Manzanita leaves and berries

[Birdy916]

Hi, so living near the foothills I have access to as much manzanita as I want.

I know the wood is safe, and ive always assumed the leaves are safe...

But what about those manzanita berries, i never used manzanita with an animal that would even consider eating them...?

I feel like a fully leaved/berried branch to pick apart would be a great toy for my new conure....

 

[Birdman666]

There is another thing I miss about living in the bay area... all the free manzanita you want...

I always removed the wood and the berries, and just took the wood I harvested to a self serve car wash for a soap and rinse cycle.

When I lived in the bay area I had 11 birds, so I harvested a bunch at a time.

 

[Birdy916]

Lol, I cant believe what some people try to charge for manzanita around here....
The internet is one thing... I mean if you live somewhere else you gotta order it...
but for $5 worth of gas there is literally as much manzanita as you could ever possibly use or want right up the hill.

And the parts for making perches(nuts washers etc) are very cheap also.
For $8 I got enough parts to make 12 perches any size I want.

In a parrot or even regular pet store manzanita is like $20 for a 12" perch, outrageous...

But what about the berries??
There is literally nothing I can find even on google...
I guess I could just take them off, but what if I then miss out on a source of free treats or toys....
They kinda remind me of those little red berries from the hedge in the front yard of my house growing up and I was always told not to eat those or any little red berries like that(Im thinking Blue Lagoon too)....

 

[ShellyBorg]

The berries are safe as well as the leaves. They really do not taste to good until red. The early Spanish eat them when they where green. Native Americans likes them when the where brown and dried. The foxes and wild life seems like me to like them best when they reach a nice deep red color.

 

[Birdman666]

Lol, I cant believe what some people try to charge for manzanita around here....
In a parrot or even regular pet store manzanita is like $20 for a 12" perch, outrageous...

I know.

And the Fire Department in Orinda used to BEG for volunteers to help clear it because it was a fire hazard. Needless to say, I always volunteered to help haul that stuff away for them!

NOW I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT! YIKES!!!

 

[jugoya]

I go to Vineyards and ask for the trimmed back branches. I get quite a bit of my grapewood that way.

I wouldn't feed the berries though.. not sure how parrots would respond to it. Maybe ask a vet?

 

[Birdy916]

I go to Vineyards and ask for the trimmed back branches. I get quite a bit of my grapewood that way.

I wouldn't feed the berries though.. not sure how parrots would respond to it. Maybe ask a vet?

You dont worry bout pesticides from the vineyards?
I got access to vineyards out in Somerset thru a friend, but Im nervous because those places gotta use pesticides....

 

[Birdy916]

Lol, I cant believe what some people try to charge for manzanita around here....
In a parrot or even regular pet store manzanita is like $20 for a 12" perch, outrageous...

I know.

And the Fire Department in Orinda used to BEG for volunteers to help clear it because it was a fire hazard. Needless to say, I always volunteered to help haul that stuff away for them!

NOW I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT! YIKES!!!

Seriously, if you want me to send you a box full of branches, I would... take care of shipping and ill send you whatever size box you want...

 

[Birdy916]

The berries are safe as well as the leaves. They really do not taste to good until red. The early Spanish eat them when they where green. Native Americans likes them when the where brown and dried. The foxes and wild life seems like me to like them best when they reach a nice deep red color.

Shelly its not that I doubt you, but can you provide a source for that info, so I can read for myself, I cant find anything in my own searches about people or animals eating it.

The berries I have are indeed as deeply red as they get...

 

[ShellyBorg]

What can I eat?

Google can you eat mazanita berries and pages comes up. I have been eating them from childhood.

 

[Birdy916]

Awesome, thankyou, good enough for me, I was using the wrong search words...

 

[Kimma]

I'd never of manzanita until I started reading about parrots. Why do you all like it so much?

 

[Birdman666]

I'd never of manzanita until I started reading about parrots. Why do you all like it so much?

Because grapewood, bottlebrush, and manzanita are about the only things that stand up to those big old macaw beaks for any length of time.

My greenwing can bite a two by four in half and turn it into toothpicks as if it were balsa wood, with very, very little effort.

Effort has to be expended on manzanita.

 

[Birdman666]

Seriously, if you want me to send you a box full of branches, I would... take care of shipping and ill send you whatever size box you want...

I believe I will take you up on that one!!!

 

[Birdy916]

I'd never of manzanita until I started reading about parrots. Why do you all like it so much?

beacause its a safe wood they cant really chew, its very hard once dry.
I believe manzanita is in the top 5 hardest woods on the planet, but it may be only top 10...
Plus, it has a nice attractive smooth red bark, comes in all kindsa shapes and twists and knots, and most importantly- grows all around me....

 

[Birdy916]

I believe I will take you up on that one!!!

Sweet dude!
Lemme know!