What do Green Cheek Conures Eat?

What do conures eat?
They eat EVERYTHING! That pretty much covers what they eat.
That doesn’t mean you can give them everything.
A basic rule of thumb that we’ve found helpful is - if you can feed it to a 2 year old you can give it to your bird. Of course you wouldn’t give your 2 year old a jalapeno pepper to chew on, which conures happen to love, but you get the idea.

We keep a good quality food in Jasper’s cage, but when he’s out visiting he gets the same things we eat. He loves almost all things dairy and will happily drink milk or nibble a piece of cheese. And yes, polly really does want a cracker. Crackers, bread, dry cereal (we'll cover fruit loops in a separate post) and tortillas are a favourite that they can not only eat but happily tear up just for the fun of it.

Rice, beans, noodles and corn are foods that they enjoy either cooked or raw.

Fresh fruits and vegetables – including the green parts - are all foods that you should offer to your conure regularly. Jasper’s favourites are carrots, celery, and fresh peas including the pod.

Hamburgers, lasagne, spaghetti, sushi, mashed potatoes... if it’s on your plate, your green cheek will be happy to try it.

Conures are curious and will casually wander into the middle of your plate and chow down if you let them. They can be trained to eat from their own little dish at meal times or even take small bits from a fork, your choice. They will also happily play in their cage and if your birdieparent guilt kicks in then saving an especially favoured treat for dinner time will work like a charm.

Having a high metabolism means regular meals and lots of treats but don’t expect your conure to eat every bit of food you offer. Conures definitely love to play with their food. Jasper loves crackers but he also loves that satisfying crunch of biting one to pieces just for fun.

When you feed your green cheek conure, definitely expect a mess. All birds are messy eaters and conures are no better or worse than any other. We’ve gotten around that by offering things that are easy to clean up and everything else is given in small amounts.

Just remember, you are not obligated to feed your bird people foods and there is nothing wrong with keeping all food in the cage. Food is not the only way to your birds heart and you can still bond effectively without it.