While parrots are omnivores, some eat mealworms, caterpillars, grasshoppers, snails, and termites. Kea parrots sometimes eat newborn chicks, eggs, and the fat of live sheep.
Parrots have an olfactory gland, which is a sensory system that enables them to detect airborne substances. Some parrots also scratch the ground to expose insects.
When parrots catch their prey, they kill it with their claws and eat it with their feet. Some parrots peck their prey with their beaks before eating it.
What Parrots Prey On
Parrots eat insects, but their diet comprises fruits, vegetables, vegetation, grasses, nuts, and seeds. They’re opportunistic feeders, sometimes eating living creatures. These include:
Mealworms
Commonly found across North America, mealworms are the larval form of the mealworm beetle.
They’re a good source of protein and fat for hungry parrots. Mealworms are also high in moisture, hydrating parrots when thirsty. Not all parrots enjoy the taste, but they’re safe to eat.
Caterpillars
Caterpillars are a common feature of many wild parrots’ diets, as they’re high in protein and fat. Caterpillars are abundant in the wild, making them easy for parrots to find and eat.
Some caterpillars are poisonous, so not all species suit parrots.
Some parrots ingest clay before eating toxic substances as it prevents the body from absorbing them. This allows them to eat poisonous foods when sustenance is scarce, preventing starvation.
According to the University of California, wild parrots living in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest don’t consider toxicity and will take risks depending on their hunger level.
Grasshoppers
Grasshoppers have spikes on their rear legs and wings, so parrots will only eat them if no other foods are available. Most grasshoppers leave when parrots approach, so they’re not easy to capture.
Some parrots eat grasshoppers, especially if they’re injured and easy to catch. Grasshoppers are a good source of nutrients like protein, fiber, and vitamins A and B12.
Snails
Many parrots feast on snails, pecking out the flesh from the hard outer shell.
Live Science describes how some tiny snails survive the digestive process of certain animals and are excreted in different locations, allowing them to travel further distances.
It’s unlikely that many snails would survive a parrot’s extensive digestive process.
Termites
Parrots consume termites when foraging for food on or inside trees. During the rainforest’s rainy season, termites swarm, making them easy for parrots to catch.
Some termite species contain up to 64% protein (amino acids), which are the body’s main building blocks. They also provide energy, which parrots need when foraging.
Bird Eggs
Kea parrots are opportunistic feeders and eat all plant and animal matter. While they usually eat meat from animal carcasses, they also eat eggs from birds that breed in small underground nests.
Kea parrots are most likely to eat the eggs of Hutton’s shearwater birds because they breed inland, making their eggs vulnerable to predation. They’re also common in New Zealand, where keas live.
Chicks
Not only do Kea parrots eat bird eggs, but they also eat Hutton’s shearwater chicks. To do so, they excavate burrows while the mothers are foraging for food.
Kea parrots kill petrel chicks, which is another seabird. Chicks are usually too weak to fight back, making them easy prey. They’re much smaller than kea parrots and stand little chance once caught.
Sheep
Kea parrots have been observed eating sheep. As described by Nature, their diet primarily consists of insects, fruits, and berries. They’ve gained a taste for meat over the last 30 years.
While they seldom kill sheep, they will peck at the animal to eat its flesh. Some sheep perish from infected wounds. Keas hunt in small groups of 3 or 4, so they cause damage.
How Parrots Hunt for Food
Wild parrots spend up to 70% of their day foraging for food, which provides mental stimulation while stopping them from going hungry.
To hunt for food, parrots use the following functions:
Vision
Parrots have good vision and can see all colors of the spectrum. They also have a fourth cone that allows them to see UV light. Parrots can see prey clearly, especially bright and colorful insects.
Hearing
Parrots can quickly distinguish between sounds and determine where they originated, enabling them to hear and locate rustling prey.
Smell
Parrots have a good sense of smell, which they use to find food.
They have olfactory glands, which are powerful scent glands. They use their olfactory glands to smell food and identify the precise location.
Scratching
Some parrots forage for food by scratching the ground with their feet to unearth insects.
Parrots usually use this technique to look for nuts and seeds, but they’ll eat any insects they find.
How Parrots Capture Their Prey
Once parrots have found food, they’ll capture it with these methods:
Grab Prey with Feet
Parrots find it easier to pick things up with their feet than their beaks. They bring the food to their mouths, where they break off small pieces or swallow their prey whole.
Parrots may use their claws to kill a wriggling bug.
Powerful Beaks
Most parrots use their beaks to grasp and kill food. Macaws have a bite force of 350-400 psi.
This grip allows parrots to use their jaw strength, causing significant damage. Then, they use their curved beaks to tear off the flesh of the animal they’ve caught.
Keas use their long beaks to dig out insects from the ground.
Their beaks are longer and thinner than most other parrots, allowing them to pluck out bugs. They also use their beaks to peck newborn chicks to death, aiming for the throat.
When attacking sheep, kea parrots use their long, curved beaks to tear through wool and eat the fat from their backs. They realize that sheep can’t reach them at the rear.
When it comes to eggs, keas carry them in their mouths and drop them with force to break them open. They can also use their claws to break open the shell.
Parrots are prey animals, but some species are predators. Wild parrots, like Keas, hunt animal species to survive. Usually, they prefer vegetation, seeds, nuts, fruits, and vegetables.
