Most parrots love their food, but they’ll let you know if the food you’re offering doesn’t excite them. From throwing food out of their cage or simply ignoring it, it will be quite clear if your parrot would prefer something new. At this point, it’s up to you to do the research and find tasty new food for them to try!
But a quick glance at all the options out there shows that there are many different types of parrot food. Some are a pelleted blend of nutrients, and others contain a blend of fruits, seeds, and nuts to encourage natural foraging behavior. But what’s best for your parrot? Our reviews are designed to help you answer that question!
As the best parrot food overall, we don’t think that you can beat the Lafeber Sunny Orchard Nutri-Berries Parrot Food. This veterinarian-owned brand uses hand-inspected ingredients that are prepared in small batches to guarantee quality and freshness. It features sun-ripened apricots, cranberries, and dates for ultimate palatability. The unique round shape and crunchy texture of this food promote a range of sensations for your parrot, leading to better enrichment and a happier parrot!
Unlike many other parrot foods, the grains and seeds in this Nutri-Berries are pre-hulled, to guarantee that your parrot gets the maximum nutritional benefit from each and every bite. Every berry also contains stabilized vitamins in beadlet form, chelated minerals, and omega-3 and -6 fatty acids. Reviewers note that their parrots simply love this food and look forward to every meal.
Pros
Choose from two bag sizes
Contains 10% protein
Contains 6% fat
Contains 5% fiber
Complete and balanced nutrition
Seeds and grains are all hulled
Veterinary developed
Cons
None that we can see
2. Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health Parrot Food — Best Value
We recommend the Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health Parrot Food as the best parrot food for the money. This contains a blend of seeds, grains, and fortified supplements to make sure that your parrot’s muscles, feathers, and skin are healthy from the inside out. It also helps support their immune system because it contains DHA, probiotics, and antioxidants. The clean blend of natural seeds and grains includes sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, canary grass seeds, whole peanuts, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, and more!
This complete nutrition blend is specifically designed to help support better feathering and vibrant plumage colors. It also contains omega-3 fatty acids to support healthy eye, brain, and heart function. This food does contain colorings, but they’re all from natural sources. This seed is extremely palatable, and most parrots seem to love the wide choice of seeds and grains.
Pros
Great value for money
Contains 15% protein
Contains 12% fat
Contains 18% fiber
Helps maintain vibrant feather colors
Includes probiotics and prebiotics
Choose from three bag sizes
Cons
May contain GMO ingredients
3. Lafeber Tropical Fruit Nutri-Berries Parrot Food — Premium Choice
As a premium choice, the Lafeber Tropical Fruit Nutri-Berries Parrot Food is excellent. It can be fed as a complete diet and has been formulated to provide everything that your parrot needs. The unique and fun-to-eat shape of this food creates a variety of sensations on your parrot’s beak and tongue, helping replicate their natural diet in the wild. This food also contains pieces of real mango, papaya, and pineapple.
What sets this parrot food apart from many others is that the seeds and grains have all been hulled first, then blended with all the additional vitamins and minerals that your parrot needs. This means they get the maximum benefit from each bite. The blend is veterinary-approved and can be fed as a complete food or as a treat to enrich your parrot’s environment. Many parrots adore these, and you can be confident that your parrot will be getting balanced nutrition and have great fun eating these nutri-berries.
The ZuPreem FruitBlend Flavor Parrot Food is a great choice if you’re looking for a low-fat parrot food that’s still appetizing and nutritionally balanced. These pellets are designed to appeal to your parrot’s inquisitive nature due to their bright colors, different shapes, and tasty flavors. These pellets contain oranges, apples, grapes, and bananas, as well as a blend of seeds and grains. Of course, they also contain all the additional vitamins and nutrients that your parrot needs to stay happy and healthy.
These can tempt fussy parrots to eat and are perfect for African greys, caiques, conures, Amazons, eclectus parrots, Senegals, and small cockatoos. The resealable bag helps these stay fresh, and many parrots love the colors and flavors of this food. It may take time to transition your parrot onto a pelleted diet from grains, but once complete, you can be sure they’re receiving all the balanced nutrition that they need.
