Vegetables for birds

Crunchy celery stalks are a treat for many birds.
Crunchy celery stalks are a treat for many birds.

Many pet birds are true gourmets who love a diverse diet. Unfortunately, not all bird owners know which fresh food is digestible for their feathered friends. Therefore, you will find some basic information on this topic in this article.

Many vegetables are healthy for pet birds because they contain many vitamins and minerals. Moreover, they are a treat for the birds once they have got a liking for them. Moreover, fresh vegetables help keep the birds in shape. To let the animals benefit from all these advantages, fresh vegetables should be on their menu every day. Because they usually do not cause overweight, various vegetables are suitable for the birds to eat in large amounts without worry.

Root vegetables such as carrots are also a favourite food of many birds
Root vegetables such as carrots are also a favourite food of many birds

Unfortunately, however, vegetables may have been treated with pesticides and contain residues of these substances. This is associated with a health risk for birds, which is why many owners prefer to feed their animals on vegetables that are free of these agents. They assume that it is safer to buy organic vegetables. Yet, this is not always a guarantee that these foods are completely safe for birds. In the past, in some cases potentially dangerous substances have been detected on organic vegetables in laboratory tests. The origin of these pesticides remained unknown. If you can grow vegetables in your garden or on your balcony, you can play it safely about pesticides.

There is something else you should know about vegetables. Some items that fit into a different category are colloquially considered to be vegetables. Tomatoes, for example, are something in between a vegetable and a fruit. Potatoes are also often regarded as vegetables, although they are starch tubers that grow in the soil. The situation is similar with carrots, for example, whose taproots are often referred to as vegetables. This is why this article also mentions some foods that are not strictly speaking vegetables.

If you have not yet looked more closely at which vegetables you can serve your birds, you will probably be amazed at the wide variety of what they can eat. Some of the list items below are marked with small numbers. These refer to the individual explanation section noted below.

List of healthy vegetables and Co.

  • Beetroot or beet
  • Black salsify (whole plant)
  • Broccoli or Chinese kale1
  • Brussels sprouts (sliced)1
  • Cabbage turnips2
  • Carrot
  • Cauliflower3
  • Celery stalks
  • Chard
  • Chicory
  • Chillies4
  • Chinese cabbage or celery cabbage1
  • Corn, fresh
  • Cucumber
  • Curly kale or borecole1
  • Eggplant
  • Endive5
  • Fennel
  • Garden radish
  • Garlic6
  • Iceberg lettuce5
  • Jalapeño peppers4
  • Jerusalem artichoke or sunchoke
  • Knob celery or celery root
  • Lamb’s lettuce5
  • Leaf salad or lettuce5
  • Leek or garden leek6
  • Onion6
  • Pak choi or bok choy7
  • Parsley root
  • Parsnip
  • Potato (cooked without salt)
  • Pumpkin
  • Purslane
  • Radish
  • Rocket or roquette
  • Rutabaga or swede
  • Snowpea
  • Spinach
  • Spring onion or green onion6
  • Sweet pepper or bell pepper
  • Sweet potato (cooked)
  • Tomato
  • Turnip greens
  • Zucchini or courgette
Cucumbers are healthy food for pet birds.
Cucumbers are healthy food for pet birds.
Leaf lettuce is a classic fresh food for pet birds.
Leaf lettuce is a classic fresh food for pet birds.
A budgie eating fennel.
A budgie eating fennel.
Two Caiques and a budgie enjoying their red pepper.
Two Caiques and a budgie enjoying their red pepper.
While many birds simply shred carrots, some also love to eat them.
While many birds simply shred carrots, some also love to eat them.
Some budgies love to eat zucchini.
Some budgies love to eat zucchini.
Fresh corn is a healthy delicacy.
Fresh corn is a healthy delicacy.
A delicate chard leaf is a delicacy for this budgie.
A delicate chard leaf is a delicacy for this budgie.

Explanations regarding some vegetables

1. The different sorts of cabbage can cause winds and intestinal troubles in birds. For this reason, only very tender leaves and no leaf veins should be served. Furthermore, cabbage should be on the birds’ menu only occasionally and in small quantities.

2. Although the rumor persists that cabbage turnips are heavily digestible for the animals, one can serve this vegetable heedlessly to budgies or other pet birds.

3. Feel free to offer your birds cauliflower from time to time.  Budgies and some other birds love to eat the tiny florets. You can serve them raw. But these vegetables are even more easily digestible if they have been cooked (without salt!) for a short time. However, these vegetables should not be served too often, see above.

4. Unlike us, birds do not have a sense of taste for hot food items. Therefore, you can offer them chilies or chili peppers without concern.

