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Acorns and natural nuts?

Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2010 6:56 am
by PythonzEve
Hi, I have a ton of trees surrounding my house and I get a lot of acorns and have a friend that I think has pine nuts. Now I know pine nuts are OK, but what about acorns and are there any seeds/nuts like those that are dangerous for birds? The squirrels go nuts over them every year so I don't think they are, but wanted to check before I collect some for treats :)

Re: Acorns and natural nuts?

Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:50 pm
by BmDubb
I'd like to know this as well, as I have Acorns, Walnuts and HedgeApples... The squirrels sure do love them.

Re: Acorns and natural nuts?

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 9:15 am
by Melika
Acorns are fine. Your bird might even prefer the 'unripe' ones still hanging on the branches.

I found nothing toxic about the Hedge Apples/Osage Orange. I found that the milky substance inside the fruit can be a skin irritant and that most animals seem to find the fruit unpalatable.

Walnuts are safe. :)

Re: Acorns and natural nuts?

Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:33 am
by PythonzEve
What about nuts and seeds I find in the forest? Kind of as long as a squirrel eats it it's OK mentality? Because I can't find anything about any of them being bad except maybe peanuts because of the mold issues... We just go hiking and rock climbing in a forest out in the middle of nowhere and trees are dropping nuts and seeds like candy on parade day. My son likes to collect all of them but I don't know what the heck to do with them other than feed them, plant them or toss them.

Re: Acorns and natural nuts?

Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:11 pm
by Melika
Identify what kind they are and look it up, that's the best advice I have. Squirrels aren't parrots and could likely eat things parrots cannot (for instance the avocado tree across the street that the squirrels regularly raid).

Re: Acorns and natural nuts?

Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 12:31 am
by kiwi.relichunter
Hi,

I too would have liked to use Oak for perches and Acorns for fun as this is one of the biggest trees on our property. However, when I did a search a while back I found it very confusing - some sites said Acorns were safe but others marked the Oak, acorns and foliage as toxic.

http://www.avianweb.com/toxicfoods.html

http://www.thelaughingparrot.com/Safeplants.html

http://www.parrots.org/index.php/forums ... avens/P24/ - A reply in here says that they are safe??

It's so confusing sometimes...

Re: Acorns and natural nuts?

Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 3:44 pm
by Melika
kiwi.relichunter wrote:Hi,

I too would have liked to use Oak for perches and Acorns for fun as this is one of the biggest trees on our property. However, when I did a search a while back I found it very confusing - some sites said Acorns were safe but others marked the Oak, acorns and foliage as toxic.

http://www.avianweb.com/toxicfoods.html

http://www.thelaughingparrot.com/Safeplants.html

http://www.parrots.org/index.php/forums ... avens/P24/ - A reply in here says that they are safe??

It's so confusing sometimes...

It could depend upon the type of 'oak'. Since most people do not look to see what kind of oak, a broader warning is safer to state. For instance I have used live oak branches for many years with assorted parrots, especially with the bark on so that the birds and spend time ripping the bark off (they don't eat the bark). However I would never use a branch from the cherry laurel which is toxic. Locally, many people consider the cherry laurel to be an 'oak' tree (though it is not) and it has an acorn-like berry.

I believe (I could be wrong) the determination that oak is toxic to parrots comes from the cattle and equine world where it definitely can be deadly.

I liked this article: http://www.birdsafe.com/woods.htm
Oak appears on a number of toxic lists, primarily because of the tannin in the leaves and acorns. In the writer’s opinion this is totally unjustified, the wood should be perfectly fine as it is not generally eaten and contains little tannin in most species.
Tan Oak which should be avoided because of the VERY high tannin content... though there is some controversy about Oak it appears that the wood should be safe. the bark leaves and especially the acorns have much higher levels of tannins and should be avoided. While many bird species including many parrots regularly feed on nuts and vegetation that have levels of tannin much higher than oaks, it is unclear how their
bodies deal with the substance and it is therefore probably advisable to avoid high doses.

Re: Acorns and natural nuts?

Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2010 1:51 am
by kiwi.relichunter
That is a sensible sounding article, I will check out birdsafe looks like a worthwhile site to visit. May consider being brave, as ours is a traditional Oak tree - and would be the best branches for perches for the aviary. Otherwise I'll have to go bush at a friends place and find some Manuka (tea tree).

kiwi.relichunter

Re: Acorns and natural nuts?

Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:27 pm
by Donovan
I think red oak can have some toxic qualities...... red maple is also toxic (for horses, goats, cows, etc) So based on that I would not give those things to my birds.

My question at the moment is about willow oak (some of you mistakenly know them as pin oaks)

I came up with a really awesome willow oak branch i want to hang in the aviary. But before I do i would really like to know how toxic it might be. The bark is smooth and my birds aren't big on eating perches... my suspicion is that it will be okay but I figured I would go ahead and throw it out there.

Re: Acorns and natural nuts?

Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 1:55 am
by clawnz
Willow is safe. This goes for Willow, Weeping Willow, Twisted Willow (Tortured Willow)

Oaks I am not so sure of and avoid it, including the acorns.
This is English Oak.
There a number of other oaks.
She Oak is more like a pine.
The one Pin Oak I know is not an Oak.
I have no idea about so called oaks like this.

Re: Acorns and natural nuts?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2015 6:45 am
by sanjays mummi
Personally "if in doubt......don't". Safe nuts are cheap enough to buy,