Last updated: October 2026
Written by the Birdsville team. We’ve kept, raised and rehomed cockatoos at our Alexandria store since 1985, and we feed our own birds the way this page describes.
The best food for cockatoos is a low fat, sunflower free seed mix and pellets in separate bowls, plenty of fresh vegetables, a little fruit, a calcium source and a regular vitamin boost. That goes for galahs, corellas, Major Mitchells, red tailed black cockatoos and sulphur crested cockatoos alike. Young cockatoos can eat as much as they like, but once a cockatoo reaches about 9 months old, sunflower should be cut right back or removed, as cockatoos put on weight easily. This page covers the right seed, pellets, fresh food, treats, supplements and the foods to avoid. Our own Birdsville Blends Cocky Mix (https://petsville.com.au/products/birdsville-blends-cocky-mix-4kg) is a sunflower free blend made in store, and it’s the mix we recommend for every cockatoo.
Cockatoo Food Key Takeaways
The best food for cockatoos is a sunflower free seed mix, pellets, fresh vegetables, a little fruit, a calcium source and a weekly vitamin boost.
Young cockatoos can have an all you can eat buffet, but from about 9 months old sunflower should be reduced or removed.
Birdsville Blends Cocky Mix is sunflower free and is our first choice for all cockatoos.
Cockatoos, especially galahs and corellas, are prone to obesity, fatty liver and fatty lumps on high fat diets.
Birdsville uses the dust bowl method: seed and pellets in two bowls, with no refill until both are eaten down to the dust.
Vegetables matter more than fruit for cockatoos.
Avocado, onion, garlic, chocolate, caffeine and alcohol are dangerous, and our team leaves lettuce out.
Cockatoo seed, pellets and supplements are sold at Birdsville, 684 Botany Road, Alexandria, and online through Petsville.
Cockatoo Quick Facts
Sulphur crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita): about 45 to 50cm, has lived up to 80 years in captivity
Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla): about 35cm, found across most of Australia
Long billed corella (Cacatua tenuirostris): about 38 to 41cm, native to south eastern Australia
Major Mitchell cockatoo (Lophochroa leadbeateri): about 35cm, native to inland Australia
Red tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii): about 55 to 60cm, eats hard seeds, nuts and seed pods
Recommended seed: sunflower free cocky mix for birds over 9 months old
Pellets: in a separate bowl from the seed
Calcium: calcium and iodine perch, cuttlebone or calcium in the water
Vitamins: added to the drinking water regularly
Water: fresh every day, checked twice a day
What Do Cockatoos Eat in the Wild?
Wild cockatoos eat mostly grass seeds, grains, roots, bulbs, nuts, berries and native seed pods, much of it found on the ground.
Galahs and corellas feed in flocks on paddocks and grassland, picking up grass seeds and spilled grain, and long billed corellas use their long beaks to dig up roots and bulbs. Sulphur crested cockatoos eat berries, seeds, nuts and roots, according to the Australian Museum (https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/sulphur-crested-cockatoo/). Red tailed black cockatoos crack open gumnuts, she oak cones and banksia pods. These are lean, low fat foods, and wild birds walk and fly a long way to find them. A pet cockatoo eating rich, oily seed with little exercise gains weight quickly.
What Is the Best Seed for Cockatoos?
The best seed for an adult cockatoo is a sunflower free cocky mix made from grains, legumes and a little dried fruit.
Our recommendation for every cockatoo is Birdsville Blends Cocky Mix (https://petsville.com.au/products/birdsville-blends-cocky-mix-4kg). It’s made from French white millet, wheat, sorghum, corn, dun peas, safflower, mung beans, red lentils, split peas, pumpkin seeds, pawpaw, dates, parsley and spinach, with no sunflower at all. It’s the blend we feed to overweight birds, birds over 9 months old, and any cockatoo whose owner wants to control its sunflower.
Basic Cocky Mix (https://petsville.com.au/products/avigrain-seed-cocky-mix-4kg) is a coarse grain mix that includes sunflower, which suits young cockatoos under 9 months that need the extra energy. Grey striped sunflower is an important part of a young cockatoo’s diet, but it needs to be reduced as the bird gets older.