Birds don't mind the spiciness of the chilies. © balogalukas/Pixabay
Birds don’t mind the spiciness of the chilies. © balogalukas/Pixabay
Leaf salad is a popular titbit for many pet birds.
Leaf salad is a popular titbit for many pet birds.

5. Many people advise against feeding birds on leaf salad or other sorts of salad, as this fresh food is said to cause diarrhea in the animals. This is a popular misconception and you can offer your birds salad as long as it is not polluted with pesticides. But where does the assumption come from that salad may cause diarrhea in birds? Because lettuce and other leafy vegetables are mainly water-based, birds consume comparatively large amounts of liquid when eating. This water leaves the bird’s body with the droppings or occasionally as a drop of urine that does not contain solid feces at all. But be reassured: Not everything that leaves the posterior body orifice of the birds very liquid is genuine diarrhea. After the consumption of leaf salad or other fresh food that contains a lot of water, the birds excrete urine only temporarily in larger quantities. At the latest one to two hours after eating green salad, the urine portion of the droppings of budgies and other pet birds should have normalized again.

6. Some literature sources state that onions, spring onions, leeks, and garlic are harmful to birds. They claim that some substances contained in these vegetables can cause red blood cells to burst, leading to anemia. However, other sources indicate that these foods are harmless to birds when served in small quantities. I have served small amounts to my birds on several occasions, and so far there have never been any health issues afterward. But what is a small portion? Regarding my budgies and Lineolated parakeets, this means that each animal takes only a few bites of this fresh food at maximum once per week.

7. In Asia, especially in Thailand, a cabbage variety botanically related to Chinese cabbage is known as Pak Choi. In contrast to Chinese cabbage, this member of the cabbage family is a leaf-stalk vegetable whose appearance is remotely reminiscent of chard.

Toxic or indigestible for birds - be careful!
Avocados should not be used as food for birds because of their toxicity and high fat level.
Avocados should not be used as food for birds because of their toxicity and high fat level.

Please never feed your birds on avocado. It is very high in fat which might lead to overweight in birds. But what is even more important: Parts of the avocado are toxic for birds. Fresh beans are unsuitable as food for birds as well. They can cause severe digestive problems. Asparagus and edible mushrooms should also not be served to birds.

Getting picky birds interested in vegetables

Vegetables and fruit can also be cut into small pieces and mixed with herbs as a salad.
Vegetables and fruit can also be cut into small pieces and mixed with herbs as a salad.

Some birds are very picky about their food. Some also do not like their vegetables in one piece. They prefer to eat fresh food if it has been cut into beak-sized pieces beforehand. Such “salads” have the advantage that different types of vegetables can be mixed. Of course, fruits can also be added. In addition, many birds love to eat fresh culinary herbs, which is why they can also be included in a salad like this. If you only have dried herbs at hand, you can of course use them instead. But you should make sure that the herbs you use are insecticide-free. If dried herbs are used, however, the salad should be left to soak for a while before serving. This softens the herbs because they absorb moisture.

Feeding young birds on vegetables

The rumour that young pet birds should not be fed fresh food is unfortunately very persistent. Time and again, you read in online forums or Facebook posts that breeders or even vets recommend that owners, for example, only serve their birds fresh food when they are at least half a year old. It is claimed that only then their intestines are fully developed. However, this is pure nonsense.

A young bird who hatches from an egg has a fully mature (=developed) intestine, otherwise, the animal would not be able to digest any food. Because it is already supplied with food by the parents shortly after hatching, the intestine must work. In case it would not, the bird would not be able to grow up. What the young bird actually lacks at the beginning is a natural intestinal flora.

Vegetables are not only healthy for adult birds, but also young individuals.
Vegetables are not only healthy for adult birds, but also young individuals.

The initially still kind of “virgin” intestine is “inoculated” with benign bacteria, which the young animal receives from its parents via the food mash. These benign germs immediately settle in the intestine. Usually, the natural intestinal flora of young birds develops within a few weeks. This means, for example, that as soon as a young, healthy budgie or other pet bird leaves the nest, its intestine is the same as that of the adults – including the natural intestinal flora.

Young individuals who have left the nest are therefore physically fully grown, juvenile birds and not tiny ones like recently hatched individuals (= chicks) who still will have to grow. As soon as a young bird has left the nest and can eat himself or herself, the animal can digest fresh food such as vegetables. The vitamins and minerals of this fresh food will have a positive effect on the bird’s health. And also while the adults are rearing their chicks, they need fresh, vitamin-rich food in order to be able to provide their babies with the best possible nutrients.