Can budgies eat kale?

Yes — safe in normal portions

Yes. Kale is one of the more nutritious greens you can give a budgie, offering beta-carotene and calcium. Wash it, strip the tough stem and chop it small.

Portion: A leaf piece about 5 cm (2 in) square, or 1–2 teaspoons finely chopped
How often: 2–4 times a week, rotated with vegetables outside the cabbage family
Sugar: 1 g / 100 g

How to serve it

Wash well
Strip the leaf from the tough central stem
Chop finely or clip a piece to the cage
Serve raw or plainly steamed, with nothing added

Why

Risks. Kale is safe in normal portions. Like other cabbage-family plants it contains compounds that can interfere with iodine use in very large amounts; budgies are prone to iodine deficiency on all-seed diets, so rotate kale with other greens. There is no evidence that normal portions cause problems.

Benefits. Kale provides beta-carotene (for vitamin A), vitamin K, vitamin C and calcium.

Questions owners ask 2

Can budgies eat kale every day?

It is better not to. Kale is in the cabbage family, whose goitrogens can interfere with iodine use, and budgies are the species most prone to goiter. Offer it a few times a week and rotate it with greens outside the cabbage family, such as romaine and dandelion.

Raw or cooked kale for budgies?

Raw is fine and keeps more vitamin C. Plain steamed kale is also fine; never add butter, salt or garlic.

Kale: nutrition per 100 g

Water	89.6 g
Energy	35 kcal
Sugars	1 g
Fat	1.5 g
Protein	2.9 g
Fibre	4.1 g
Calcium	254 mg
Phosphorus	55 mg
Calcium : phosphorus	4.62 : 1
Sodium	53 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)	241 µg
Vitamin C	93.4 mg

“Kale, raw”, USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, FDC 168421). Public domain.

Sources & method 3

The sources below discuss kale for budgies (or for pet birds generally). Confidence: high. Rated on the JOMIZOO Feeding Scale; when good sources disagree we choose the more cautious level.