Kaytee Fiesta Variety Mix Parrot Food contains a yummy blend of grains, seeds, fruits, and vegetables to provide variety for your parrot when it comes to their diet. It contains corn, sunflower seeds, buckwheat, peanuts, almonds, papaya, raisins, oats, bananas, apples, and more! The shapes, textures, colors, and flavors all combine to add enrichment and give your parrot something to look forward to at mealtimes.
This food is nutritionally balanced and can be fed as a complete feed. It also includes ingredients designed to help your parrot’s feathers stay in the best condition possible and with the brightest colors. If your parrot is overweight, be warned that this contains quite a high percentage of fat, so you may want to feed this in smaller amounts and combine it with a lower-fat or diet feed.
ZuPreem Pure Fun Parrots Food is a premium blend of fruit, smart pellets, nuts, and vegetables, all designed to provide an enriching variety of foods for your parrot. This food is not designed as a complete feed, but as a supplement that can be up to 30% of your bird’s weekly rations. This can help add interest to your parrot’s diet, but it won’t provide all the nutrition that they need on its own.
The smart pellets in this feed are fortified with essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. They’re also lower in fat than seeds, helping your parrot stay at a healthy weight. This supplementary food is designed for African greys, Amazons, conures, and cockatoos. Many parrots seem to enjoy this food as a treat, but be aware that it does contain artificial colors.
Pros
Contains 10% protein
Contains 6% fat
Contains 8% fiber
Includes a good blend of grains, seeds, fruits, and pellets
Higgins Vita Seed Parrot Food contains a premium blend of seeds, vegetables, and fruits designed specifically for parrots. It contains sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, corn, oats, peanuts, papaya, pineapple, cashews, red peppers, blueberries, apples, bananas, and more! You can choose from three bag sizes, although it’s a large jump from 3- and 5-pound bags to 25-pound bags!
Besides plenty of nuts, grains, seeds, and fruit, this parrot food is supplemented with plant-based DHA, omega-3 fatty acids, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and probiotics. It’s made in the U.S.A. and completely free from any artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors. While the blend of ingredients within this food is varied, reviewers do comment that in reality, it’s heavy on sunflower seeds.
Brown’s Encore Premium Parrot Food contains a blend of striped sunflower seeds, grains, peanuts, safflower seeds, dried peppers, and ZOO-Vital baked biscuits. This blend encourages your parrot to forage and increases their interest in their food. The ZOO-Vital baked biscuits contain probiotics and essential nutrients to keep your parrot in the best of health.
This fortified food is ideal as a complete diet, although reviewers do note that it’s primarily made up of small seeds, sunflower seeds, and corn. You’ll need to make sure the package is well mixed before you feed your parrot, so they get a blend of all the larger pieces with each serving.
Higgins Safflower Gold Parrot Bird Food is free from sunflower seeds but contains a large blend of other ingredients, including safflower seeds, wheat, cashews, blueberries, legumes, grains, bananas, pumpkin seeds, and more! This does contain coloring, but from spices, seeds, and vegetables rather than artificial versions. Besides seeds, grains, and fruits, this blend contains pellets enriched with probiotics, omega fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals.
Higgins can’t guarantee that this blend is GMO-free, so if you prefer to avoid any GMO foods for your parrot, then this won’t work for you. It’s also only available in a very small bag of 3 pounds or a very large bag of 25 pounds. It’s also worth noting that while this does contain a good blend of seeds and grains, the majority of the contents are tiny seeds and grains, with far fewer large seeds, nuts, or fruit.
Brown’s Tropical Carnival Biscuits Small Hookbill Bird Food is a nutritionally balanced blend of interesting shapes, tasty flavors, and plenty of colors and textures to tempt your parrot to eat. This blend also helps encourage your parrot’s natural foraging instincts, helping relieve boredom and add enrichment. This contains chili peppers as spicy treats full of nutrients. Besides whole seeds and grains, this parrot food contains ZOO-Vital biscuits, which include probiotics, vitamins, and minerals.
