Sick Cockatiel Poop: Green, Watery and Runny Droppings

Name: Sick Cockatiel Poop: Green, Watery and Runny Droppings
Creator: Dr. Zubair Khalid

By Dr. Zubair Khalid, DVM, MS, PhD · 2026-10-03

Sick cockatiel poop often looks green, watery, or runny because something has changed in the bird's digestion, liver, or kidneys. A single odd dropping is usually not an emergency, but a pattern that lasts more than a day, or that comes with a fluffed-up, quiet bird, needs veterinary attention. This article is educational and is not a substitute for veterinary diagnosis or treatment.

Quick Answer

Normal cockatiel droppings have three parts: a coiled or tubular solid waste, a small amount of clear urine, and a white chalky cap of uric acid.
Green or yellow-green urine (the liquid part) can point to liver or kidney problems, while green solid waste often just reflects what the bird ate.
Watery droppings with undigested seeds or pellets suggest a stomach or intestinal infection such as avian gastric yeast [1].
A cockatiel that is fluffed up, sitting low, not eating, or losing weight with runny droppings should see an avian veterinarian the same day.
Do not give human diarrhea medicine, antibiotics, or home remedies. Keep the bird warm, hydrated, and quiet until you reach the vet.

What Normal Cockatiel Poop Looks Like

Bird droppings are not like mammal droppings. Each one is really three wastes leaving the body at once.

The solid part is feces from the intestines. It is usually green or brown, depending on diet, and holds a coiled shape. The liquid part is urine from the kidneys. It is normally small in amount and clear. The white cap is uric acid, the chalky waste the kidneys filter out of the blood [2].

Diet changes the color fast. A cockatiel eating lots of leafy greens, broccoli, or colored pellets may pass bright green or dark green solid waste. That alone is not disease. A bird that just ate watery fruit or vegetables may pass a wetter dropping for a few hours.

Stress and excitement can also loosen droppings. A vet visit, a new cage, or a fright can produce a watery dropping with little solid matter. If the next few droppings return to normal, the cause was likely temporary.

What matters is the pattern. Look at several fresh droppings on clean paper, not one smeared on a perch or cage floor.

Sick Cockatiel Poop: What Changes Mean

When owners search for sick cockatiel poop, they usually describe one of three pictures. Each points in a different direction.

Cockatiel green poop

Green solid waste is common and often harmless. If the green is bright and the bird is eating, acting normal, and holding weight, diet is the likely reason.

Green or yellow-green urine (the liquid part) is different. That color in the urine can mean the liver or kidneys are not processing waste normally. Liver disease and kidney disease both change how bilirubin and uric acid leave the body [2].

Cockatiel watery poop and runny droppings

Extra water in the dropping can come from the intestines or from the kidneys. When the kidneys fail to concentrate urine, the bird passes large amounts of liquid. When the intestines are inflamed, food moves through too fast to be absorbed.

A cockatiel with runny poop for more than a day, especially with weight loss, is a bird that needs a veterinary exam.

Cockatiel diarrhea

True diarrhea means the solid part is loose or unformed, not just wet. Owners often say "my cockatiel has runny poop" when the feces are actually normal but the urine volume is high. Your vet will sort out which part of the dropping changed, because that guides the diagnosis.

Main Causes of Abnormal Droppings

Cause	Typical clues	How urgent
Diet or stress	Green or wet droppings for hours, bird bright and eating	Monitor for 24 hours
Avian gastric yeast (Macrorhabdus)	Ongoing weight loss, regurgitation, weakness, diarrhea, undigested seeds or pellets in droppings [1]	Same-day vet visit
Candidiasis (yeast infection)	Diarrhea, regurgitation, dark tarry stool, often with another illness present [3]	Same-day vet visit
Bacterial infection (Campylobacter, Chlamydia)	Severe diarrhea, dehydration, weight loss, sometimes death in a group [4]	Emergency
Liver or kidney disease, gout	Green or yellow urine, white uric acid deposits, pain, sudden death in organ form [2]	Same-day vet visit
Parasites (microsporidia)	Weight loss and diarrhea, possible spread to other birds and people [5]	Same-day vet visit
Reproductive or oviduct disease	Swollen belly, straining, history of egg problems [6]	Emergency if straining

Avian gastric yeast is one of the most common serious causes of chronic diarrhea in cockatiels. It can pass from bird to bird in close contact, and birds with weak immune systems are at higher risk [1]. The infection kills 10 to 80 percent of affected birds depending on species and yeast strain, and birds that recover can still shed the organism and get sick again [1].

