Cockatiel · Grains, seeds & nuts
Can cockatiels eat oats?
Yes, in small amounts. Plain oats are a safe grain for cockatiels, dry or cooked in water, but they add starch rather than the vitamins and calcium cockatiels most need.
- Portion
- About 1 teaspoon of plain rolled oats or cooked plain oatmeal
- How often
- Once or twice a week
- Sugar
- 1 g / 100 g
- Fat
- 6.5 g / 100 g
How to serve it
- Choose plain oats with nothing added
- Serve a pinch dry, or cook in water only
- Cool cooked oats before serving
- Clear away leftovers within a few hours
Why
Risks. Oats are starchy and low in calcium and vitamin A, both nutrients cockatiels often lack. Flavoured instant oats contain sugar and salt, and wet oats spoil quickly.
Benefits. Oats provide energy and fibre and make a soft, warm-texture food some cockatiels like.
Questions owners ask 1
Are oat groats in seed mixes good for cockatiels?
They are safe, but like other seeds and grains they are low in key vitamins and minerals, so seed mixes should not be the main diet.
Oats: nutrition per 100 g
| Water | 10.8 g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 379 kcal |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 6.5 g |
| Protein | 13.2 g |
| Fibre | 10.1 g |
| Calcium | 52 mg |
| Phosphorus | 410 mg |
| Calcium : phosphorus | 0.13 : 1 |
| Sodium | 6 mg |
| Vitamin A (RAE) | 0 µg |
| Vitamin C | 0 mg |
“Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dry”, USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy, FDC 173904). Public domain.
Sources & method 4
No source we found covers oats for cockatiels specifically, so this verdict is reasoned from general feeding guidance and nutrition data. Confidence: medium. Rated on the JOMIZOO Feeding Scale; when good sources disagree we choose the more cautious level.
- Where Avian Nutrition and Health Intersect (Diet-related Disease in Pet Birds) — University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine (Judilee C. Marrow, DVM, DACZM)
- Feeding Your Pet Bird a Healthy Diet (client education handout) — LafeberVet (Christal Pollock, DVM, DABVP Avian Practice)
- Calcium in the Avian Patient — LafeberVet (Christal Pollock, DVM, DABVP Avian Practice)
- Feeding Pet Cockatiels — VCA Animal Hospitals
