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As with humans, a cockatiels diet is essential to ensuring good health and
extended lifespan. A good diet can make the difference between a 10-15
year life compared to a 30-35 year life! To make sure our feathered babies
have the best lives ahead of them, theres a lot of factors we need to
consider for a varied, healthy diet.
In this section, we will be considering:
Pellets | Fruit and Veg | Nuts | Seed | Treats
The complete staple food for parrots of any shape and size, for a nutritional healthy diet. Pellets should make up 60% of your tiels daily diet, as pellets are specially formulated according to the exact nutritional requirements of our feathered friends! They're full of vitamin and mineral goodness for a glossy plummage, sleak beak, enhanced eyesight and healthy skin. Pellets can come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours, according to the multitude of brands available. We'll be looking at the two best pellet brands for cockatiels: Harrisons and Zupreem
A certified organic brand, free of agrochemicals, developed with avian veterinarians and top avian nutritionists. Harrisons is a beloved brand by avian specialist vets for its high, balanced nutritional content. In comparison to a first cockatiel owner's go-to diet: seed, it has over 32 essential nutrients to ensure the correct functioning of an avian metabolism. Harrisons pellets can come in different sizes for different species: mash, super fine, fine and course. For cockatiels, it is recommended that either the super fine or fine sizes are chosen, with further encouragement for the fine size, due to the cockatiel need to break them down before consuming them, discouraging fast consumption which could cause regurgitation.
Harrisons also comes in two different types: High Potency and Adult Lifetime.
High potency is encouraged for young, developing tiels between weening age (6-8 weeks) and 6-12 months. This is to ensure the proper establishment of a young cockatiels developing bodily functions. Adult cockatiel owners also store high potency in advance, to provide to their cockatiels when sick, as the extra nutrition can assist them in fighting illness and improving health. It is also provided during a cockatiels moult (where they shed their feathers) to help speed up the process and ease pressure off their bird.
Adult lifetime, as its namesake suggests, is the daily adult cockatiel staple diet. Cockatiels are expected to be transferred onto the adult lifetime variety after the necessary amount of time on the high potency diet has passed.
Harrisons pellets can also come in one other flavour to the original pellet: Pepper. Cockatiels do not have the ability to react to pepper like humans do, and therefore they only experience the taste of pepper. Some cockatiels prefer the pepper to the original pellet, but it is all based on personal preference for the tiel, therefore its best to trial both kinds to find out a tiels preference.
Harrisons pellets come with very distinct portion sizes for each size bird on the back of each pack, so it is important to pay close attention to the guideline daily amounts when feeding your tiel.
Buy Harrisons direct here or from trusted provider Northern Parrots!
Zupreem Natural pellets are infuse with added vitamins, minerals and amino acids to ensure your tiel is getting the best of the best nutrition for the highest levels of health, inside and outside. Zupreem pellets come in a similar size to Harrisons Fine sized pellets and easily breakable by your cockatiel.
Although Zupreem pellets don't come in as wide a variety as Harrisons, they have a small variety of flavoured pellets for specific nutrients for your tiel; Fruit Blend and Veggie Blend. This allows your feathered friend to develop their own tailored taste preference, although most Zupreem owners will usually mix both blends with the original pellets, to ensure the correct amount of nutrients all around.
Zupreem pellets come with very distinct portion sizes for each size bird on the back of each pack, so it is important to pay close attention to the guideline daily amounts when feeding your tiel.
Buy Zupreem direct here or from trusted provider Northern Parrots!
A necessary component to your cockatiels nutritional health! Fruit and vegetables should be encouraged and served daily to your parrot to provide a variety of foof sources, which prevents your tiel from becoming bored. It also provides important nutrients straight from the source, rather than in a processed form like pellets. Many cockatiels like the different taste and textures of fruit and veg alongside their daily pellet feed. Fruit and veg should make up 20-40% of your tiels daily diet.
Cockatiel and other parrot owners may create a form of food made of fruit and veg called Chop. Chop is a variety of fruit and vegetables finely chopped up or lightly blended and mixed together, usually alongside other safe additions, such as herbs, chia seeds and oats. The most useful aspect of chop is the ability to create it in large batches and freeze it for defrostng and use later. Freezing still keeps the majority of the natural nutrients of the fresh fruit and veg, which is why its such a popular method of storing excess food. For more information on chop, click here and for interesting recipes for chop, created by cockatiel owners themselves, click here!
