How to Tame a Parrot in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Feed any seeds (wheat, melon, pumpkin, beetroot, torchflower or pitcher pod) to a jungle parrot - each feeding has a 1 in 10 chance - until hearts appear. Never feed it a cookie: it kills the parrot.

What you need

Seeds of any type (10-20)
A jungle biome
Jukebox and music disc (optional, for dancing)

Step by step

Find a jungle biome: parrots spawn only in jungles, in five colors (red, blue, green, cyan and gray).
Bring seeds of any kind - wheat seeds are easiest, but melon, pumpkin, beetroot, torchflower seeds and pitcher pods all work.
Feed the parrot seeds (use button). Each feeding has a 1 in 10 taming chance, so patience and 10-20 seeds are normal.
When hearts appear, the parrot is tamed and will follow you, teleporting to you if you get more than 12 blocks away.
Walk into your parrot to perch it on your shoulder - up to two parrots can ride along.
Enjoy its talent: parrots imitate the sounds of nearby mobs, which doubles as an early warning system for creepers and zombies.
Party trick: play a music disc in a jukebox and your parrot dances within 3 blocks of it.
Warning: never feed a parrot a cookie. Chocolate is toxic to them and it kills the parrot instantly.

Java vs Bedrock

Taming is identical in Java and Bedrock: any seeds, 1-in-10 chance per feeding, jungle spawns, shoulder perching and mob imitation all work the same. The cookie-kills-parrot joke is lethal in Java and just poisonous in Bedrock.

Versions: Parrots were added in 1.12 (17w13a, World of Color update). Later updates let them imitate newer mobs - phantoms and drowned (1.13), ravagers, pillagers and pandas (1.14).

Frequently asked questions

Why did my parrot die after eating a cookie?

Cookies contain cocoa, and chocolate is toxic to real parrots - so Mojang made feeding a cookie to a parrot fatal in Java (it deals astronomical damage) and poisonous in Bedrock. Stick to seeds.

Can parrots really warn me about mobs?

Yes - a parrot mimics the idle sounds of hostile mobs within about 20 blocks, so a hidden creeper or zombie makes your parrot hiss or groan before you ever see it.

How do I get a parrot off my shoulder?

Jump, take damage, or sleep and it hops off. Parrots also dismount when you enter water or drop down a ledge - useful to know before your early-warning system abandons ship.