Between my experience of owning an African grey, having chinchillas, and my three dogs, I’ve learned that choosing good toys is actually kind of difficult. There seems to be a matrix of toy interest: you want something durable enough that you don’t have to clean up after it every five minutes nor replace it everyday, but not so tough that your pet can’t satisfy their urge for destruction. As you shop, keep in mind your bird’s beak size and bite strength, as well as the size of their cage (larger bird cages can hold larger toys) so you can choose appropriate toys. Here are the best bird toys to keep your parrots, cockatoos and other small birds occupied.
A likely candidate for appearing in our bird perches post coming at a later date, this isn’t such an obvious toy at first. There’s not much aside from the bell to play with, but the whole thing is the toy in this case. The traditional use is to shape it into a coil and hang it from the center of the cage, which creates a spinning, tilting surface that encourages both perching and play.
We had one of these for my timneh and watching him try to grab other toys while he spun by on this thing was a riot. Having them figure out how to manipulate their environment while clinging to this moving surface presents an interesting challenge. When they get bored, it can be reshaped to do other tasks, as well.
Quick details:
Size: 43 or 63 inches
Durability: High, should last months
Target birds: Small size aimed at parrotlets, parakeets, cockatiels and lovebirds; large size aimed at small parrots and conures
This toy is an evergreen classic for birds with strong bites. Larger birds can work on untying the knots, breaking apart the blocks, and generally wreaking havoc. You could also buy this for smaller birds as a multi-layered perch and something to exist on, rather than play with. This is almost a must-have item, but the durability may mean they get bored of it from time to time.
There are plenty of opportunities to freshen it up and attach smaller toys to it, though, and the price is certainly right. A more deluxe offering is available from Kintor and comes in a few variations.
If you’re new to bird ownership, allow this toy to be your introduction to the very, very many popsicle sticks you will likely encounter during your time of being a bird parent.
They’re easy to come by and make great fodder for being shredded by birds of all kinds. You could give this toy to a larger bird, but they’ll probably have all the stick ends broken off by the end of the day.
The simple construction includes a metal kebab-style core with each stick separated by a flat plastic bead, which are another thing birds like to manipulate. Cheap and fun: exactly what’s called for from a bird toy.
Quick details:
Size: 6 by 11 inches
Durability: Low, should last about a week
Target birds: Parrotlets, parakeets, conures, cockatiels and lovebirds
These so-called piñata toys are part of a larger category of foraging toys. They create smaller nooks and encourage your bird to dig into to them, rewarding them with either more destroyable layers or in some cases, treats.
This version is made of palm leaves, which are both renewable and make for a perfect texture for enticing birds. My timneh went through one of these a week, easily, and always seemed entertained by them. The company also offers an octopus variant with longer tails to pull on.
Quick details:
Size: Seven to 17 inches
Durability: Medium, easy to destroy, but packed with layers
As with the popsicle sticks above, you will encounter more than your share of two of the elements of this toy as a bird owner: bamboo finger traps and willow helices. Both make great options for birds as they yield easily, yet provide interesting textures and construction so that taking them apart requires just a little bit of beak work.
The maker says these are aimed at smaller to medium birds, which is true in terms of durability; you’ll get a lot more mileage out of these from your smaller bird friends. Still, if you go into it knowing it’s likely to be destroyed within the hour, feel free to give these to your larger species as well. They will definitely chomp right through everything pictured here (speaking of, they pictured a Congo, so clearly the larger birds will do just fine with these toys), but you’ll have entertained them nevertheless.
These playmats come in a few different variations, but the one I liked best was this seagrass version. While it comes with a few toys, you have the option of adding more to keep it fresh and interesting.
On the whole, the mat should put up with a decent amount of abuse, but if you provide your bird with enough toys attached to it, you can further extend the life.
Equally good for your chinchillas as it is for your birds, these pumice-based toys focus on beak grooming, especially for hookbills. Pumice stones are safe for pets and hard enough to do the job, yet crumbly enough to fall apart and make things interesting.
I use similar things for my chinchillas, and my parrot had at least one pumice stone at his disposal. This is a two-pack of toys, each providing four pumice stones and three wooden beads.
This toy is based around another staple of bird entertainment: the birdie bagel. A birdie bagel is a compressed ring of cardboard that is extremely durable. Once your bird gets the layers to separate, they usually find tearing them apart very satisfying and you’ll soon have the shreds of remnants lying around to prove it.
They’ve loaded this up with six of them, and though the bigger birds likely will saw through the thin rope in no time, it wouldn’t be hard to string it back together with some sisal to extend this toy’s life.
My timneh was fond of holding the smaller sized rings with one foot and tearing at them with his beak, even though he didn’t quite have the bite strength to get through them all the time. Your larger birds will have no trouble, though. If you prefer, they make a smaller version based around just one birdie bagel for smaller species.
Quick details:
Size: 15 inches long, four inch rings
Durability: High, the rope might give out, but the birdie bagels put up with a lot
Target birds: African grey, Amazons, eclectus, small cockatoos and macaws
You can also make a game out of feeding them using these plastic puzzle toys. There are many to choose from, but we settled on this one for our timneh. We put high-value treats in it to entice him to figure out the mystery.
He wasn’t always so inclined to do the work, though, so there is some drawback to these toys. They’re tricky, so if you have an especially obsessive bird, they could go a long way.
Another common item you’ll see in bird toy construction are these plastic practice balls. They’re interesting toys in and of themselves, with the holes providing spaces through which to insert toys and holds for bird beaks.
These versions in particular are interesting for what they’ve decided to pair with the ball. The chains and plastic rings versions are worth considering, but the stainless steel measuring spoon one is probably the best.
Most bird toys have little bells hanging off them, which tends to intrigue most birds, but here the spoons perform that purpose while also being extremely durable toys.
The half coconut shell toy also forms the basis of a number of bird toys. They’re tough, natural, and safe. These toys combine them with several other natural materials including cuddlebone, bamboo pieces, and oyster shells for a complex, long-lasting toy.
My timneh had the large size and it lasted well over a year. These are complicated and densely-packed toys that should provide hours of entertainment. You could even hang other toys off of them to make it even more of a challenge.
Quick details:
Size: Eight to 12 inches
Durability: High, good variety and amount of tough pieces
Target birds: All but the largest birds
Materials: Coconut, cuttlebone, faux leather, bamboo, oyster shells, and sisal
Ideal for the smaller birds out there, JW Pet makes a wide variety of their Activitoy products, which take the form of a number of little games for your bird to play.
You wouldn’t want to give these to a larger bird who might be able to snap them with a single bite, so only consider these for the little guys.
These are almost like a birdie carnival, with some familiar options for fans of midway games. I find this shooting gallery one especially funny, but there are a bunch of other options, including (but not limited to):
A very simple but effective toy, the good, old-fashioned shreddable kebob. The wood rings on these are made of very soft wood that shreds well.
It’s definitely easy to tear into compared to the hard wood block toys, but the way it breaks apart is very compelling to birds, so they’re more likely to spend some time with it. The shape of each piece gives them good access to the surfaces, but otherwise, this about as simple as it gets.
Distinct from the food puzzles above, this simple foraging solution adds complexity to smaller toys and extends their life. While inside the foraging box, birds can pull strips of material through the holes until they can eventually work the whole toy out.
It’s a nifty solution to keep toys without a hanging mechanism off the floor of the cage and can be switched up regularly to generate new interest. The larger birds will probably bite right through this, but most other birds will make good use of this for quite awhile.
