Hello. I have an Amazon and am working on natural perches. Instead of buying 15 dollar ones, I was thinking about cutting some off trees. I live on a farm and have an orchard, so we have sassafras, apple, peach, plum, cherry...we have a lot lol Is it ok to use one of these trees for perches? I can't find a "safe tree list" lol if so, should I remove the bark, or let her chew it off?
Thanks,
Rick
Hi- I searched the archives and came up with this. Bad list followed by safe list. Good luck! Natural perches are great for your birds. If you want to find the whole thread and the responses, put toxic list in the search field.
TOXIC Wood
ALDER - red alder -see Alder Buckthorn paragraph
ANDROMEDA -Pieris, Lily of the Valley shrub
APRICOT
ARROWHEAD VINE
AUSTRALIAN FLAME TREE
AUSTRALIAN UMBRELLA TREE
AVACADO
AZALEA - Related to Rhododendron
BANEBERRY - Actaea
BEANS -castor, horse, fava, broad, glory, scarlet runner
BLACK LOCUST - Robinia
BOX ELDER
BOXWOOD - Buxus
BUCKTHORN - Cascara / Alder Buckthorn - see chapter
BRACKEN FERN
BURDOCK
CACAO
CAMEL BUSH - Trichodesma
CANARY BIRD BUSH - Crotalaria
CANNABIS
CASTOR BEAN
CEDAR - Thuja, Chamaecyparis, Cupressus
CHALICE - trumpet vine
CHERRY see comments below
CHINA BERRY TREE - Melia / Texas umbrella tree
CHINESE MAGNOLIA - uncertain for safety
CHINESE POPCORN / TALLOW
CHINESE SNAKE TREE - Laquer plant
COMMON SAGE
CORIANDER - Cilantro
DATURA
DAPHNE - it's the berries
DATURA STRAMONIUM - Brugmansia - angel's trumpet
DIEFFENBACHIA
ELDERBERRY
EUONYMUS - Includes burning bush and more
EUPHORBIA
FELT PLANT - Kalancho baharensis
FLAME TREE
FIRETHORN - Pyracantha
FLAME TREE - Brachychiton / Sterculia
FOXGLOVE - Digitalis (pharmaceutical source)
GOLDEN CHAIN TREE - Laburnum
GROUND CHERRY
CROWN OF THORNS
HEATHS
HEMLOCK - Tsuga
HOLLY - Ilex
HONEY LOCUST - Gleditsia
HORSE CHESTNUT - Aesculus
HUCKLEBERRY - leaves bad: evergreen & deciduous
HYDRANGEA
JASMINE
JUNIPER - Juniperus
KALMIA: also called Mountain Laurel
KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE
LANTANA - red sage
LAUREL - Prunus
LEUCOTHOE
LUPINE
MANGO - (fruit okay: not wood or leaves)
MEXICAN BREADFRUIT
MOCK ORANGE
MONSTERA - big hunker of a house plant
MOUNTAIN LAUREL - Kalmia latifolia
MYRTLE - broadleaf evergreen, not crape myrtle
NECTARINE
NUTMEG
OAK - Quercus - all parts / tannins
MISTLETOE
OLEANDER
PEACH
PEAR - some sources lean toward safe
PENCILTREE
PITCH PINE
PLUM
PRARIE OAK - safety uncertain
PRIVET
RAIN TREE
RED MAPLE - see Maple paragraph
RED SAGE - Lantana
REDWOOD - Sequiadendron, Metasequoia, Sequoia
RHODODENDRON
RHUBARB
SAND BOX TREE - sap was used to poison fish
SOLANUM - Jerusalem cherry or pepino
SOPHORA - includes Japanese pagoda tree
SUMAC - not all sumacs are bad: see paragraphs
TOBACCO
TANSY
TOMATO
UMBRELLA TREE
WALNUT
WEEPING FIG - Ficus benjamina > Ficus elastica safe
WHITE CEDAR - China
WITCH HAZEL - Hamamelis
WISTERIA
YEW - Taxus
Safe Wood
ACACIA - Silk Tree would be in this group
APPLE -
(Insecticide residue likely cause
for periodic issues)
AILANTHUS - Tree of Heaven
ALDER - white alder -
(See paragraph about
Alder / Buckthorn)
ALMOND
ARALIA - Fatsia japonica
ASH - Fraxinus
ASPEN - Populus
BAMBOO
BARBERRY- Berberis
BIRCH - see paragraph
BEECH - Fagus
BOIS D'ARC - horse apple tree
BOTTLE BRUSH
BUTTERFLY BUSH
CAMELLIA
CITRUS -
(lime, kumquat, grapefruit, orange, lemon)
CORK -
(not wood from cork oak, but cork)
CORN PLANTS
COTTONWOOD - Populus
CRABAPPLE - Malus
CRAPE MYRTLE -
(not the same as myrtle)
DATE
DOGWOOD - Cornus
DOUGLAS FIR - Pseudotsuga
DRACAENA
ELM - Ulmus
ESCALLONIA
EUCALYPTUS
FIG
FIR - genus Abies
GINKGO
GRAPE VINES
GRAPE PALM
GUAVA
HACKBERRY
HAWTHORN - Crataegus
HIBISCUS