Avoid cheap supermarket mixes. They’re often old, heavy on sunflower and padded with filler that cockatoos throw on the floor.
Should Cockatoos Eat Pellets?
Yes, pellets are an important part of a cockatoo’s diet, and Birdsville serves them in a second bowl beside the seed mix.
Pellets fill the vitamin and mineral gaps that seed leaves, and they’re lower in fat than most seed mixes. Good choices for cockatoos include Vetafarm Nutriblend Pellets Large (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-nutriblend-pellets-lge-1-6kg) for sulphur crested cockatoos, corellas and galahs, Vetafarm Parrot Maintenance (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-parrot-maintenance-pellets-350g), which is made for Australian parrots, Harrison’s High Potency Coarse (https://petsville.com.au/products/harrisons-high-potency-super-course-454g) and Passwell Parrot Pellets (https://petsville.com.au/products/passwell-parrot-pellets-1kg).
Currumbin Vet Services (https://currumbinvetservices.com.au/obesity-in-pet-birds/) recommends a pellet based diet with fresh fruit, vegetables and grains for overweight cockatoos and galahs. We find cockatoos do well on seed and pellets together, as long as the dust bowl method stops them living on seed alone.
How Do You Switch a Cockatoo to Pellets?
Switch a cockatoo to pellets slowly, over several weeks, by mixing them with a measured amount of seed. Melbourne Bird Vet (https://www.melbournebirdvet.com/post/diet-for-cockatoos) suggests starting with about 2 to 3 tablespoons each of pellets and seed, offering only one day’s worth so the bird is hungry enough to try the pellets. Offer pellets first thing in the morning when your cockatoo is hungriest, and eat a pellet in front of it, as cockatoos love to copy their owners. Once it eats pellets reliably, cut the seed back. VCA Animal Hospitals (https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/cockatoos-feeding) notes the change can take anywhere from days to months.
How Much Should a Cockatoo Eat?
An adult sulphur crested cockatoo needs about a quarter to half a cup of pellets a day, a small amount of seed and a daily serve of fresh vegetables. A galah sized cockatoo needs roughly a tablespoon each of seed and pellets a day.
These are starting points from our own staff, so weigh your cockatoo every week on digital kitchen scales and adjust the amount if its weight goes up or down. Fruit should be offered a few times a week in small amounts, and nuts limited to one or two small pieces a day.
What Fruit and Vegetables Can Cockatoos Eat?
Cockatoos can eat almost any vegetable and most fruit except avocado and onion, but vegetables should always make up the bigger share. Our team leaves lettuce out because it has so little nutrition.
What Vegetables Can Cockatoos Eat?
Sweet potato, carrot and carrot tops, corn, beans, peas, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, silverbeet, endive, capsicum, chilli, pumpkin, zucchini, squash and seeding grasses are all excellent. Chickweed, dandelion, milk thistle and native flowers, leaves and branches from an unsprayed garden are favourites too. Corn on the cob and whole carrots give a cockatoo something to hold and chew.
What Fruit Can Cockatoos Eat?
Apple, pear, rockmelon, orange, kiwifruit and pomegranate can be offered in small pieces a few times a week. Many cockatoos show little interest in fruit, which is normal for inland Australian birds, so focus on getting vegetables eaten first.
Can Cockatoos Eat Native Seed Pods?
Yes, and black cockatoos especially love them. Gumnuts, she oak and banksia cones, wattle pods and hakea or grevillea pods are natural foods that keep the beak busy. Collect them away from roads and sprayed areas and rinse them before offering.
Is Sprouted Seed Good for Cockatoos?
Yes. Sprouting lowers the fat in seed and raises its vitamins, which makes it ideal for cockatoos. Soak the seed overnight in water with Vetafarm Aviclens (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-aviclens-water-cleanser-100ml), rinse it in the morning, then rinse it several times a day until small sprouts appear. Drain it well before serving. Our Best Bird Treats page (https://birdsville.net.au/bird-treats-tips-and-sprouted-mix/) has more detail.
What Treats Can Cockatoos Have?
Nuts, fruit and nut mixes and seed pods make good cockatoo treats, as long as they’re given in small amounts.
