"My bird is so stubborn and refuses to try any new foods. He's scared of vegetables and won't go near them, and when he does, he just tosses them out and makes a huge mess. We're wasting so much food, offering it to him!"
Does this sound familiar?
If you've ever tried to introduce fresh fruits and veggies to your pet bird, you likely know the struggle. Parrots (and yes, that includes the little guys) can be EXTREMELY difficult to introduce to new foods, especially if they've been on the same diet for a while. Know that you're not alone in this.
But that also means there's hope! It's not that your bird is picky (after all, most birds go through this), we're just going about this the wrong way.
No matter the situation, whether you just got your budgie from a pet store, rescued an older one from a bad situation, if you've had your bird for a while or just got it, your bird can absolutely be transitioned to eating fresh food. We just have to go about it in the right way.
So here's a few tips and tricks for getting your budgie (or other type of bird) to actually eat their vegetables:
Step One: Presentation is Key
Birds are weird. We know this. Budgies especially are a more nervous species. We know that, but sometimes that understanding doesn't transfer over to their food. After all, why should they be afraid of their food?
For a budgie (or other bird) that has never really been exposed to veggies before, veggies can be a little intimidating. Your bird doesn't know what it is, only that it's something new, with bold scary colors, and is likely out to get them. After all, for such a tiny and vulnerable prey animal, everything unfamiliar is a potential threat.
Pretend for a moment that you're a young budgie from a pet store. When you were a baby, your parents fed you regurgitated seed. You were weaned onto millet. When you were moved into the pet store, you were fed seed. And then you came home. Up until this point, you've truly only eaten seed. You were set up for failure.
And then your new well-meaning owner puts a whole carrot, or a raspberry, or a big cucumber in your cage. It's big, it's scary, you don't know what it is, but it's certainly not food.
With all of this in mind, doesn't their behavior make more sense? How do we teach them that vegetables are safe and edible?
With particularly anxious or stubborn budgies, I find the most success by finely mincing or chopping everything up, until they're close to the size of their average seed (similar to minced garlic size). You can use a food processor, chop by hand, or even use a cheese grater to get everything down to the right size.
Step Two: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Once we have our veggies finely minced/shredded, what next? Do we put it in a separate bowl, or next to their regular seed in the same dish?
Mix it together! You can also try placing a thin layer of minced veggies on top of their regular seed.
If we were to try to put the veggies in a separate dish from their other food, it's very likely that nothing would happen. It's like giving a toddler their favorite food and telling them that there's carrots on the counter if they want them. It's out of sight, out of mind. If the bird has the choice between their yummy, familiar seeds, and the scary, unfamiliar vegetables that they don't even know is edible, it's no question what they'd choose.
The goal with mixing seeds with the minced veggies is to make the birds have to dig through the minced veggies to get to their seed. Even if they're just picking out the seed and leaving the veggies (which they ABSOLUTELY will do at first), that is still huge progress! They're up close with it, they're moving it around with their beak to find the seeds, and they're starting to associate the vegetable pieces with food.
It will feel like you're wasting a ton of food, but don't give up. Even though they're not eating it, it's not going to waste; this is the first and incredibly important step before they eat it.
Step Three: Consistency is Key
Keep it up!! This will not happen overnight. It is crucial that you don't give up now, even though it may feel like you're not making progress. This is not something we can offer once a week and give up when they're still not trying it. This will take consistent, daily effort before you see results.
When first introducing veggies, I like to give the bird 2 meals daily:
Breakfast is when your bird is most hungry and willing to try new things, so breakfast will be our more vegetable-heavy meal. Mostly minced vegetables/sprouted seeds, with a little bit of dry seed mixed in. Be sure you're not overfeeding, 1.5 tablespoons per budgie total for their morning meal is more than enough! If your bird has access to too much food, they can just pick and choose what they want. Start with a little bit of extra food as they're transitioning, and you can slowly back the amount down until there's less waste.
I like to give an afternoon meal/"dinner" around 4 in the evening, or whenever fits your schedule. Their breakfast and spoilable veggies should be removed and replaced with this meal. This afternoon meal should just be dry ingredients that won't go bad overnight. This can be their regular seed mix, or you can even make your own dry mix! Again, 1.5 tablespoons is more than enough to start with, and you can decrease the amount as time goes on.
If you keep up this routine while lowering the amount of food given so they have to try the new food, I guarantee you'll be successful! It may happen in days, weeks, or even months, but if you're consistent, it will happen.
You Can Also Try Sprouting!
One more trick you can try is sprouting seeds! I've found sprouted seeds to be a great transition food (and they're very important for a balanced diet as well!). It still looks like a seed, it still tastes like a seed, but the process of sprouting makes them so much healthier than dry seeds!
As time goes on, you can feed more mature sprouts. From seeds soaked just a few hours/overnight, to sprouts that have tiny root tails peeking out, to seeds that have a longer root and tiny leaves, to microgreens! From there, the transition to leafy greens and minced vegetables is pretty seamless.
You can include sprouted seeds in their morning "fresh" food portion, along with their veggies.
If you want to learn why sprouted seeds are so awesome, and how to get started with them, you can find more information here:
Where to Begin?
Here's a few flock favorites and presentation tips that are sure to get even the most picky bird interested! Note: All of these ingredients are safe to be fed raw.
Leafy greens (kale, spinach, turnip greens, dandelion greens, bok choy, etc.) | Leafy greens are always a favorite with the Australian birds (budgies, cockatiels, bourke's parakeets, etc.). These don't have to be minced, just shredded/chopped into less intimidating pieces at first. |
Carrots | Carrots are high in some great vitamins, and are a staple in my chop! You can use a cheese grater to get super thin pieces, use a food processor to finely mince, or chop by hand. The smaller, the better at first. |
Broccoli/ broccolini | Lightly trim off the small individual florets- they like the small leafy balls! These look very similar to seeds and small birds tend to take to them well. You can stick the stem in a food processor for easy mincing. |
Corn | Corn is always a favorite! Just slice the kernels off the cob, or you can even try a chunk of corn on the cob for some fun foraging! You can also defrost frozen corn for an easy prep alternative. |
Yellow squash and zucchini | These squash are a great way to introduce slightly larger pieces as your bird gets more confident, as they're soft and easy to bite into. |
Bell pepper (including the seeds) | Peppers tend to turn to mush in a blender, so I prefer to chop into small pieces by hand, and dab up excess moisture with a paper towel. |
Quinoa | For a starter sprout, quinoa is one of my favorites! It looks very similar to millet (so the birds like it), and it's easy to find in grocery stores! To feed, just soak it in water for 2-5 hours, rinse, and it's ready to go! |
Wheat | You can buy wheat "berries" online, and they're super easy to sprout! Just soak overnight, then rinse and drain it twice daily until you see little roots! |
Everything mentioned in this article is safe for most type of birds (not including birds with specialized diets like lories and toucans). While this information is clearly geared to budgie owners, this information in applicable to most small birds.
Have any questions about introducing vegetables to your bird's diet? You can contact me here:
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