HICKORY
IRONWOOD - apparently toxic leaves
JADE PLANT
KALANCHOE
LARCH - Larix
LILAC - Syringa
MADRONA / MADRONE - Arbutus
MAGNOLIA
MAPLE - Acer - see Maple Paragraph
MANZANITA - Arctostaphylos
MESQUITE - remove sharp parts
MIMOSA
MOCK ORANGE - Phladelphus
MOUNTAIN ASH - Sorbus
MULBERRY - Morus
NANDINA -common name is heavenly bamboo
NORFOLK ISLAND PINE - Araucaria
NUT TREES - exclude chestnut
ORANGE - several sources lean toward safe
OREGON GRAPE - Mahonia
PALM
PAPAYA
PEAR
PECAN
PINE - Pinus: see Pine paragraph below
PHOTINIA
POPLAR - Populus
***** WILLOW - Salix
RAPHIOLEPSIS - Indian Hawthorn
RIBBONWOOD
ROSE - Rosa
RUBBER PLANT - Ficus elastica - Weeping Fig in bad column
RUSSIAN OLIVE
SASSAFRAS
SILK TREE
SPIRAEA
SPRUCE - Picea
STAGHORN SUMAC - see Sumac paragraph
STRAWBERRY TREE - Arbutus like Madrone
SWEET GUM
SYCAMORE
THURLOW
TREE FERN
VIBURNUM
VINE MAPLE - Acer
WEEPING WILLOW - Salix
WIEGELA
YUCCA
** NOTES **
Lumber wood information
Pressure injected wood: don’t use it for birds: perches, toys or structures. Also, if you find lumber, do you know what contacted it? It's like an unbroken chain of possession for evidence.
If you left lumber in a shed that several people use and haven’t been there for a year, how do you know what may have spilled? What kind of dust settled? Most light pine lumber in stores is not coated with anything. But ask anyway. Pre-cut stakes, such as those used for surveying, may have been coated due to the need to remain in the ground. We can’t be certain 100% of the time, but every piece of information brings us nearer 100% accuracy.
A square edge perch is not a good. You could remove square edges, and round wood is better. Natural branches are the best because the diameter differs from small to large, allowing birds feet to stretch and contract.
Aromatic Substances
Refer to other bird sites for aromatic info. But I'm leaving this comment about Teflon. Switch from Teflon pans to something like stainless steel or cast iron. Teflon pans over-heating, can emit substances deadly to birds. We try to keep perfume, aromatic scents and colognes to an absolute minimum at our home.
Check plant names: For our lists, or others, check common names to know the genus, scientific name and common name. For example, Douglas fir is not a fir. Western cedar is not a cedar.
Balsa Wood: This is our birds favorite to play with. Most sources indicate that balsa is safe for birds. I contacted avian veterinarians in Oregon and California, and got the same feedback - that balsa wood is fine. You won’t want balsa for a perch. A cockatiel can chew through balsa in minutes.
Cleaning Wood: One philosophy says clean bird perch wood before it’s used by soaking for an hour or two in tub of water with a cap of household bleach. Then rinse the wood in clean water. Another says Chlorine bleach may cause an occasional sickness or fatality. Maybe due to too strong of a solution. The second philosophy may use mild soap and water solution followed by rinsing with clean water. Both viewpoints agree about allowing wood to dry thoroughly, including exposed to direct sunlight. Oven drying needs to be hot enough to kill microbes, but cool enough to avoid combustion.
ALDER is not ALDER BUCKTHORN & the 2 alders
This update was due to concern about a substance Cascara sagrada acting as a laxative. That stuff is made from bark of Buckthorn. It has a common name Alder Buckthorn. But it is not an Alder or Alnus, whereas Buckthorn is Rhamnus purshiana. To my knowledge, real Alder has no Cascara sagrada in it.Red Alder - on a USDA Forest Service Pacific NW lumber page, was a footnote for red alder "Toxicity: can cause dermatitis".