Candidiasis usually hits the crop, the pouch in the neck where food is stored, but it can also involve the stomach and intestines. Very young or very ill birds can develop widespread infection involving the blood, bone marrow, and organs [1]. A related group of Candida species that resist common antifungal drugs has been found in cockatiels and other birds with diarrhea, regurgitation, and dark stool [3].

Bacterial causes matter too. In one outbreak, 11 cockatiels with severe diarrhea and 22 percent mortality over two weeks were found to carry Campylobacter jejuni and Chlamydia psittaci [4]. Chlamydia can also spread to people, so hygiene matters while your bird is sick.

Kidney disease deserves special mention in cockatiels. Gout, which is a buildup of uric acid crystals, is common in parrots and especially in older cockatiels [2]. The crystals can lodge in joints and cause severe pain, or settle in organs with sudden death as the only sign [2].

Less common causes include parasites such as microsporidia, which have been found in pigeons with weight loss and diarrhea and can spread to people [5], and reproductive tumors in the oviduct, which can cause a swollen belly and digestive signs in female cockatiels [6].

Red Flags That Mean Emergency

Some signs cannot wait for a routine appointment. Go to an avian emergency clinic now if your cockatiel has any of these.

Blood in the droppings, or black tarry stool
Straining to pass droppings with a swollen belly
Not eating for 12 hours or more
Sitting fluffed on the cage floor, eyes partly closed
Labored breathing, tail bobbing, or open-mouth breathing
Sudden weakness, falling off the perch, or inability to stand
Vomiting or regurgitating repeatedly
Known contact with a sick bird in the last two weeks

Birds hide illness well. By the time a cockatiel looks obviously sick, it may have been losing weight for days or weeks. Weigh your bird weekly on a small kitchen scale. A drop of 10 percent or more is a red flag even if the droppings look close to normal.

What You Can Do at Home While You Wait

You cannot treat a sick bird at home, but you can keep it stable until the vet sees it.

Keep it warm. A sick bird loses heat fast. Aim for a quiet area around 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with one side of the cage cooler so the bird can move away if it gets too warm.

Offer water in a shallow dish. A weak bird may not climb to a water bottle. You can also offer a few drops of plain water by syringe at the side of the beak, but never squirt fluid into the mouth, because it can go into the airway.

Keep food available. Offer the bird's normal food plus a small amount of a favorite treat. Do not switch diets suddenly during an illness.

Save fresh droppings. Place clean wax paper or foil on the cage floor and collect a few fresh droppings in a sealed plastic bag. Your vet can examine them under a microscope, which is how avian gastric yeast is often found [1].

Do not give human medications. Human diarrhea drugs, antibiotics, and pain relievers can harm or kill a bird. Doses for birds are calculated by the veterinarian from the bird's weight and health status.

Isolate the bird if you have others. Several of these infections spread bird to bird [1][4].

Wash your hands after handling the bird, cage, or droppings. Some causes, including Chlamydia and microsporidia, can infect people [4][5].

If your bird is also having trouble passing an egg, see Cockatiel Egg Laying Problems for signs that need emergency care.

What Your Veterinarian Will Check

Expect a full physical exam first. Your vet will weigh the bird, check its body condition, feel the belly, look at the crop, and listen to the chest.

A fresh dropping exam under the microscope is the next step. This can show yeast organisms, bacteria, parasite eggs, and undigested food. Because yeast can be present in low numbers or shed only at certain times, repeated dropping exams may be needed to confirm the diagnosis [1].

Blood work checks liver and kidney values, uric acid, protein, and blood cell counts. Imaging such as radiographs or computed tomography can reveal organ enlargement, air sac disease, or masses, as it did in a cockatoo with diarrhea and undigested seeds in the droppings [7].

If your bird has a swollen belly or a history of egg problems, your vet may suspect reproductive disease. An oviduct tumor was found in an 11-year-old cockatiel with a distended coelom and a history of calcium-deficient diet and repeated dystocia [6].

