About African Lovebird Food

The main diet of an African Lovebird consists of dry food from your local pet store. African Lovebirds enjoy a wide variety of supplemental foods as well. The proper diet is essential for the well being of your bird. There are also some foods that should never be offered to African Lovebirds. With a few additions, you can offer your bird the same foods they would get in the wild.

African Lovebirds enjoy a varied diet. It not only pleases their taste buds, but it is essential that they get a wide variety of food to meet their nutritional needs. Lovebirds originated in Africa and have access to fruits, grains, legumes, grass and greens. They especially love seeds and nuts, as they have easy access to this in the wild.

Their main diet should consist of a good, quality dry food from your local pet store. You can use a formulated pet food, which is the best choice nutritionally. You can also use a seed diet. This will be the staple food for your African Lovebird. Each Lovebird will eat about two ounces of their staple food, per day.

The following is a list of some supplemental foods your African Lovebird will want to eat. Offer these at different times to enable your bird to have a variety of food.

• Grains - cornbread, cheerios, cooked rice, and unsalted crackers


• Greens and grasses - spinach and mustard green leaves, kelp, cabbage leaves, and Bok-Choy


• Fruits - apples, berries, banana, plums, pears, etc. The seeds from citrus fruits should be removed and thrown away. The smaller seeds found in berries, etc will not hurt your bird.


• Vegetables - squash, carrots, cucumbers, turnips, beets, fresh peas, zucchini, broccoli, and cauliflower


• Flowers - Passion flower, Roses, Chamomille, Sunflower, Dandelion, Lilac, and Tulips

Avocado is deadly to African Lovebirds. Make sure not to offer it. You also want to avoid chocolate and artichokes. If you offer your birds blossoms, make sure that they do not eat the leaves. Many leaves on flowers are poisonous to African Lovebirds.

It is easier to offer new food to the birds when they are young. As they grow older, they are more resistant to trying new foods. A good way to encourage them to eat something new is by placing it on a mirror. Another trick would be to let your bird watch another African Lovebird eat the food. This will encourage your bird to try it.