Red alder is not the only alder we have in Oregon. There is also Alnus rhombifolia called white alder. A source about white alder for use by Ohlone Indians, said they used white alder for diarrhea. Conclusion: Red Alder should be avoided.
BIRCH COMMENTS - The following comments are a PARAPHRASE from Gillian Willis - author - with clarification:
Birch is Betula species. LEAVES & BARK contain salicylates and a few substances ... . The low concentration ... Birch should be considered safe for natural wood perches. The seeds inside the cones are a special goodie safe for birds to eat. (end of paraphrase) Think: Automobile fumes can be damaging. We don't want to be enclosed where the fumes are trapped. But walking down the street where those fumes are in the air at low concentrations, we feel safe to breath. As noted, Birch should be considered safe and the risk of leaving bark is inconsequential
CHERRY COMMENTS - Some sources debate about cherry wood being bad to pet birds, for a lack of substantial confirmed cases - although confirmed cases of problems for a few dogs and horses is apparent. Some folks lean toward using cherry wood, but not the bark, under the premise that the chemicals are primarily in the cambium - layer under the bark. Do you know what that layer is? Do you see what I'm getting at here? When there are an abundance of sure safe woods, why use one that has bark with potential bad stuff in it?
Suppose there are no confirmed cases of dead birds from cherry. If cherry turns out to be a subtle problem, would you want your bird to be the first confirmed case? I suspect there are cases not documented. There must be hundreds of birds dying each year due to real causes that we don't know about.
DRIFTWOOD - Driftwood is not recommended for a few reasons: 1. There is no certainty for the average person about the tree genus. 2. The ocean water environment contains organisms not to mention every kind of animal waste in addition to residue from ships. It is an uncertain environment. 3. Driftwood can have high salt content. Imagine all the crud that embeds into that wood.
LARCH or DAWN REDWOOD? - Larch is in the safe wood list. In case you did not know it, Larch is a deciduous conifer. It looses it's needles in winter. The needles are attached in little clusters on pegs like little tufts. There is another tree
Dawn Redwood which is also a deciduous conifer. It's needles are attached to the twigs individually and somewhat two-ranked on either side of the twig. Initially, new spring growth looks like little tufts, but these elongate into tiny mini-twigs lined with ranks of individual needles. Dawn Redwood is not on the list above. It's genus is Metasequoia (sp. glyptostroboides). Avoid using Dawn Redwood - feel free to use limbs from Larch (Larix).
MAPLE - Originally, this page only listed two maple trees: vine maple as safe, and red maple as potentially harmful. I've included "maple" in the safe list now, but with this condition: remove the bark. It may not be absolutely neccessary, but its the only way that I'll suggest most of that tree genus. From what I've read, the bark of many maple trees, like vine maple or Japanese maple, etc., is fine. Meaning, the bark in itself is not deemed a problem. But red maple (Acer rubrum) can harbor a fungus. Inhalation of exuded residue may be harmful. Maple wood - in general - should be safe for natural wood bird perches once bark is removed.
One source wrote that "red maple" is bad for horses, not really specifying why. Currently, I'd use almost any maple branch for a bird toy or perch.
PINE - We read an article about Pine and Cedar containing compounds that can cause lung or sinus problems. But the article was about BEDDING like shavings put in bottoms of animal cages; more common for hampsters and other pets; rarely for parrots or cockatiels.
When we listed pine above, that's meant as perch wood, which this page is geared for. Also be certain that the pine for bird perches is dry pine that aged for as much as a year or two. Otherwise the pitch in the pine will be an awful thing for bird feathers.
SUMAC / RHUS - One sumac on this page is Staghorn Sumac - a safe tree. It's fruit berries have been clean washed, and made into a good lemonade when sweetened. Native American Indians even mixed it's leaves and fruit with tobacco for smoking. A broad range of plants may be called sumac, some safe, some not.
Some species in the genus Rhus are potent and can also cause severe skin irritation to some people. Other species like Rhus typhina are not bad. Most naught species have axillary panicles and smooth fruits. The okay species have upright, dense, conical drupe type fruits, covered with crimson hairs.
The Above list is from :
Bird; Birds: Safe, Toxic Trees, Woods. Safe Tree Wood. Parrots. Parrot cages.