Because nuts are so fatty, save them for training and keep them to one or two small pieces a day. Walnuts, almonds and macadamias in the shell give a cockatoo a satisfying job cracking them open. Passwell Fruit and Nut (https://petsville.com.au/products/passwell-fruit-nut-330g) and Birdsville Blends Nut Magic (https://petsville.com.au/products/birdsville-blends-nut-magic-400g) work well as rewards, and Troppo Blue Fruit and Nut Medley (https://petsville.com.au/products/avigrain-seed-fruit-nut-medley-500gm-troppo-blue) is an occasional treat, though it does contain sunflower.
Do Cockatoos Need Supplements?
Yes, cockatoos need a regular vitamin boost, a calcium and iodine source, and vitamin D if they live indoors.
Do Cockatoos Need Vitamins?
Yes, every cockatoo benefits from a regular vitamin boost. Put Vetafarm Multivet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-multivet-50ml) in its water bowl at least weekly, and more often for birds that won’t eat their pellets.
Do Cockatoos Need Calcium and Iodine?
Yes. Give a calcium and iodine perch (https://petsville.com.au/products/avian-care-trimming-calcium-perch-140mm-small), a cuttlebone (https://petsville.com.au/products/avi-one-cuttlebone-with-stainless-steel-clip), or Vetafarm Calcivet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-calcivet-50ml) in the water. Breeding hens and young birds may need liquid calcium two or three days a week. Cockatoos husk their seed, so they don’t need grit, and VCA warns they can eat too much of it. Our Calcium and Iodine Perch page (https://birdsville.net.au/calcium-iodine-perch/) explains the options.
Do Cockatoos Need Vitamin D?
Yes. Without vitamin D a cockatoo can’t use the calcium it eats, and sunshine through a window doesn’t provide it. Birds kept inside should get Vetafarm Soluvite D (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-soluvite-d-25g) in the water or time outside in unfiltered sun. A lack of calcium and vitamin D can lead to bone problems such as bent legs.
Why Do Cockatoos Get Fat?
Cockatoos get fat because they come from inland Australia, where food is lean, and their bodies store fat easily when fed oily seed.
Currumbin Vet Services names sulphur crested cockatoos, galahs and corellas among the birds most prone to obesity, and the Merck Veterinary Manual (https://www.merckvetmanual.com/bird-owners/disorders-and-diseases-of-birds/nutritional-disorders-of-pet-birds) lists galahs too. Overweight cockatoos can develop fatty liver disease and fatty lumps, which are especially common in galahs. The fix is the same for every cockatoo: switch to a sunflower free mix, use the dust bowl method, add more vegetables and give plenty of exercise and chewing.
How Should You Feed a Cockatoo Through Sydney’s Seasons?
A cockatoo’s feeding routine needs a few changes between a hot Sydney summer and a chilly winter.
In summer, cockatoos often dunk their food in their water, so change it each morning and check it again in the afternoon. Add a water cleanser on hot days and take fresh food out before it spoils. Keep the cage in shade, and a misting with water helps them cool down. In winter, resist the urge to add sunflower for warmth. A warm serve of steamed sweet potato or corn on the cob is a far healthier comfort food.
A Tip From Our Staff
We feed our own cockatoos with the dust bowl method. Fill one bowl to just under half with seed and another to about half with pellets, and don’t add any more until both bowls are eaten down to the dust. Our cockatoos get a refill roughly every three days. When seed is topped up daily, a cockatoo picks out the sunflower and leaves the rest, which leads straight to weight gain and liver problems. It also saves money, because far less food ends up in the bin.
What Do Young Cockatoos Need?
Young cockatoos can have an all you can eat buffet of seed, pellets, vegetables and fruit until they are about 9 months old.
For the first three weeks in a new home, keep every food on offer so a newly weaned bird eats confidently. Once it’s eating well and holding its weight, move to the dust bowl method. Young galahs can eat freely until about 5 months old, then oily foods should be limited. Our Hand Raising Baby Birds page (https://birdsville.net.au/hand-raising-baby-birds/) covers feeding young birds in detail.
What Foods Are Bad for Cockatoos?
Avocado, onion, garlic, rhubarb, chocolate, coffee, tea and alcohol can make a cockatoo seriously ill.
