What Can Blue-Crowned Conures Eat?

Planning and preparing a nutritious diet for a blue-crowned conure may help the conure's owners eat a healthier diet, too. The 15-inch bright green and blue parrot requires an enticing and colorful variety of dry seeds, sprouted seeds, legumes, grains, fruits and vegetables. Healthy, well-fed blue-crowned conures live up to 30 years, and make alert, engaging and stimulating pets.

  1. Pellets and Water

    • Pelleted parrot foods help balance a conure's diet by providing minerals, vitamins and fiber. Since most conures prefer fresh food over pellets, they will not overeat pelleted food. Offer pellets daily in unlimited quantities and a blue-crowned conure will eat the amount of pellets he needs to satisfy his hunger. Always provide fresh, clean water for your conure to drink as he needs throughout the day.

    Seeds and Grains

    • Conures should receive a daily ration of dry seed mix, sprouted seeds and grains. Pet suppliers sell high-quality unsalted seed mixes for exotic birds. Many conure owners sprout their own food-grade lentils, mung beans, wheat and rye, and share them with their conure. Small squares of cooked rice and lentils make a nutritious whole-protein food. Conures also enjoy unsalted sunflower seeds, unsalted and shelled pumpkin seeds, and flax seeds.

    Fruits

    • Many conures favor fruits over other food choices. Pesticides on fruit present a hazard for conures, so always wash fruit well before serving, and try to buy organic fruit for your conure whenever possible. Serve fruits peeled and fresh or dehydrated. Do not serve sweetened or sulfured dried fruits from the store, because the excess sugar and sulfur could make your conure sick. Healthy fruit choices include apples, raisins, oranges, peeled kiwi, small amounts of papaya, mango, berries, grapes, nectarines, peaches and pears. Consider giving certain fruits as treats to promote desired behaviors.

    Vegetables

    • Though not always as exciting as fruits, conures need a daily serving of mixed vegetables. Feed fresh chopped vegetables, steamed and cooled vegetables, or thawed frozen vegetables. Do not add salt or fats to vegetables when cooking them for a conure. Conures enjoy kale, mustard greens, broccoli, carrots, squash, asparagus, sweet potato and pea pods.

    Bird Bread

    • Many conure owners make homemade bread specifically for their pet birds. Use a low-sugar cornbread recipe, replace the oil with applesauce and add seeds, fruit chunks, and shredded vegetables. Bake the batter as usual, cool and feed small pieces to your conure each day.