Maple Tree's

FreddyCheeks · May 17, 2013

Is maple good for making perches? I have a bunch of maple tree's and I'm wondering if i get a branch or two if it would be okay to put in there. I would bake it first to kill off anything that would hurt the bird.

weco · May 17, 2013

Cut away, maple is OK.....

DallyTsuka · May 17, 2013

red maple is potentially toxic, but other maples (silver maple, sugar maple, Norway maple, sycamore, etc) are safe

weco · May 17, 2013

You're partially right Dally...the problem with red maple is the possibility of its bark harboring a fungus potentially harmful to birds, but when the bark is removed the wood is safe.....

FreddyCheeks · May 17, 2013

What I have are swamp maples so I think I'm good.

weco · May 17, 2013

Swamp maples are red maples.....

Featheredsamurai · May 17, 2013

What about green Chinese maple?

FreddyCheeks · May 17, 2013

Here are pics of the two types I have. I don't know witch is witch. One has little seeds the other has larger seeds.

FreddyCheeks · May 17, 2013

I think the smaller leaves are the swamp maples and the larger leaves are sugar maple.

Jtbirds · May 17, 2013

All maple is ok once baked for awhile as the red maples possible fungus would be killed off, I still recommend removing bark from red maple all others I leave on as it is fun, I'd go with the non red maple, possible sugar maple first

I am sure it has plenty of great branches!

weco · May 17, 2013

Copperarabian said:
What about green Chinese maple?

They're OK debarked.....

mrgoogls · May 17, 2013

i agree with whats been said. maple is good, red maple MAY have a fungus, remove the bark.

DallyTsuka · May 18, 2013

weco said:
You're partially right Dally...the problem with red maple is the possibility of its bark harboring a fungus potentially harmful to birds, but when the bark is removed the wood is safe.....

thanks for explaining! all the sites i've been on state red maple as toxic, some controversial... but none ever explained HOW. so i learned something new!

weco · May 18, 2013

DallyTsuka said:
thanks for explaining! all the sites i've been on state red maple as toxic, some controversial... but none ever explained HOW. so i learned something new!

A majority of the sites, relevant to bird information, have simply usurped what information they thought might make them look smarter than the next guy, and pasted it to their own site.....and with a lot of the information, it was outdated 20 years ago.....

With a good many of the toxic & safe lists the proliferate, you actually need to go back before 1992 to try finding the origin of a lot of the information...

If you really want to find information/data that can be validated, read it from veterinary school sources/research or other credible medical sources.....anecdotal information can and is written by most anybody, whether they have any idea what they're writing about or not.....the same goes for the majority of product reviews.....people are paid to write that junk.....

Birdlover1 · May 18, 2013

I personally have used red maple as a perch for years with no ill effects.I did however remove the bark and thoroughly wash it and let it sit out in the sun for a few days.

FreddyCheeks · May 18, 2013

Birdlover1 said:
I personally have used red maple as a perch for years with no ill effects.I did however remove the bark and thoroughly wash it and let it sit out in the sun for a few days.

I ended up using the sugar maple and baked it at 200 for an hour to kill off anything that might have been in or on it.

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