Branches

[Sixwing]

I live in the Colorado high desert. We have not only heat to contend with, but also altitude - that usually means 30+ degree temperature swings on an average day, piles of snow in winter, and temperatures easily in excess of 100*F in summer. It's a bit hard on the vegetation.

We've got oodles of cactus, but sadly no century plants here. Yucca flower spikes might work nicely, though. They're crunchy and hollow, and I bet that would be a lot of fun. (The fruit is very good, in my opinion.) Next fall I may have to gather some! This year it's too late, as the snow's already destroyed them. They're pretty fragile once they dry out.

We've also got a handful of willow species and plenty of cottonwoods, plus a stunning array of conifers. Most of them are renowned for being very aromatic and resiny, though - I always kind of wonder what kind of pine wood people are using that isn't full of pitch. We have Ponderosa, which has this wonderful sweet-resin smell, and some little scrubby kind (Limber, maybe?) that literally drips pitch eight months out of the year, and spruces and firs of several kinds. The internet at large seems to think one should not give parrots pine needles, which I'd think would be the fun part, but it shouldn't be hard to find some dead branches with bark to shred.

Last night, I ended up nabbing some freshly-cut ends of a scrub willow - fast-growing, straight, whippy little things (which don't seem to have a significant amount of salicilin*), braiding and baking them. Jetty seemed to approve of this. He got so excited when I brought STICKS in the house.

Source tells me that white, purple, and crack willow are the kinds with the salicilin in the inner bark.

[Roscully]

OMG I have really started something here!! Thank you all for you help and advice. What I forgot to mention is I live in the Republic of Ireland. So lots of the trees you mention do not apply to me. I was thinking of willow, but thats out now. Does anyone have any advice on fruit trees such as apple and pear, or horse chestnut and oak? I do have access to Hazel so I will try that for starters. Thank you for your continuing advice.

[Naurthon]

I'm a little out of my realm with Irish native plants, but the environment here is similar to there, so there should be plenty of available trees.

If you can find maple trees, you're fine. Hawthorn is also good. Aspen or poplar will work. If you have any Killarney strawberry trees available, use them. They're related to the madrona we have here, and the branches are definitely safe for your birds. CAVEAT: I don't know if the fruit from strawberry trees are safe for your birds, so I wouldn't let them eat them. They're safe for people, but I wouldn't take chances with the birds. Birch should also be fine, as should elm.

[Sixwing]

I keep finding conflicting advice on apple wood. =/
That said, I found this on hawthorn, which looks like a go.

Aspen, huh? There's quaking aspen all over the place! ... and they shed branches regularly, too, so there should be no shortage of fresh down wood this winter. Woot.

[Cage Cleaner]

Cage Cleaner, you'll find sources on line that say eucalyptus is okay. I just personally wouldn't risk it. Have you ever noticed that nothing else grows under all those eucalyptus trees in California? It is because of the chemicals in their leaves. They poison the soil to reduce competition. It is part of the reason why those trees have spread so widely in California. They were originally brought in to be grown to make railroad ties, but then they took over the state.

You're right. But don't pine trees do that, too? And pine is the number one most common wood used for birds. Including as bedding.

[Sixwing]

Yep, pine trees do that; part of it is chemical (allelopathy) and part of it is just shading everything beneath them.

Perhaps that's why they recommend one not use pitchy pine wood - but how you get the pitch out of the pine is another question. XD

[Naurthon]

You're right. But don't pine trees do that, too? And pine is the number one most common wood used for birds. Including as bedding.

Yep! Pine trees have stuff in their needles that kill plants under them as well. I've even read (okay, SKIMMED) a report indicating that eating ponderosa pine needles can cause miscarriages in cows. Those chemicals aren't in the wood, however, so pine perches and bedding aren't a concern.

This illustrates another of the problems with the safe-wood lists: Many plants have SOME part that contains toxins, including apples, the seeds of which contain cyanide (teeny teeny amounts of it). Oak bark has tannins. Rhubarb leaves are toxic. But these examples all have parts that are not just non-toxic, but edible (although acorns need a little treating first.) I think some of the people making these lists assume that because one part of a plant contains a known toxin that it will be present in the entire plant. That isn't always the case.

I know pine WOOD is safe, whatever compounds are in the needles. It could be that eucalyptus WOOD is also safe, but I don't KNOW that, so, out of years of habit grubbing up wild edibles here in the Northwest, I fall back on the old rule "if you don't know it is safe, don't put it in your mouth". (Or your parrot's.)

[Cage Cleaner]

Gotcha, thanks.