Cilantro: Good for Parakeets?

Cilantro is a healthy food for all pet birds, including parakeets. A few fresh leaves of cilantro a day will help keep your parakeet in good health. Cilantro is low in fat and cholesterol. Cilantro is a good source of vitamin K, Thiamin, Zinc, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin B6, calcium, iron, phosphorous, potassium, and magnesium.

Cilantro Is Good For

Cilantro is great for caged birds, as is parsley.

All birds are different, and have different tastes, but if your birds like cilantro…that’s a good thing…it means that they enjoy greens, which are very healthy for caged birds. They should be getting fresh foods in their diet daily. The best veggies with the highest nutrients are ones which are dark green, or have dark green or orange flesh.

I recommend organic (pesticide-free) produce. Feed only fresh foods. No mold or decay. If you won’t eat it – you shouldn’t feed it.

Along with cilantro and parsley, try romaine, other dark leaf lettuce (no iceberg or cabbage), spinach, broccoli or broccolini, bell peppers (any color), carrots, sweet potatoes, raw corn on the cob and frozen peas.

Except for the greens, corn and peas, everything else should be diced into tiny budgie sized bites. You may want to try that with the pasta, too.

Try a salad. A favorite at our house are bowls lined with romaine leaf, then parsley or cilantro, then frozen peas, topped off with little piles of finely diced sweet potato, broccoli, and red bell pepper.

Please use caution. Some foods should be avoided. Here is a link to a list of foods and plants that are toxic to birds:

http://www.avianweb.com/toxicfoods.html#toxicfood

Good luck with your budgies!

The parakeets may not like the texture or squishy-ness of the pasta. Mine doesn’t like pasta either.

They might prefer the crispness of cilantro/parsley/lettuce.

That once happened to my budgie but dont worry, its normal. This means that your parakeet wants to share the food with you or maybe just digesting the food. You can introduce your budgie to new foods by putting an apple in the cage and leaving it there. Then wait for a while and maybe your parakeet would want to see how it tastes like. Eventually she might like it! 🙂