Below is a list of recommended fruit and vegatables. If there is a fruit or vegetable not included in this list, it is important to note that this is NOT a typo. Missed fruit and Veg are toxic and to be avoided.
| Safe Fruit / Vegetables | |
|---|---|
| Fruit | Apple | Apricot (with pips removed) | Banana | Bell Fruit | Berries (any in season) | Brazil Cherry | Brazil Grape | Carambola (Star Fruit) | Cherries (Pitted) | Coconut | Cottoneaster Berries | Cranberries | Crap-apple Berries | Custard Apple (seeds removed) | Dragon Fruit | Dua Gan | Durian Dates | Desert Lime | Feijoa Fruit | Figs | Finger Lime | Guava | Goji Berry | Grumichama | Grapes | Hawthorn Berries | Honeydew Melon | Hovenia | Joboticaba | Japanese Raisin | Jackfruit | Java Apple | Kiwi Fruit | Kiwi Berry | Korean Melon | Kumquat | Lychee | Loquat | Mandarin | Mango | Mangosteen | Momblin Fruit | Marrow | Mulberry | Nectarines | Nashi Pear | Nondu Plum | Orange | Passionfruit | Paw Paw | Papaya | Peaches (pips removed) | Pears | Persimmons | Piel de Sapo | Melon | Pineapple | Pitaya | Plums (pips removed) | Pomegranates | Quandong | Quince | Rambuton | Raspberry | Rockmelon | Rose Apple | Salak | Santol | Sapote Fruit | Soursop | Snake Fruit | Strawberries | Sugar Apple | Tamarind | Tamarillo | Tomato (stem and leaves are toxic) | Watermelon | Wild Peach | Youngberry |
| Vegetables | Artichokes | Asparagus | Beetroot (including leaves) | Bok Choy | String Beans | Brocolli | Brussel Sprouts | Cabbage | Chillies (all colours) | Chinese Cabbage | Carrots (including leaves) | Celery (including leaves) | Capsicum (peppers, all colours) | Choko | Corn | Chard | Cauliflower | Collard Greens | Mustard Greens | Cucumbers | Dark Green Lettuces | Endives | Egg Plant | Fennel | Green and Yellow Wax Beans | Jicama | Kale | Ochra | Pak Choy | Peas and Pea Pods | Pparsnip | Pumkin | Radish (including leaves) | Radicchio | Rocket | Spinach | Sprouts | Sweet Potatoes (cooked) | Silverbeet | Snow/Sugar snap peas | Snow Pea Sprouts | Turnip Greens | Watercress | Yellow Squash | Zucchini |
Nuts of all shapes and sizes make for a great occasional treat for your cockatiel! They're high in protein, fats and minerals, which is a great diet supplement, aand adds variety to your tiels diet. It is to be noted, however, that only small quantities of nuts should be offered, every so often, as the high fat content can make a bird gain weight very quickly, which is unhealthy for your feathered companion. Nuts are best provided as training treats and as an odd snack or two. Salted nuts are to be Avoided at all costs, as salt is dangerous to your tiel. Remember: Moderation is key!
The following are the list of safe and recommended nuts for your cockatiel:
Seed, while necessary for a healthy, balanced diet, shouldn't be provided more than for more than 20% of a cockatiels daily diet. This fact is usually unknown by cockatiel owners, especially those who buy their tiel from a breeder, who will often either provide seed alongside the bird or offer to sell some to the new owner. This is dangerous because seed based diets are very fatty for your bird, which leads to unhealthy excess weight and fatty heart and liver issues.
That being said, the best recommended brands for cockatiel seed are Johnston and Jeff , Prestige , Tidy Mix or Northern Parrots own brand! There's quite a wide variety oout there, some of which come with dehydrated fruit and veg for some extra variation and nutrients, so feel free to explore and see what your feathered child likes best.
Now that we've covered the main types of food in a cockatiels daily diet, it's time to have a look at the extra items that are needed or provided as a treat. The two types we will cover are Cuttlebone and Millet.
Cuttlebone is the main bone from a sea species called the cuttlefish. It has a hard outer backing and a chalky substance on the other side, which birds can eat. Cuttlebones are a must have in a cockatiels diet, as they provide high quantities of calcium, crucial for an avian, especially more so for egg laying female tiels, as the calcium is used to create the shells of their eggs. Cuttlebones are also a great location for tiels to grind their beaks due to the texture, which can help to gently sand down the dry and shedding parts of their beaks.
Millet, or millet spray, is a long branch of compact seed that birds of all kinds love to eat. It is naturally high in the vital B vitamins, however, it is very fatty in large quantities, so millet is usually given by tiel owners as a treat. It should not be given every day, and most owners will provide a third to a half of one sprig every 3-5 days or as a training treat.
