Can Birds Eat Watermelon? Yes, a Small Piece of Flesh

Why watermelon is fine in small amounts

VCA's suitable-foods list for budgies includes melons with apple, banana, blueberry, grapes, mango, papaya, peaches and many vegetables. Lafeber's bird food guide lists melons among fruits for daily snacks. Watermelon is not toxic to birds.

It is also very wet. VCA notes that fruit is high in water and natural sugar, and that pale, watery produce offers little nutrition, which is why it suggests fruit at about 10 percent of a conure's daily intake. Watermelon is refreshing, but it is not where a bird's nutrition comes from.

Rind and seeds

The red flesh is the part to offer. The hard green rind is tough and best removed for small birds, though larger parrots sometimes enjoy gnawing on a washed strip of rind and pale flesh. If you offer rind, wash the outside of the melon well first, since VCA says produce must be washed to remove chemicals.

Watermelon seeds are not on the avian do-not-feed lists consulted for this page, unlike apple seeds and fruit pits, which Lafeber says contain cyanide. Many keepers still pick out the dark seeds for small birds to keep portions simple.

How to serve watermelon

Wash the outside of the melon before cutting so the knife does not carry dirt into the flesh. Cut a small cube of the red flesh: about the size of a fingernail for a budgie or canary, a little larger for a cockatiel, and a bigger chunk for larger parrots.

Put it in a separate dish, away from pellets and water, and remove it within a couple of hours. VCA warns that fresh fruit left all day may spoil and cause digestive upset, and juicy melon spoils quickly, especially in warm weather. Expect wetter droppings afterward.

Fresh foods spoil fast in a warm room; offer them in a clip-on dish in the bird cage and remove leftovers within a few hours, or hide a piece in a foraging toy.

How much watermelon to give

VCA recommends that fruits, vegetables and greens together make up no more than 20 to 25 percent of a budgie's daily diet, with pellets as most of the rest. Within that, vegetables should outnumber fruit.

A small cube of watermelon a few times a week in summer is plenty for a parakeet or cockatiel. Larger parrots can have a bigger piece. Rotate it with other fruits and, more often, with vegetables such as broccoli, carrot, peas and squash.

Foods never to share

Lafeber's do-not-feed list for birds includes avocado, which contains persin, reported to be a cardiac toxin in birds; chocolate; onion and garlic; fruit pits; apple seeds; and high-fat, high-salt or high-sugar foods. Summer cookout tables carry many of these at once, from guacamole to salted chips.

VCA adds caffeine, alcohol and foods cooked with butter or oil. Watermelon cocktails, salted watermelon and fruit salad with avocado are therefore off limits.

When to call an avian vet

Wetter droppings after watermelon are expected because of its water content. Call an avian veterinarian if your bird has diarrhea that persists, stops eating, fluffs up and sits on the cage floor, or seems weak. Any bird that is eating poorly should be checked by a veterinarian.

If your bird ate something toxic, call your vet straight away, or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 or Pet Poison Helpline at (855) 764-7661; a fee may apply.

This page is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your pet.