While this food does contain a good blend of seeds and grains, some reviewers have commented that it’s primarily sunflower seeds, very small seeds, and corn. It contains few larger ingredients, like whole peanuts, which most parrots love. This blend is also high in fat, so bear that in mind if your parrot is overweight.
There’s a huge range of different parrot foods to choose from. But which one is going to get your parrot excited about their dinner? Our buyer’s guide is designed to help you answer that question.
Pellets, seeds, or both?
You can choose parrot food in the following categories:
Pellet form
A blend of seeds, grains, and nuts
A combination of pellets, seeds, grains, and nuts
Pellets contain balanced nutrition, so you don’t need to worry that your parrot is missing out on anything. Most pellets contain a blend of seeds, nuts, and grains, and all the additional minerals and vitamins that your parrot requires.
Parrots love foraging, so giving them a blend can encourage them to spend time looking through their food. Parrots love seeds, but they’re also high in fat and relatively low in essential minerals and vitamins. So, if your parrot is overweight, seeds may not be the right choice.
A mixed food including a blend of both pellets and seeds is great for adding interest to your parrot’s diet, as well as encouraging natural foraging behavior. Because it also contains pellets, you know that your parrot’s nutritional requirements are being met.
Some parrots will have particular preferences as to the kind of foods that they prefer, so if you are feeding a mix, make sure that your parrot is eating some of each item in the mix. If they’re consistently ignoring the pellets or throwing them to the base of their cage, they may not be getting all the nutrition that they need.
What else should I feed?
Besides your chosen parrot food, you can also supplement your parrot’s diet with things like fresh fruits and vegetables and protein sources like peanuts and other parrot-safe nuts.
Each parrot is individual, and some will prefer certain foods over others.
How much should you feed your parrot?
Each manufacturer will have feeding guidelines for their particular blend, but as a general rule, 70% of your parrot’s diet should be pellets or parrot food mix. This equates to around half a cup for a large parrot. The remaining 30% should be fresh vegetables and fruit.
You can try feeding your parrot apples, bananas, berries, and other fruits like pineapple or papaya. Vegetables to include are carrots, peas, celery, asparagus, and broccoli.
You should feed your parrot twice per day. Split their ratio, and give them half in the morning and half in the evening.
How to switch to a new parrot food
Parrots can become fond of their food, so transitioning them onto a new brand should be done over a period of around 10 days. This also reduces the chance of any gastrointestinal issues. We recommend the following:
Days 1–3: Mix ¼ of the new food into ¾ of the current food.
Days 4–6: Mix ½ of the new food with ½ of the current food.
Days 7–9: Mix ¾ of the new food with ¼ of the current food.
Day 10: Feed 100% of the new food.
Keep an eye on your parrot as you make the transition.
Image Credit By: Tanuj_handa, pixabay
Conclusion
As the best parrot food overall, the Lafeber Sunny Orchard Nutri-Berries Parrot Food has a unique shape and texture that are designed to appeal to your parrot’s foraging abilities, so they can have fun while having all their nutritional needs met.
We selected the Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health Parrot Food as the best value parrot food. Containing a tasty blend of grains, seeds, and fruits, this food is also enriched with DHA, antioxidants, and probiotics to help your parrot feel and look great on a budget.
We hope that you found our reviews of the 10 best parrot foods helpful! Rest assured that no matter which one you pick, your parrot will be getting all the nutrition that they need. From seed and grain mixes to pellets and supplementary mixes, there’s something for every parrot!
Nicole is the proud mom of 3 rescue fur babies, Baby, a Burmese cat; Rosa, a New Zealand Huntaway; and Mac, a Lab/Mastiff. A Canadian expat, Nicole now lives on a lush forest property with her Kiwi husband and new baby daughter in New Zealand. She has a strong love for all animals of all shapes and sizes (and particularly loves a good interspecies friendship) and wants to share her animal knowledge and other experts' knowledge with pet lovers across the globe....Read more
