other activities and ultimately they become tired and depressed.	Proper levels of proteins will ensure strong muscles and tissue.
Calcium	Causes health problems such as fractures, seizures, anxiety, soft or weak beaks, and some other problems.	Parrot’s connective tissues, plumage structure, and bone and beak forms will remain good by having calcium in their diet.
Vitamin A	A lack of vitamin A can cause faded feathers, breathing issues, scaly feet, or lack of mucus comes near the eyes, nasal passages, or throat.	For the development and repair of tissue, healthy bones, eyes, and hearing, Vitamin A is crucial!
Vitamin B	A deficiency of vitamin B such as B6, B9, or B12 makes it a challenge to digest food and take nutrition.	Keep the overall health good and help to deal with stress during periods like mating or moulting.
Vitamin D	Several sicknesses such as less egg outcome, brittle shells, oversized or soft beaks, seizures, spayed legs, knee, or fractures.	Hight amount of vitamin D confirms the presence of calcium. It produces whenever the oil reacts with sunlight and meets the need (fulfill the wild bird’s needs, not the pet parrot).

What Do You Feed Parrots: Safe And Unsafe Food List

So, you’ve learned free-feeding the parrot a good pellet diet. You sometimes give the parrot chopped fresh vegetables, fruits, seeds as carbs or fat, nuts, and some human meals. But what food for parrots at home is good, and what’s toxic for them? Let’s explore the facts in the chart.

Food Quality	Food Names
Safe	Pellets, corn, seeds, melon, banana, apples, kiwi, berries, cherries, Dates, Figs, Pears, Pineapple, Plums, Mango, Papaya, Strawberries, Peaches, Parsnips,  asparagus, cucumber, carrots, cabbage, Butternut squash, Kale, Dandelion greens, Pea pods, Cuttlefish and Oyster shells.
Moderation	Dandelion, grapes, whole grains, hard-boiled eggs, unsalted nuts, Dandelions, Chickweed, Hawthorn berries, beans (cooked), lean meat (cooked), potatoes (cooked), and fish (cooked).
Not Suggested	High-sugar food, high-fat meals, junk food, peanuts, dairy food, human food, and fried food items.
Toxic Food	Avocado, alcohol, coffee, tea, chocolates, fruit seeds, Mushrooms, onions, garlic, fruit seeds, and rhubarb.

Parrot Feeding Daily Chart

You must be thinking about the proper diet plan, right? No worries, since we have regular diet planning for every pet owner in the town.

Bird Size	Seeds	Pellets	Fruit or Vegetable	Treats
Small parrots such as budgies, lovebirds, canaries, or parrotlets	40-60% of total daily diet or75% commercial pellets	40-60% of total daily diet or75% commercial pellets	Small pieces similar to 1 to 2 teaspoons	A small amount in a week
Medium parrots like cockatiels, conures, caiques	1-3 tbsp. seeds or1-3 tbsp.pellets	1-3 tbsp. seeds or1-3 tbsp. pellets	Include 20-25% of a daily diet. (mixed chopped fruits and vegetables)	A small amount in a week
Large macaws, Amazon, Eclectus, cockatoo, African grey	2-6 tbsp. seeds or3-6 tbsp. pellets	3-6 tbsp. seedsor3-6 tbsp. pellets	Include 20-25% of a daily diet. (mixed chopped fruits, and vegetables)	A small amount in a week

Also Read>>> What is the difference between a parrot and a macaw

How Many Times Should I Feed My Parrot?

Feeding the parrot twice a day is enough for the health of your bird to remain playful and cheerful. But ensure you clean the remaining food after waiting an hour to avoid spoilage.

1 to 2 teaspoons of seeds daily will be sufficient for your parrot. Offer them pellets after they complete the bird seed or other foods in the morning. Offering freshly sliced foods or veggies can be given each day.

FAQ

In the next section, you’ll find some common questions related to the parrot’s food habits that should come into every reader’s mind. So, make sure you take a look at the Q&A part.

Closing Section

We hope this article has taught the daily food routine for your feather friend Mr. Parrot. So, next time you won’t have to ask what do you feed parrots for nutrition. The best advice from this writing you should take is to feed your bird pellets with a mixture of veggies, fruits, seeds, and nuts. 

Besides all the food, ensure you have checked all the charts we have included related to the routine diet, proper nutrition level, and the foods you should offer or avoid. And, if you have a parrot, remember to offer them the right food two times a day!