atvchick95
Biking along the boulevard
I was not sure where to put this - but did not see one
TOXIC Wood
Safe Wood
Lumber wood information
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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
