Diet

Bobby - Blueheaded Pionus eating a fresh pea

Pionus Parrots require a varied diet, a diet that is sufficient in Vitamin A. Many Pionus owners feed their birds on either a mixed seed diet with fruit and vegetables or a pelleted diet. Whichever option you choose fruit and vegetables play an important role when providing a suitable diet for your Pionus.

Mixed seed that is of good quality, clean and containing little sunflower seed is a good option, too much sunflower seed will harm your Pionus and can lead to numerous health problems later. Choose a seed mixture containing no more than 25% of Sunflower seed, if you are unsure as to the quality of a commercial seed, do ask for a sample, most companies will oblige so you can judge the mixture yourself.

Pionus love most nuts, but due to the high fat content these should not become part of the regular diet, only offer as occasional treats. Peanuts, if offered at all should only be purchased from a health food shop due to the dangers of mould spores inside the shells.

Pulses are very nutritious, it is recommended you try to feed your Pionus pulses, which are high in protein. Pulses cover beans, lentils, chickpeas, butter, mung and haricot beans. Not all Pionus will accept Pulses readily, you can try mixing some cooked vegetables and mix them in, this may tempt your bird to try them.

Pionus parrots are more likely to eat Pulses when cooked, the pulses can be soaked overnight, wash, cover with water, bring to the boil then simmer for around 15 minutes. You can then add thawed frozen vegetables, such as sweetcorn, carrots or peppers.

Our Pionus love fruit and vegetables, you can offer a great variety, apple (Golden Delicious is usually preferred!), grapes, pear, orange, banana, lychees, cherries, melon, mango, papaya, kumquats, and an all time favourite, pomegranate!

Tomatoes are a very good source of Vitamin A, you can also try Fresh Peas in the Pod, broccoli, sweetcorn, cooked beetroot, spinach beet, courgettes, carrots, green beans, mangetout, sugarsnap peas, boiled (unsalted) potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, red bell peppers, chilli peppers, and watercress. The variety is endless, depending on your bird, vegetables may be preferred raw, or cooked. Ours mostly enjoy raw vegetables, fresh and scrubbed.

Some human foods can also be offered, cooked boiled rice, pasta, lean white meat, yoghurt and pizza and filleted fish.

If you are lucky enough to live in an unpolluted area try gathering some hawthorn berries when they are in season, your Pionus will relish these! You can provide hawthorn berries all year by ordering them dried from Double Dutch in the UK, soaking them for a few hours will make them more acceptable to your bird. Many natural wild foods are excellent for the Pionus diet, you could offer the whole Dandelion plant and Sowthistle, grown in an unpolluted area and washed will be a beneficial addition to the diet.

We also provide supplements to make sure our birds get their vital vitamins, we use DailyEssentials 3, sprinkled on the fresh foods available from the Bird Care Company.

Pionus love their food, eating is the favourite pastime of our two Pionus, variety and quality is important, as is perseverance! If your Pionus refuses a particular food item, don't think this means your bird doesn't like it, Pionus, like other parrots can take many months, even years to decide to eat any one particular food item!

PiGuy - White-Capped Pionus