Friday, April 9th, 2010 at
4:58 am
Most people probably don’t think much about bird perches but that is because people don’t spend most of their lives on a perch the way birds do. When you get a pet bird, the perch is one of the most important accessories you can provide your feathered friend. The type of perch you choose will go a long way in determining the birds health and comfort.
When a bird is not flying or nesting, they are usually perched on something. If a bird is in a cage they will spend the majority of their time with their weight on their feet. The most common bird perches are made from wood dowels or pcv pipe. The advantage of these perches are they are cheap, easy to get and pvc is easy to clean. Those are advantages for you but not for the bird who has to use them.
These types of perches are usually uniform in size and diameter. This can create problems for the birds since they are always gripping the same diameter and shape without any way to let you know whether it is comfortable to them or not. Just the same way a human can get repetitive stress injuries from repeating the same movements over and over or in the wrong form, the same thing can happen with a birds feet.
In the wild a bird gets to choose its perch but not in a cage. The solution is to give the bird a perch with variable shapes and diameters. This is where natural branches are great for bird perches. With a natural branch that has varied diameters and shapes the bird can get variety, exercise its feet and choose the parts of the perch that are more comfortable.
Learn more about how to choose the right wooden bird perch for your bird.
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Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at
8:56 am
If you have been around parrots and other exotic birds much, you probably know that most wood is no match for their powerful beaks. These birds like to chew and their wooden perches and toys can eventually become sawdust, or maybe I should say “beakdust”. But there is a wood that can hold up to these feathered wood chippers.
Along the west coast of North America there is a small tree called Manzanita. This tree is slow growing and doesn’t get very big but it grows very dense hard wood. Manzanita wood resist a birds chewing, is non toxic, easy to clean, and is very attractive to look at.
The trees don’t have much for a trunk and usually start forking into separate branches low to the ground. With this and their small size, manzanita often resembles a shrub more than a tree. Manzanita doesn’t get big enough or grow straight enough to make lumber out of and is too small for most wood projects.
These things that make manzanita useless for other wood products, make it an idea wood for birds. The thin twisted branches are ideal for bird perches. Both the bark and wood underneath are smooth but still provide a good gripping surface. The natural twists and forks all with varied diameters can make good obstacle courses to keep your bird entertained and provides them with good exercise.
Manzanita bird perches can be a simple twig or a forked twig or even complex play stands. Play stands can use the natural forks of manzanita branches to give your bird a variety of places to perch and play on. Manzanita play stands are also commonly made by attaching several manzanita branches together to make a complex bird playground.
Mananita is an endangered plant in some areas and is illegal to harvest. There are also varieties that grow abundantly in other areas. Manzanita can be an ideal wood for your bird but check with your source to make sure it is being responsibly harvested.
Learn more about manzanita and manzanita bird perches.
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