Salty and sugary human food should be kept off the menu, along with mouldy nuts or seed. Remove the pits from stone fruit before serving. Lettuce isn’t toxic, but it has almost no nutrition, so our team leaves it out.
Cockatoo Food Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best food for cockatoos?
The best food for cockatoos is a sunflower free seed mix and pellets in separate bowls, plenty of fresh vegetables, a little fruit, a calcium source and a weekly vitamin boost. Birdsville Blends Cocky Mix is our first choice for every cockatoo. Young birds can have more freedom until about 9 months old.
Is sunflower seed bad for cockatoos?
Sunflower seed isn’t toxic, but it’s very oily, and adult cockatoos gain weight easily on it. Young cockatoos need some grey striped sunflower while they grow, but from about 9 months old it should be reduced or removed. A sunflower free blend like Birdsville Blends Cocky Mix helps prevent obesity and fatty liver.
What fruit can cockatoos eat?
Cockatoos can eat apple, pear, rockmelon, orange, kiwifruit and pomegranate in small pieces a few times a week. Remove the pits from stone fruit first. Many cockatoos aren’t big fruit eaters, which is normal for Australian inland birds, so vegetables such as broccoli, carrot and sweet potato matter more.
How much should a cockatoo eat a day?
An adult sulphur crested cockatoo needs about a quarter to half a cup of pellets a day plus a small amount of seed and fresh vegetables. A galah needs around a tablespoon each of seed and pellets. Weigh your bird weekly and adjust, because every cockatoo’s needs are slightly different.
Why is my galah fat?
Most overweight galahs are eating too much sunflower and too little vegetables, often because the seed bowl is topped up every day. Galahs are prone to obesity, fatty liver and fatty lumps. Switch to a sunflower free cocky mix, add pellets and vegetables, use the dust bowl method and see an avian vet if lumps appear.
Can cockatoos eat peanuts?
Cockatoos can eat peanuts in small amounts as a treat, but they’re high in fat and can carry mould. Buy fresh peanuts meant for birds, check them for mould, and keep them to one or two pieces a day. Walnuts, almonds and macadamias in the shell are better choices.
Where Can I Buy Cockatoo Seed in Sydney?
Birdsville sells cockatoo seed, including our sunflower free Birdsville Blends Cocky Mix, along with pellets, nuts, calcium perches and supplements, at 684 Botany Road, Alexandria NSW 2015, servicing the Eastern Suburbs and Inner South Sydney. Pop in to see us or call (02) 9669 1766. Opening hours are weekdays 9:30am to 5:30pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm, and directions are on our Contact page (https://birdsville.net.au/contact-birdsville/).
For customers outside Sydney, Petsville (https://petsville.com.au/) ships cockatoo food around Australia, and our whole seed range is in the Petsville seed collection (https://petsville.com.au/collections/seed-1). Quarantine laws stop seed being sent to WA or Tasmania.
Cockatoo food on Petsville:
Birdsville Blends Cocky Mix (https://petsville.com.au/products/birdsville-blends-cocky-mix-4kg)
Basic Cocky Mix (https://petsville.com.au/products/avigrain-seed-cocky-mix-4kg)
Vetafarm Nutriblend Pellets Large (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-nutriblend-pellets-lge-1-6kg)
Vetafarm Parrot Maintenance (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-parrot-maintenance-pellets-350g)
Passwell Fruit and Nut (https://petsville.com.au/products/passwell-fruit-nut-330g)
Calcium and Iodine Perch (https://petsville.com.au/products/avian-care-trimming-calcium-perch-140mm-small)
Vetafarm Multivet (https://petsville.com.au/products/vetafarm-multivet-50ml)
Learn more about individual cockatoos on our Cockatoos (https://birdsville.net.au/animals-for-sale/birds-for-sale/cockatoo/), Galah (https://birdsville.net.au/hand-reared-birds-diet-nutrition/galah-information/), Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (https://birdsville.net.au/sulphur-crested-cockatoo-information/), Red Tailed Black Cockatoo (https://birdsville.net.au/animals-for-sale/birds-for-sale/cockatoo/red-tailed-black-cockatoo/) and Gang-gang Cockatoo (https://birdsville.net.au/animals-for-sale/birds-for-sale/cockatoo/gang-gang-cockatoo-care/) pages. Need to rehome or adopt a cockatoo? See Sydney Pet Bird Rescue (https://birdsville.net.au/re-homing-parrot-adoption/). For Eclectus, Amazons, African greys and macaws, see our Large Parrot Seed page (https://birdsville.net.au/seeds-grains/large-parrot-seed/).
