"Flowering Pear" wood for a stand?

[The_Big_Sleep]

Hi all,

I've been looking into building a DIY "tree" stand for my GCC, and have access to a pile of tree limbs my grandparents took down this past spring. The tree in question is called a "flowering pear", with smooth bark and very nicely shaped limbs. It's been dead for long enough that it's dried but not rotting, has no insect damage, and seems like a good candidate. I haven't found it on any lists of hazardous plants but thought it was worth checking here first - are the any issues with this type of wood?

In addition, I've started cleaning up some of the branches for use and I've noticed they've had pine pitch dripped on them in certain places. I'm planning to sand off as much of the pitch as I can just for the sake of cleanliness, but it's occurred to me that the pitch might be an issue for the bird - is there anything here I should be aware of?

Thanks!

 

[wenz2712]

Here is a list of safe woods! You will see Pear is listed as being safe

Non-toxic for birds list and a list of things that are toxic for birds.

 

[The_Big_Sleep]

Thanks! I see certain types of pines listed in both the "safe" and "toxic" lists, which is kind of freaking me out with the pitch on my limbs. I'm going to remove as much of it as possible, is it a major issue to be using wood that's been exposed to pine pitch??

 

[henpecked]

Hey big sleep, i think your talking about a "Bradford "pear which is not a real pear tree(like the pears you eat). Check and see if Bradford pears are safe. I know they are fast growing which generally equals soft wood, so may not be the best choice for perches. If safe it might make good toy parts. Only bugs i worry about are ants, termites or boring beetles won't hurt the bird, only make a mess with saw dust.