Food safety, care guides and free tools for every bird — from budgies and cockatiels to the wild birds in your backyard.
Check any food before you feed it — or see what the wild birds in your yard should and shouldn't eat.
Simple interactive tools to help you care for your bird.
canmybirdeat.com is a free resource for bird lovers — quick food-safety answers, honest care guides for pet and wild birds, and free interactive tools. Browse our pet bird care guides, our backyard & wild bird guides, or the full toolbox.
• Wash everything to remove pesticides. • Remove all fruit pits and apple seeds — they contain cyanide. • No avocado, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, onion or garlic — ever. • Introduce new foods in tiny amounts, and remove fresh food after a few hours so it can't spoil.
Use our budgie food checker to search 250+ foods rated Safe, In moderation or Never. The ratings suit budgies and other small pet birds; wild birds have their own diets in our wild bird guides.
Avocado, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, onion, garlic, chives, leek, rhubarb, salt, and all fruit pits and apple seeds are dangerous and should never be given. Even small amounts of avocado or chocolate can be fatal to a small bird.
Leafy greens and vegetables such as kale, broccoli, carrot, bell pepper, cucumber and dandelion greens are excellent daily fresh foods, alongside a quality seed or pellet base. Fruit should be a smaller, occasional treat because of its sugar.
Not always. Pet birds like budgies and parrots need a pellet or seed base with fresh vegetables, while wild birds have their own natural diets — see our wild bird feeding guides for what each species eats.