About Birdsville
Birdsville has been at 684 Botany Road, Alexandria NSW 2015 since 1985, specialising in birds and small animals, including raising and rehoming cockatoos. Our Birdsville Blends (https://birdsville.net.au/birdsville-blends/) range is made in store for cockatoos, large and small parrots, cockatiels, lovebirds, budgies, canaries and finches, and you can buy it in store or through Petsville.
Sources
Dust bowl method, amounts, sprouting, young bird care and foods to avoid: Birdsville Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Galah and Red Tailed Black Cockatoo pages
Obesity, fatty liver and fatty lumps: Currumbin Vet Services, Obesity in Pet Birds, and the Merck Veterinary Manual
Switching to pellets and grit: Melbourne Bird Vet, Diet for Cockatoos, and VCA Animal Hospitals, Cockatoos Feeding
Sulphur crested cockatoo wild diet, size and lifespan: Australian Museum
Product ingredients and bag sizes: Petsville product listings
Seasonal advice: the Birdsville team
Cockatoo Seed for Sale Sydney
Here is the cockatoo seed range on our shelves. Pick them up in store or order many of them online.
Avigrain Cocky Mix
Contains wheat, grey striped sunflower, oats, cracked corn, sorghum, French white millet and/or safflower. A coarse grain based mix for large parrots and young cockatoos.
Birdsville Cocky Mix
Contains wheat, sorghum, corn, dun peas, safflower, oats, hulled oats, mung beans and/or banana chips. A sunflower free mix for cockatoos over 9 months old, overweight birds, and owners who want to control their bird’s sunflower intake.
Avigrain Small Parrot
Contains French white millet, grey striped sunflower, cracked corn, oats, wheat, canary seed and/or safflower. A wide variety of small seeds and coarse grains makes this mix suitable for everything from neophemas to the largest parrots.
Grey Striped Sunflower
Grey striped sunflower seeds are lower in fats and oils than black sunflower seeds. Young cockatoos need some grey striped sunflower in their diet, but the amount should be reduced as they get older.
Safflower
Safflower seeds look very similar to sunflower seeds but are white. They contain protein, nutrients and carbohydrate.
Troppo Blue Fruit and Nut Medley
Formerly Avigrain Tropical Blue. Contains grey striped sunflower, safflower, banana chips, raw peanuts, almonds, peanuts in shell, coconut chips, pawpaw, snow white pumpkin seeds, chillies, dried mango and/or dried apple. A treat for all types of parrots.
Avigrain Cocky Mix
Contains: Wheat, Grey Striped Sunflower, Oats, Cracked Corn, Sorghum, French White Millet and/or Safflower.
Coarse grains based mix for the large parrot types.
Birdsville Cocky Mix
Contains: Wheat, Sorghum, Corn, Dun Peas, Safflower, Oats, Hulled Oats, Mung Beans and/or Banana Chips.
This is a sunflower free mix for cockys with owners who want to control their sunflower seed intake, birds over weight and birds over 9 months of age.
Avigrain Small Parrot
Contains: French White Millet, Grey Striped Sunflower, Cracked Corn, Oats, Wheat, Canaryseed and/or Safflower.
A wide varieties of small seed and coarse grains makes this mix suitable for neophemas up to the largest parrot.
Grey Striped Sunflower
Grey Striped Sunflower Seeds are lower in fats and oils compare to Black Sunflower Seeds. When the cockatoos are young, it is important that they have Grey Striped Sunflowers as part of their diet, but as they become older it does need to be reduce.
Safflower
Safflower Seeds look very simular to Sunflower Seeds except for the colour. They contain proteins, nutrients and carbohydrates.
Avigrain Tropical Blue
Contains: Grey Striped Sunflower, Safflower, Banana Chips, Raw Peanuts, Almonds, Peanuts in Shell, Coconut Chips, Paw-Paw, Snow White Punpkin Seeds, Chillis, Dried Mango and/or Dried Apple.
A treat for all parrot types.
