Cockatiel Food: What Do Cockatiels Eat?

Wild cockatiels forage for their food, spending most of their day eating a variety of grass seeds, fruits, berries, and other vegetation they find. Their wild diet is full of variety, but the nutrition is inconsistent—not ideal, but it’s natural for a wild bird.  

Your pet cockatiel has a different lifestyle and much lower activity level, making their needs a bit different, which is why a formulated cockatiel pellet as the foundation of their diet is important.  

Here’s what your pet cockatiel’s diet should include:  

• Formulated cockatiel pellets appropriate for their life stage 
• Fresh vegetables and greens 
• Small amounts of fruits 
• Limited seeds and treats 
• Plenty of water, refreshed daily 

Your bird’s needs will vary, depending on their age, health, activity level, and reproductive status. So adjust the following recommendations based on your cockatiel’s needs.  

Specially formulated cockatiel pellets should make up 75–80% of a pet cockatiel’s diet.  

Pellets are nutritionally balanced and offer all the nutrients your cockatiel needs. Unlike seed mixes, pellets keep your feathered friend from picking through their food for their favorites.  

Cockatiels need slightly different nutrient ratios depending on their life stage and age, so choose a pellet blend and ​​​​supplemental food (veggies, fruits) that fits your bird’s current needs. 

Adding fresh vegetables and greens to your cockatiel’s menu makes meals more interesting and adds nutrients from different sources. Cockatiel-safe options include:

• Carrots 
• Bell peppers 
• Broccoli 
• Leafy greens 
• Squash 
• Sweet potato 

Be sure to wash produce thoroughly to remove any pesticide residue, then cut it into small pieces. Some pet parents put them on a skewer and let their birds pick and pull at veggies, satisfying some of their foraging instincts.  

Remember, fresh produce can spoil quickly, so be watchful and remove it after a few hours if left uneaten. 

While your cockatiel may want to eat fruit all day every day, these foods are naturally high in sugar. Therefore, fruit is appropriate for birds only as a treat, and in very small amounts. Safe fruit choices include:  

• Berries 
• Melon 
• Mango 
• Papaya 
• Seedless apple slices 

If a fruit has seeds or pits, remove them before giving it to your cockatiel—some fruit seeds carry toxins that are unsafe for birds. 

Yes! Cockatiels can eat seeds, but they shouldn’t be their entire diet. Commercial bird seed mixes are often high in fat and carbohydrates and lack the vitamins, minerals, and protein your cockatiel needs. Left to their own devices, many cockatiels would pick through the seeds, eat their favorites, and eventually end up with nutritional deficiencies.  

The best way to include seeds is as a small portion of a balanced diet or as occasional treats.  

If you’re transitioning a seed-loving bird to pellets, make the change gradually, with guidance from your avian vet. Many pet parents are successful with time, patience, and increasing the percentage of pellets slowly rather than all at once.  

Some human foods are toxic to cockatiels, so knowing what to keep away from your bird is also important. This isn’t the complete list—if you’re not sure if a food is safe for your feathered friend, check with your avian vet.  

Foods and ingredients to avoid include:  

• Avocado 
• Chocolate 
• Onion  
• Apple seeds and other potentially dangerous fruit pits or seeds 
• Caffeine (coffee, tea, and caffeinated soda) 
• Alcohol 
• Highly processed foods like chips, crackers, and cookies 
• Excessively sugary, salty, or ​​fatty foods 
• Iceberg lettuce and celery, because they’re mostly water 

Every bird is different and what works for one bird may not work for another. How much you feed your cockatiel depends on their current body weight, health, activity level, and reproductive status.  

Plan their diet with pellets as the base, supplemented with fresh produce and a small amount of treat foods or seeds. Then adjust as necessary.  

If your cockatiel leaves food untouched at the end of the day, you may be giving them too much. Try reducing portions until they eat almost everything. For a baseline, ask your avian vet to suggest the right daily amounts for your bird.   

Planning the right diet for your cockatiel means sticking to a simple formula: balanced pellets, fresh vegetables, limited fruits and seeds, and plenty of fresh water. Variety and moderation will matter more to your cockatiel’s overall health than designing the “perfect” diet, so provide variety in each meal to help ensure they’re getting everything they need.  

If you’re not sure what to feed your cockatiel or you’re trying to move them off an all-seed diet, get advice from an avian vet to help you build a plan that fits your unique bird.  

A nutritionally complete pellet that’s formulated for birds should generally form the foundation of a pet cockatiel’s diet, supplemented with appropriate fresh vegetables, limited fruit, and other veterinarian-approved foods. 

Yes. Cockatiels can eat certain fruits in small quantities. Fruit contains natural sugars, so vegetables and greens should generally play a larger role among fresh foods than fruit. 

Yes. A variety of appropriate vegetables and greens can be offered as part of a balanced diet. 

No, they shouldn’t eat seeds every day. Seeds can be included in small amounts, but cockatiels should not eat a seed-only diet. Seeds are nutritionally incomplete when used as the sole food source. 

No. Cockatiels remove seed hulls before eating the kernels and do not need grit to digest their food.  

Not necessarily. Cockatiels eating a nutritionally complete pellet-based diet generally do not require routine supplementation. Supplements should only be given under an avian veterinarian’s guidance.