🦜Do Parrots Eat Meat? What Parrots Actually Eat in the Wild and as Pets

Do Parrots Eat Meat? What Parrots Actually Eat in the Wild and as Pets

When you picture a parrot eating, you probably imagine it cracking open a seed, nibbling a fruit, or chewing on a nut. But here is a surprising question: Do parrots eat meat?

The short answer is sometimes, but meat is not the main food in a parrot's natural diet.

Most parrots primarily eat plant foods such as fruits, seeds, nuts, flowers, buds, and other vegetation. Some parrots may also eat insects, grubs, or other animal foods when the opportunity arises. A few species are particularly unusual in their feeding habits.

So, are parrots vegetarian? Not quite.

Let's look at what parrots actually eat, why some consume animal food, and whether a pet parrot should be given meat. Explore our 100 Interesting Facts About Birds,and Types of Birds guides.

🦜 Can Parrots Eat This? MFJ Parrot Food Check

Do Some parrots eat meat?

New Zealand's kea — breaks the pattern entirely, actively hunting and scavenging meat as a normal part of its life. Explore do birds eat meat? article

🦜 Can Parrots Eat This? MFJ Parrot Food Check

Quick takeaway: A parrot being able to eat something isn't the same as that food being good for it. Keep that distinction in mind for everything below.

Are parrots herbivores or omnivores?

Neither label fits perfectly. A field study of wild parrots across 17 species found that seeds made up as much as 70% of their diet, with fruit, flowers, leaves, and insect larvae filling out the rest  — and breeding parrots commonly take extra insects or spiders specifically for the higher protein their growing chicks need, the same pattern seen in songbirds that otherwise live on seeds. The most accurate description: plant food is the foundation, and animal food is an occasional supplement for many species — never the reverse. Read Do Birds Have Teeth? 

🦜 The exception that breaks the rule: the kea

New Zealand's kea (Nestor notabilis) is the one parrot that genuinely doesn't fit this pattern. Keas are alpine parrots living above the tree line in the Southern Alps, and for over 150 years they've had a well-documented habit of landing on sheep's backs at night and using their sharp, curved beaks to tear through wool and feed on the fat underneath — sometimes causing wounds serious enough to be fatal.Read Do Birds Have Tongues? 

The behavior was controversial enough in the 1800s that a scientific paper was published specifically investigating whether it was real, and it wasn't confirmed on video until 1992. Researchers generally attribute the habit to the kea's intelligence, curiosity, and opportunism rather than a fixed carnivorous instinct — as European settlement changed the alpine landscape and introduced sheep as a new, calorie-dense food source, an unusually smart, generalist bird adapted.  Farmers killed enormous numbers of kea in retaliation — by some estimates, over 150,000 were shot or poisoned before the species finally won legal protection in 1986. Today kea also scavenge freely around ski resorts, eating whatever tourists leave behind — which creates a different danger, since foods and materials safe around humans, like chocolate and lead building flashing, can be toxic to the birds. 

No other parrot on Earth does anything close to this. It's the single clearest reminder that "parrots" isn't one diet — it's 400 species' worth of different answers.

🏠 Real-life example: a parrot wants your chicken

Say you're having lunch and your pet parrot flies over the moment it smells chicken on your plate. You give it a tiny piece of plain, fully cooked chicken. It happily grabs it and eats it.

Does that make your parrot a meat-eater? Not really. Parrots are famously curious, and a bird investigating or accepting a bite of something outside its usual diet doesn't mean that food belongs in its daily routine. A small amount of plain, cooked meat can be an occasional treat — but the bulk of a parrot's nutrition should keep coming from fruits, seeds, nuts, and vegetables. Your parrot eating a bite of chicken doesn't turn it into a carnivore. 🦜🍗

Can pet parrots eat chicken, fish, or eggs?

Same rules apply across all three:

• Cooked only, never raw — raw meat and fish can carry bacteria that make a bird seriously ill
• Plain, no seasoning — no salt, oil, garlic, or onion, all of which can harm birds even in small amounts
• Occasional treat, not a routine — a diet centered on pellets, vegetables, and fruit, with animal protein appearing rarely
• Eggs are the easiest option — hard-boiled egg is commonly recommended as a simple, low-risk protein treat, easier to prepare safely than meat or fish

Why would a parrot eat animal food at all?

A few reasons, and none of them mean meat should become a diet staple:

• Opportunity — wild animals take advantage of whatever food is available
• Protein, especially for breeding birds raising chicks
• Curiosity — parrots are famously inquisitive and will investigate almost anything
• Individual preference — some birds simply show more interest in certain foods than others

The takeaway

Parrots aren't strict vegetarians, and they aren't meat-eaters either — they're opportunistic omnivores whose diet leans heavily toward plants, with animal protein as an occasional supplement for many species. The kea is the dramatic exception that proves the rule: even among 400 species built around fruit and seeds, evolution produced one alpine scavenger capable of taking down a sheep. For every other parrot — including the one on your shoulder — a small, plain, cooked treat now and then is fine. A diet built around it is not.

🧠 Quiz: Do Parrots Eat Meat?

1. What makes up most of a parrot's natural diet? A. Meat B. Fruits, seeds, and other plant foods C. Fish D. Eggs Answer: B

2. Can some parrots eat insects? A. Yes B. No Answer: A

3. Is meat normally the main food of parrots? A. Yes B. No Answer: B

4. If cooked meat is offered to a pet parrot, what should it be like? A. Spicy and salty B. Fried C. Plain and fully cooked D. Raw Answer: C

5. Which parrot is famous for eating meat regularly? A. Budgerigar B. Kea C. Cockatiel D. Lovebird Answer: B

🐦 Learn More About Birds

• 100 Interesting Facts About Birds — Discover surprising facts about bird bodies, behavior, food, flight, and survival.

• Do Birds Have Ears? Where Are Their Ears? — Find out where a bird's hidden ears are and how birds hear.

• Why Do Birds Have Feathers? — Learn the many jobs feathers perform beyond helping birds fly.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Do parrots eat chicken? Some parrots will eat small amounts of plain, fully cooked chicken, but it's not a normal staple of the parrot diet.

Do parrots eat meat in the wild? Some species eat animal matter opportunistically — mainly insects and grubs — but most parrots primarily eat plant food. The kea is the major exception, actively hunting and scavenging meat.

Can parrots eat raw chicken? No. Raw meat carries a risk of harmful bacteria and shouldn't be offered to any parrot.

Can parrots eat fish? Small amounts of plain, cooked, boneless fish are generally fine as an occasional treat.

Can parrots eat eggs? Yes — hard-boiled egg is a commonly recommended occasional protein treat.

Are parrots omnivores? Loosely, yes — many species eat both plant and animal food. But plant food dominates so heavily that "omnivore" can be misleading without that context.

What should parrots never eat? Avocado, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, onion, garlic, and fruit pits or seeds are toxic and should never be offered.

Is it true a parrot attacks sheep for meat? Yes. New Zealand's kea is well documented landing on sheep and feeding on the fat beneath the wool — a behavior studied since the 1800s and confirmed on video in 1992.

Sources

1. PMC / National Institutes of Health — Parrots Eat Nutritious Foods Despite Toxins
2. The Parrot Society UK — Dietary Needs of Parrots, Part One
3. Discover Wildlife (BBC Wildlife) — Meet the Clever Kea, New Zealand's Endangered Alpine Parrot
4. Te Papa Collections — Kea and Sheep
5. Lafeber Co. — Meet the Kea: New Zealand's Naughty Alpine Parrot