FINCHforum

Managed a short walk in the woods with the dog today. Saw lots and lots of witch hazel downed by the storms of the last year or two, others bent and hanging into the trail, would not be doing any harm to clip them away.

I saw Witchhazel listed on one not-safe list, but not mentioned on any others, either good or bad. Anyone have any further knowledge on whether it's safe to use? There are so many wonderful downed, dead, well-dried branches available up there, and the growth pattern of the tree would make wonderful branching perches.

And then there's the maples: I see some maples listed as yes, some as no, but mostly no one mentions the species I am surrounded with--sugar maples, silver maples, norway maples, striped maples, sycamore, japanese. I know red maple is a no-no, and we do not have vine maple, but we do have all these others that no one ever talks about.

There is plenty of beech up there, but I'd like the variety of other branch patterns. I saw beech on both good and bad lists, but I have used it in my parrotlets and budgies, and no one has suffered any harm, and they have finished stripping the bark off of it, so I can attest that beech is good. So is white birch, have had that in budgie and finch cages for quite a while.

I can't help much here, we don't have many of those trees in Texas. (Oh, how I yearn to see the birches of Michigan!) And for me, one of the biggest problems with the plant lists is that they don't always agree, which leaves us wondering what is correct. I know that with houseplants, I have often used plants around my birds that might be on one or more 'do not use' lists, and I've gotten away with it. Hopefully, others from your part of the country will have experimented with some of these trees.

http://www.budgieplace.com/plants.html

http://www.birdsafe.com/woods.htm

Here are two sites that I pulled from my files, hope this helps...not sure about witch hazel... when in doubt don't use it.

Honestly, I don't follow most of these 'safe wood' guidelines. I feel that most of our finches are smart enough to not eat the poisonous woods or plants. Finches are not like hook bills, where they bite into and destroy wood. For me, the most important rule on wood is that it is properly cleaned and treated for bugs/pests and pesticides/chemicals.

I change up the wood used in my cages all the time. From crape myrtle branches to various pines to branches of flowering trees. The variety of wood is fun and helps exercise the grip on the finches feet.

I actually recently started using the branches of the Contorted Hazel (Corylus avellana 'Contorta') and those branches are an absolute hoot! Really lovely and fun.

And then there's the maples: I see some maples listed as yes, some as no, but mostly no one mentions the species I am surrounded with--sugar maples, silver maples, norway maples, striped maples, sycamore, japanese. I know red maple is a no-no, and we do not have vine maple, but we do have all these others that no one ever talks about.

FYI
Red Maple is listed as "toxic" on some lists because concerns have been raised that even though the bark itself is not deemed toxic, it can harbor a fungus that, when inhaled, can cause the maple bark disease.

FYI
Red Maple is listed as "toxic" on some lists because concerns have been raised that even though the bark itself is not deemed toxic, it can harbor a fungus that, when inhaled, can cause the maple bark disease.

That I know. Not into de-barking small branches, life is too short. Like the look of fully-natural branches better, anyway.
Same sort of problem with cherry, wish they would decide for sure if it is a hazard or not, but I'm not about to peel the branches. The wild birds love my wild cherry tree, and the cherries, don't see dead birds piled up underneath it. But I'd sure hate to be wrong...

And while the finches don't seem to care, the hookbills love de-barking, if they have that to do, they don't chew through everything as quickly, and in some cases not at all, I guess they feel like they have made their mark on it and can leave it alone at that point? Just know that the branches are still there and just fine, while the purchased wooden ladders are literally disappearing as they shred them, despite their love of climbing up and down them.