Birdhouse wood question

Are any kinds of wood not suitable for use in a birdhouse?

I save scraps of expensive tropical hardwoods, like Ipe (Tabebuia sp.) and Massaranduba (Manilkara sp.) leftover from building decks. These woods are supposed to have toxins in the wood that keep them from rotting as quickly as other woods, and I wonder if the toxins would affect birds using the birdhouse. No luck googling around, so far. Thanks for any replies.

Hi claypa, Its treated w/ toxins to keep it from rotting or its the natural wood?

Normally toxins and birds don't mix well.

They do say not to use any preservatives when building bird houses.

When I asked around about painting a bird house I was told only to use non toxic outdoor paint.
Thats all I know. :-)

Hi pelletory - the wood isn't treated with anything. I figure some things are toxic to people but not to other animals, and vice versa, so it's not clear to me. Some birds love Poison Ivy berries, for example.
Pressure-treated wood used to have arsenic in it, and now it's made with some other copper compounds, but I've seen birdhouses made with it. I don't know if it's bad for birds or not, but I don't use it.

Now you have me wondering, what is non-toxic outdoor paint? Just curious, I don't paint my birdhouses.

LOL, I wish I could give you more information but I'm basically parroting .

Have you checked any of the bird house building sites like Sialis etc?

I'll try to look around for you in a little while.

I don't have a definitive answer for you, but I'd stay away from the Ipe and Massaranduba if they're known to be toxic. Even "natural" toxins are bad. I do know that birds are extremely sensitive (remember the canary in the coal mine). I made my bird house out of cedar and I did not paint or finish it at all. When the thing gets worn out, I'll build a new one. So I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Edited to add, my bird house is not fancy at all. Just your basic deal. So I'd be fine with rebuilding when the time comes. I understand if you want it to last, but this is just what I do.

This message was edited Jan 11, 2008 8:28 AM

The so-called "cedars" like western red cedar and eastern white cedar have toxins, too, (Thuja plicata and T. occidentalis respectively) but it doesn't seem to bother the birds. I just happen to have these hardwood scraps available, so I figured I'd ask around. Thanks for the replies!

Well, now you've got me researching this. I don't want a toxic birdhouse. Since cedar is so commonly used, and even suggested, I thought it would be okay. But now that I think about it, people used to use cedar shavings for animal bedding (hamsters, rabbits and the like) and then that was found to be bad.

I found this site that lists toxic and non-toxic woods for pet birds. I would think same would go for wild birds.

http://www.mdvaden.com/bird_page.shtml

I maybe redoing my bird house sooner than I thought. Perhaps this time in bamboo. :)

I found lists of toxic and non-toxic woods, they may be for caged birds but could be useful.

http://www.mdvaden.com/bird_page.shtml

Some links at the bottom could be useful too, this one looks good..

http://www.birds123.com/

More links,

http://www.plannedparrothood.com/plants.html

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

A note about redwoods,

http://www.birdsafe.com/woods.htm

I do know mahogany causes rashes when sanding, there are many types which are classed as mahogany.

Massaranduba has a milky wite sap which is edible, that almost sounds safe,

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/glossary/indexm.shtml

Where are the trees grown that produce these woods? I wonder if the native birds of that particular region know instinctively to stay away from those trees? You could always use that wood to build birdhouses for decorative purposes! I collect birdhouses! Have them in my Florida room, and out on my screened deck as well as a few inside the house. Oh, and I have a few out in the yard for the birds too.

Thanks for the links - I changed my search wording and did find the mdvaden site. mdvaden is an ISA certified arborist who used to post on the trees and shrubs forum. I wonder if he's still around.

Wallaby, you're not kidding about the broad use of the word mahogony. The splinters are no fun either, I can assure you.

plantladylin, I don't know, I wondered the same thing - obviously it's not a simple question, different animal species are affected differently, and I suppose there's a toxic level for almost every substance under the sun. The Massaranduba / Manilkara that I have is purportedly from Guyana. As wallaby pointed out, not all parts are toxic - chicle for chewing gum was made from one of the Manilkara species, and the fruit is edible, but the sawdust and splinters are irritating to me. But maybe not to birds?

You could paint it with non-toxic paint :~))

Yes, maybe a nice latex made from trees! ha