Safe And Toxic Foods List For Parrots

We all want the best for our birds and to keep them happy, healthy, and safe! That starts with food! We need to provide our birds with safe foods that are good for them and avoid toxic foods. Make sure to bookmark this page for future reference.

This list will come in handy when you don’t know if you can or can’t offer your bird something. The list includes foods that are safe and toxic.

Please keep in mind these lists are not exhaustive, but as a general rule of thumb, if you are not sure if a food is safe, do not feed it to your bird and check with your trusty avian vet. Additionally, if you are not familiar with a food ask your vet before feeding it to your bird.

Safe Fruits

Make sure that all apple, pear, and stone fruit seeds/pits are removed before letting your birds eat the fresh fruits. I always remove all seeds and usually the skin as well. Always wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly. I like to wash my fruits and veggies in hot water to remove any waxes and residues. It’s always best to go organic so your parrots can stay away from pesticides. The chemicals they spray the plants with can harm your birds and you! You can use vinegar it’s great for cleaning fruit and vegetables. Soak for 10 minutes. 1 cup vinegar to 10L water.

Apple (limited due to high sugar content) - no seeds
Asian Raisin (japanese raisin, hovenia)
Apricot
Banana
Berries - ie. Blueberry, Blackberry, Boysenberry, Strawberry, Raspberry
Carambola (star fruit)
Cantaloupe melon (known as Rockmelon)
Citrus - limited amounts due to acid content
Coconut - fresh or dried (no additives)
Custard Apple (sugar apple) - no seeds
Cherry
Cranberry
Dragonfruit
Durian
Dates - dried
Desert lime
Feijoa Fruit
Figs (fresh)
Finger Lime
Guava
Goji Berry
Gooseberries
Grapes (limited due to high sugar content)
Grapefruit
Hawthorn Berries
Honeydew Melon
Jaboticaba
Jackfruit
Java Apple (bellfruit, rose apple)
Kiwifruit
Kumquat
Lychee - no seed
Loquat
Lemon
Lime
Mango (without skin)
Mangosteen
Melon - any variety (including seeds)
Mulberry
Mandarin
Nashi Pear
Nectarine (pit removed) - no seed
Nondu Plum
Orange
Passion Fruit
Paw paw
Papaya and Seeds
Pears
Persimmons
Pineapple
Pitaya (yellow dragon fruit)
Pomelo
Pineapple
Plum - no seed
Peach - no seed
Pomegranate
Quince
Quandong
Rockmelon
Rambuton
Raspberry
Red Currants
Rose Apple (java apple, bellfruit)
Stone Fruit (peach, nectarine, plum, apricot etc) - remove the ‘stone' aka seed
Star Fruit (carambola)
Strawberry
Sugar Apple (custard apple)
Soursop
Sapote fruit
Salak
Tamarind
Tamarillo
Tangerine
Watermelon and Seeds
Young berry

Healthy and Safe Vegetables

Artichoke
Asian Greens - any variety (including stems and leaves)
Beans - rinsed and cooked only!!
Beetroot (including leaves)
Bell Peppers
Beet (fresh), including tops
Broccoli (stems and leaves)
Brussels sprouts
Bok choy
Basil
Capsicum and seeds (all varieties, but remove stems)
Carrot and tops
Cauliflower (including leaves)
Celery stalks and leaves (caution: do not feed too much due to sodium content)
Chinese Cabbage
Corn (in small amounts)
Chard
Chilli - including seeds
Cilantro
Cucumber (including seed and skin)
Chamomile
Dandelions
Dill
Fennel
Green Beans
Kale
Mustard Greens
Okra
Parsnips
Peas (fresh/green)
Pumpkin (and seeds)
Radish (including leaves)
Rocket
Radicchio
Romain Lettuce
Spinach
Snow Peas and Sugar Snap Peas
Sprouts and micro-greens (fresh) i.e. alfalfa, snow pea, mung bean, lentils, chickpea.
Sweet Potato - cooked only!!
Squash
Swiss chard
Taro - cooked
Turnips
Yams - cooked only!!
Zucchini

Safe spices (use sparingly)

Basil (sweet)
Cilantro
Camomile
Chicory
Cinnamon
Chilli (whole chilli or bell pepper is a great addition to chop)
Dill
Dandelion root or leaf
Fennel
Ginger
Lemon Balm
Majoram
Mint
Oregano
Rosemary
Thyme

Safe Grains – whole, rolled or cooked (most easily digestible)

Quinoa
Millet
Buckwheat
Pearled barley
Brown/red/black/wild rice
Rye
Spelt - anything wholegrain and unprocessed is best
Oats / Hulled oats
Pasta / Whole Grain Pasta

Safe Legumes - always soak & cooked!

