Where to Find Safe Branches?

[sporkula]

I'm embarking on making a playstand for my birds - my goal is a tree-like structure using natural wood branches. I'm trying to make this as cheaply as possible, so I would love to find bird-safe wood to turn into perches myself. Aside from stealing from state parks, where can I actually get the branches for this? Are there any places online to buy branches? Or should I just find some random woods and practice my tree-ID skills?

Thanks for any help!

[dandalyon]

As a general rule, I wouldn't just take branches from anywhere. You don't know what they've been sprayed with or whatever and I'm not sure if stripping the bark off or cleaning them a certain way will make them safe? Maybe someone else will know about this.

I personally make the assumption that if I don't know 100% that it's safe, it's not worth the risk. If you know something is a bird-safe wood and that it's never been soaked with chemicals, that should be great.

[sporkula]

If I had a yard I guess this would be much easier.

[boomer girl]

A walk in the woods to grab a few branches of safe wood is fun just because it gives you a reason to walk out there. But first you do need to know how to ID them. I am lucky because manzanita grows like weeds here. If your out in the woods there shouldnt be a reason for them to spray the trees but I know even up here where I live, in super green and strict California they will still let them spray the sides of streets with sprays to kill the growth. So be sure to walk out in the forest to cut some just incase they did spray.

[joseNme]

Where can I find out what is "bird safe" wood and what isn't? I found some nice pieces out by the lake with my dad about a week ago, but haven't cleaned em up yet, because I wasn't sure if they are okay to put in or not....

[boomer girl]

I wouldn't know by just the wood. I think you would want to look at the entire tree or bush to ID it. Maybe if you searched on google you could see what kind of trees and bushes grow wild in your area and then look at pictures of them on google and perhaps you will recognize it as a tree you see all over around you.

You have to be extra careful that it is safe for birds because lots of wood isn't.

Once you know what it is there has to be a post on here telling what is safe or not somewhere in the bird information section here on this site, http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/birdinformation/