Plants for aviaries - almost made a boo-boo!

[Sunbay]

I know this has been discussed before - but I think the topic bears repeating. I almost made a bad mistake this past week!

I use plants in pots in the aviaries. I bought a few, one was from the "Butterfly" section of the nursery - "Milkweed". Figured if they were safe for butterflies, they would be ok for birds.

NOT!

Thankfully, did research before putting it in the aviary.

The milkweed is like candy to the now endangered monarch butterfly. One of the reasons is, the milkweed makes them taste bad to birds. So - the plant, sap, flowers and nectar is not 'toxic' per se, but an extreme irritant to birds.

Lesson learned - and again I apologize for the repeat, but here is a list of 'good and bad' plants for birds/aviaries. There may be more complete lists, but this is what I found with a quickie search. Headed out to take my sister to the airport.

http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-housing ... lants.aspx

[debbie276]

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecolo ... lkweed.htm

Common Milkweed, when broken, lets out a milky sap. This sap has poisons in it, called Cardiac Glycosides. Some animals can eat the glycosides and not be harmed. When the Monarch butterfly's caterpillar munches the leaves of milkweed, the glycosides go into its body, making the caterpillar poisonous to predators. Even after the caterpillar has changed into an adult butterfly, it keeps the glycosides in its body.

Milkweed flowers bloom from June to August, and are visited by many species of moths, butterflies, bees, and other insects. The flower nectar and pollen does not have glycosides in it, so these animals do not become poisonous.

Good rule of thumb is if you cut the stem and it oozes sap, double check if it's safe.

[Rox]

Good to know, thanks!!

I'm neurotic when putting plants in the aviary, as my canaries in particular eat anything and everything. I now stand in the nursery and google the plant before buying it, as I have also bought a few unsafe plants and only googled them once at home...

[Sunbay]

I now Google everything too - I was looking for Passion Flower vines, love those, and they are on the 'safe' list. Sadly none to be found at the 3 nurseries I visited today.

Lauren

[30 Seconds to Bob]

Too bad you're a wee bit far of a drive away. I have passionflower vines growing over an archway leading to my front door. Baby passionflower vines spring up out of the ground all the time. Got a couple right now - both red and purple. I'm sure that you can find seeds at Walmart or Home Depot. Bob

[cindy]

Good to know Bob, I like them also....I will have to take a look at Home Depot!

[30 Seconds to Bob]

Good to know Bob, I like them also....I will have to take a look at Home Depot!

Cindy, You're NOT too far of a drive. Want me to dig you up one? Bob

[wildbird]

Does anyone know if leeks in bird seed is safe? I purchased some "healthy select canary & finch diet" from Petco and leeks are in the mix. It also has caraway seed, dried chamomile flower, anise seed, orange peel, raspberry leaf and peppermint leaf with a good mix of seeds. It seems like a very good mix, but I have never seen some of these ingredients in bird seed. What do you think? Linda

[debbie276]

If they are in a seed mix for birds from Petco I'm sure they are safe

[Perfex]

Earlier this year I was looking around my yard for evergreen plants to clip and put on one of my cages for privacy. I trimmed back a few lush branches of Japanese Yew and clipped it on the cage. It looked fantastic!
About 10 mins later I thought I better double check the Internet for safe plants and found that all of the Yew family are highly toxic. Yikes!!!! Pulled that stuff off mighty fast and put some bamboo up instead. Thankfully no harm was done.

[Grant]

If anyone has questions about plants, I am a plant taxonomist and I'd be happy to help you.

[DanteD716]

If anyone has questions about plants, I am a plant taxonomist and I'd be happy to help you.

That is very neat! I do have one question, are spider plants safe?

[DanteD716]

If anyone has questions about plants, I am a plant taxonomist and I'd be happy to help you.

That is very neat! I do have one question, are spider plants safe?

[Grant]

DanteD716: Yes, it is absolutely safe! No known toxins. And Dante, I think you may be an ornithologist in the making. Too bad you're not in FL or I'd hook you up with our team of ornithologists. You'd have a blast and learn a lot.

[wildbird]

Grant, could you tell me if dried leeks, chamomile flower, raspberry and peppermint leaf in a finch seed mix is safe? Also, are there any ornithologists in north central florida? I sure would like to learn more about birds. Thanks, Linda