Treatment depends on the cause. Yeast infections are treated with antifungal drugs, bacterial infections with antibiotics chosen for the specific organism, and gout with medications that lower uric acid and control pain [2]. Supportive care with fluids, heat, and assisted feeding is often part of the plan.

Prevention and Daily Monitoring

Good husbandry prevents many digestive problems.

Feed a balanced diet of quality pellets, fresh vegetables, and limited seed. Sudden diet changes cause loose droppings, so transition slowly.
Weigh your cockatiel weekly and write it down. Weight loss is often the first sign of illness.
Clean food and water dishes daily. Yeast and bacteria grow fast in warm, dirty dishes.
Quarantine any new bird for at least 30 days before introducing it to your flock.
Keep the cage away from kitchen fumes, drafts, and extreme temperature swings.
Schedule a yearly wellness exam with an avian vet, even when your bird looks fine.

For a full routine that covers housing, diet, and enrichment, see the Complete Cockatiel Care Guide. If you keep larger parrots too, the Cockatoo Care Guide covers their specific needs.

Limitations and When to Contact a Veterinarian

This article cannot tell you what is wrong with your individual bird. Only a veterinarian who examines your cockatiel can do that.

Contact an avian veterinarian the same day if droppings stay abnormal for more than 24 hours, if the bird is eating less, if you see undigested seeds in the droppings, or if the urine is green or yellow.

Go to an emergency clinic now for blood in the droppings, black stool, straining, a swollen belly, labored breathing, inability to stand, or no eating for 12 hours.

If you are not sure whether your bird is stable, call your vet and describe what you see. It is always better to have a bird checked early than to wait.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is green poop always a sign of illness in cockatiels?

No, green solid waste is often just a reflection of diet, especially leafy greens and colored pellets. Green or yellow-green urine is the more concerning color, because it can point to liver or kidney disease. If your bird is bright, eating, and holding weight, watch for a day. If the color persists or the bird acts sick, call your vet.

Can stress cause runny droppings in a cockatiel?

Yes, stress and excitement can cause a temporary watery dropping, often within minutes of a fright or a car ride. The next few droppings usually return to normal. If runny droppings last more than a day, or come with weight loss or a fluffed-up posture, the cause is more likely medical.

How do I collect a dropping sample for the vet?

Place clean wax paper or foil on the cage floor and wait for a fresh dropping. Pick it up with a clean plastic bag or a sealed container and keep it cool, not frozen. Bring it to the appointment the same day. Fresh samples give the best chance of finding yeast, bacteria, or parasites under the microscope.

Can my other birds or my family get sick from my cockatiel's diarrhea?

Some causes can spread. Avian gastric yeast passes bird to bird in close contact, and Chlamydia and microsporidia can infect people. Wash your hands after handling the bird or cleaning the cage, isolate the sick bird, and tell your vet if anyone in the home has symptoms. Your vet can advise on testing other birds.

Will my cockatiel get better on its own?

Mild diet-related droppings often clear within a day once the trigger is removed. Infections, liver disease, and kidney disease do not resolve without treatment and can worsen quickly. Avian gastric yeast alone can kill a large share of the birds it infects, so waiting is risky. Any bird that looks sick should be seen by a veterinarian.

References

Digestive Disorders of Pet Birds - Bird Owners. Merck Veterinary Manual.
Kidney and Urinary Tract Disorders of Pet Birds - Bird Owners. Merck Veterinary Manual.
Gastrointestinal Disease Associated with Non-albicans Candida Species in Six Birds. Journal of avian medicine and surgery, 2019.
Identification of Campylobacter jejuni and Chlamydia psittaci from cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) using metagenomics. BMC genomics, 2021.
Novel zoonotic Enterocytozoon and Encephalitozoon genotypes in domestic pigeons (Columba livia domestica) in Iran: Public health implications. Current research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases, 2025.
Myxoid leiomyosarcoma of the oviduct and uterus in a Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus). Veterinary medicine and science, 2024.
Visceral Haemoproteus minutus Infection in a Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (Lophochroa leadbeateri). Journal of avian medicine and surgery, 2023.