Red Kidney Beans
Black Beans
Chickpeas
Lentils
Navy beans

Safe Nuts & Seeds

Nuts and seeds are only recommended in limited amounts, raw/unsalted, and no peanuts. Nuts in the shell are a great foraging treat.

Almonds
Brazil
Cashews
Hazelnuts
Macadamia
Pistachios
Pine nuts
Pecan
Walnuts
Sunflower seeds
Safflower seeds
Chia seeds
Sesame seeds
Fennel seeds
Millet
Oat groats
Hemp seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Brown flaxseeds (best ground)
Coriander seeds
Caraway seeds
Milk thistle seeds

TOXIC OR UNHEALTHY BIRD ITEMS

The items on this list should be avoided at all costs. They can result in a very sick or deadly bird.

Avoid anything high is salt, sugar, and fat content.
Alcohol
Apple Seeds
Apricot Pits
Avocado (Entire Plant And Fruit)
Air Fresheners
Ammonia
Antifreeze
Ant Syrup Or Paste
Arsenic
Asbestos
Auto Products
Beans - Mature dried Kidney, Lima, Fava beans, Fresh Edamame (immature Soy Beans) - Antienzymes in raw edamame prevents nutrient uptake in the digestive system (and cause digestive upset similar to eating raw sweet potato), and the - hemagglutinin levels are similar to uncooked kidney and fava beans. Consumption of raw edamame would result in a very sick and possibly dead parrot.
Beans, any dried - COOKED BEANS ARE OKAY i.e. black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, etc
Butter
Bathroom Cleaners
Bleach
Boric Acid
Caffeine - Coffee Or Tea
Carbonated Beverages
Cherry Pits
Chocolate
Cheese
Chives
Cigarette Tobacco
Cologne/Perfume
Camphophenique
Carbon Monoxide
Carpet Cleaners
Carpet Fresheners
Charcoal Fluids
Chlordane
Chlorine
Cigarette Smoke
Clinitest Tablets
Copper/Brass Cleaner
Detergents
Diazinon
Disinfectants
Drain Cleaners
Dried Fruits Containing Sulphides Or Sulphates
Deodorant
Egg Plant
Epoxy Glue
Fatty Foods (ie. French Fries, Chips)
Felt Tip Markers
Flea Products
Floor Polish
Formaldehyde
Furniture Polish
Gatorade
Garden Sprays
Gasoline
Houseplants (Most are toxic, not all)
Hair Dyes & Sprays
Herbicides
Insecticides
Iodine
Junk Foods
Kerosene
Leeks
Lighter Fluid
Lye
Milk/Cream In Large Quantities
Makeup
Mouldy Foods Or Grains
Mushrooms
Matches
Melaleuca Oil
Model Cement
Mothballs
Muriatic Acid
Mushrooms
Nectarine Pits
Nailpolish/Remover
Nitrogen Dioxide
Olives
Onions - All
Oven Cleaner
Overheated Non-Stick Cookware
Peach Pits
Pear Pits
Plum Pits
Paint & Thinner
Perfume
Permanents (Hair)
Pesticides
Photo Solutions
Pine Oil
Raw Peanuts
Raw Potatoes
Rhubarb
Rodenticides
Rubbing Alcohol
Salt
Soft Drinks
Sugar
Scented Candles
Shaving Lotion
Shellac
Shoe Polish
Snail Bait
Spot Removers
Spray Starch
Strychnine
Sulfuric Acid
Super Glue
Suntan Lotions/Oils
Surgical Acrylics
Tobacco
Tomato (Entire plant. A little fruit is okay)
Tea Tree Oil
Turpentine
Wart Remover
Wax
Weed Killers
Window Cleaners
Wood Preservatives