Non-Toxic Plant finches will not tear to shreds?

[sierranomad]

Hi:

Don't know if I'm asking too much.

I put a bamboo in my flight and "crossed my fingers" that they wouldn't tear it up.Well, they are methodically destroying it.

I can't afford to replace torn-up plants until I happen across one they leave alone. Has anyone come across a plant that they will leave alone? I want something they can land on, like an open bush that gets about 4' high. My lighting also makes this difficult: full to partial shade.

Plants I'm considering: Mother fern, Apple Blossom Camellia, dogwood (yeah, I know, size and light requirements are iffy on the last two, that's how desperate I'm getting.) Rhododendrun should do well there, but they are toxic.

[Martie]

Birds are pretty good at tearing up live plants, unfortunately. One plant that does seem a little less attractive (but not that much) is ficus. A friend with an indoor free-flight bird room had a ficus that she kept there during the winter months. By spring, it looked pretty tired and she took it outdoors for the summer to recover. That tree lived a lot of years that way.

I visited an outdoor aviary in San Francisco some years ago and that breeder had a number of ficus growing there with birds roosting and nesting all through it. I was amazed at how seemingly hardy and prolific it was. Here in New York, ficus can be very tender and fussy. The northern California climate seems to be their ideal. This breeder said that he had to often cut them back as they wanted to take over the aviary.

Let us know what you decide and how it works! I think many of us would like to find hardy plant options for our birds.

[sierranomad]

Hi Marty:

Thank you for the reply. Are you talking abou the weeping fig? Two sights I've looked at say that they are toxic. If these are safe, it would be a good bet, especially since I already have one inside.

[Martie]

Yes - Ficus Benjamina - or Weeping Fig. I may have used other species through the years and haven't tried to ID them very closely. The Weeping Fig is the one that you most often see in the stores.

I have a frustration with many of the safe plant lists - for us, with finches, many of the non-safe plants only become so when the bark or wood is chewed, which finches don't normally do.

[Sally]

I have a frustration with many of the safe plant lists - for us, with finches, many of the non-safe plants only become so when the bark or wood is chewed, which finches don't normally do.

I agree. At one time, I had a 9x10 room set up for free flight. I had Star finches, Senegal Fires, Cordon Bleus, and the room contained many potted houseplants, some of them on the toxic plant lists. I never had a problem with it. They do destroy some plants by shredding them, but as Martie said, they don't chew on the wood. I used organic potting soil, and I also covered the soil with pebbles on many of the pots.

Last year, I won a basket of pothos ivy at a local bird mart (pothos ivy is on the safe list, I believe). The person who donated the basket (she has hookbills), told me to keep it away from my birds, as it is poisonous. I told her that I already have pothos ivy baskets sitting on top of cages, with parts of the plant hanging down in the cages, with no problem.

[sierranomad]

Thanks for the replies. I was wondering about exactly that.The sites that I am getting my info from have pictures of parrots. So I may well be crossing some good plants off my list for no good reason.

It's really nice to know about the weeping fig, though. It should do quite well out there. Now if only I can get it from my wife .

Thanks again!

[Nerien]

Non-Toxic Plant finches will not tear to shreds?

My first, and only, thought is: Plastic. Tough plastic.

[finchmix22]

Nerien
Ditto for me too. Even my plastic ivy and other greenery, all the finches tear off leaves and pull down portions of the greenery. If they had live plants, they'd be dead plants. LOL.

[sierranomad]

Hah! Say it isn't so!! It'amazing how good the bamboo looks in their.

[Nerien]

Isn't bamboo rather tough, and fast-growing? What if you just rotate the plants in and out whenever they need a break?

[sierranomad]

Good idea. I considered that. The problem is that bamboo is very expensive and I would need a few to give the bamboo enough time to recover from the loving attention of my feathered friends (it's only been 1 1/2 weeks and the 4' tall plant is only 1/3 of its former glory).

The suggestion of the ficus made me think. I assume that ficus is less desirable to finches because the leaves are tougher than the grass-like texture of bamboo leaves. Camellia leaves are even tougher. I'm going to cut a branch from one of my camellias and put it in with them to see what they do. If they leave it alone, I"ll plant a camellia in there.

[Colt]

Another problem to think about is that you are only giving them one live plant at a time right now. It's new and fun to explore and play with. If they had several plants from a variety of species with different leaf shapes, textures, and bark types they could spread their love for their new found "enrichment item" across all of them. And you could see how different types stand up to them.

I currently have silk and plastic in all of mine.

Here is a quote from another thread I posted in:

I would think any evergreen tree would be popular for roosting and nesting in. Wild birds certainly appreciate them, especially in cooler climates during the winter. They make excellent windbreaks and often produce small fruits. There are several dwarf and slow growing species available.

The suggestion of seed bearing grasses is very good as the birds will enjoy foraging through the ripening seed heads. It provides enrichment for them and entertainment for you.

Other ornamental grasses (like pampas) usually stand up to the birds pretty well. They can also harvest the stems for nesting material.

Ferns and bamboo don't get torn up too badly. And certain vines like honey suckle, jasmine, etc can provide nesting sites.

I'm sure there is a lot more I'm not thinking of.

And here is the thread in its entirety for other suggestions...

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27309

[sierranomad]

Hmmm. That is a thought. I read your post this morning as I was running out the door. While in town I got a couple more plants. A mother fern (on the safe list) and a mini cattail. We'll see what happens.Would still like to add another plant or two.

I do already have impatiens in there that they haven't touched.Maybe they've left them alone only because they are too enthralled with the bamboo.

[sierranomad]

Just a caution to anyone thinking of putting grass in w/ your birds.Check on the toxicity of these, too.

I just did a check on 3 grasses that I was interested in, and 2 of them are poisonous! As we know, finches do eat grass, so I certainly wouldn't risk putting a toxic grass in with them.

Most grasses aren't listed on the safe/toxic list for birds, so I did a google search "[name of grass] toxicity" I don't know whether this search will always yeild useful results, but it did in the case of the 3 grasses I was investigating. And the grasses not being toxic to cattle or dogs (in the case of the "safe" grass I found) doesn't guarantee it's safe for birds, so I'll still keep a close eye on their reaction to it.

[Sally]

When I had my free-flight room, one plant the birds did tear up was a Boston fern. I think they liked it for nesting material.