How to prepare a branch for your bird!
I'm lucky here in Australia as we don't have a large number of poisonous plants and very few of those are trees. If we stick to branches from the trees that we know are safe, like Gum Trees, then we don't need to worry about accidentally poisoning our birds. If you're not sure about the species of tree that you are wanting to use as a perch then take a sample of it and some photos to your local nursery, they should be able to identify it for you.
I give my birds a mixture of dead and fresh branches, just like they would have access to in the wild. The way that I prepare these is to cut them to the required size and then place them in with the birds. There is no need to clean them or remove the bark to get rid of any insect. The bark will give the birds hours or weeks of entertainment and most bird will eat the few insects that they do find under the bark. The embedded video is of some Yellow-tailed black cockatoos looking for insects to eat.
There are a few important thing to consider when collecting branches for your birds. Make sure you get them from an area that you know has not be sprayed with poisons. Weedkiller and insecticides will also kill your birds. Different thicknesses are good for the heath of your birds feet and give them at least one that allows them to sit with both feet tucked up into their feathers as no one likes cold tows. And change the perches regularly.
If you think that I'm wrong then please email me with links so I can correct the information, Thank you.
- Dale Cray
- Dale Cray