Don't Feed Parrots Chocolate, Despite What Happens In Minecraft

In the game Minecraft, a chocolate chip cookie will tame a parrot, but they're poisonous to the birds in real life. Minecraft has promised to update the game.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Polly want a cracker? How about a chocolate chip cookie? Players in the "Minecraft" video game can befriend a parrot with a chocolate chip cookie, but in real life, don't. Even small amounts of chocolate can poison a parrot. A campaign of concern broke out on Reddit that millions of children who play the game would try to tempt the family's blue-eyed cockatoo with chocolate chip cookies. Jens Bergensten, "Minecraft's" lead designer, says the cookies were intended to be a sly reference to the Nirvana song "Polly," but the game's next update will offer treats that are more friendly to parrots. Real parrots have a diet of seeds, nuts, berries, insects and larvae. I got to see "Minecraft" larvae.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "POLLY")

NIRVANA: (Singing) Polly wants a cracker. I think I should get off her first. I think she wants some water to put out the blow torch. It isn't me. Have a seed.

Copyright © 2017 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.