Hawthorn Flowers Safe?

Laney

Regular Member
hi, my birds loved the hawthorn I gave them in autumn with just the branches and berries and now I have quite a lot of it growing with pretty spring flowers. I’ve done a search and can’t see anything relating to the flowers. Can anyone confirm if it’s ok to give them branches with flowers on?
Thanks
 
Birds will eat the fresh leaf buds but the flowers can't say I know of any bird species that eats the flower buds perhaps not nutritious enough to spend the time trying to gather as after all this time of year nesting time you need something that is a lot more nutritious and easier to feed your brood with
There are no poisonous hawthorn bushes and flowers, leaves and berries can all be eaten - make sure its hawthorn.
Superstition says its very unlucky to bring in the house …… but that's because it smells like the decaying flesh (I kid you not!)
Humans get the upset tummy with eating the raw hawthorns but not birdies.
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/vi...ritish-trees/a-z-of-uk-native-trees/hawthorn/
 
Birds will eat the fresh leaf buds but the flowers can't say I know of any bird species that eats the flower buds perhaps not nutritious enough to spend the time trying to gather as after all this time of year nesting time you need something that is a lot more nutritious and easier to feed your brood with
There are no poisonous hawthorn bushes and flowers, leaves and berries can all be eaten - make sure its hawthorn.
Superstition says its very unlucky to bring in the house …… but that's because it smells like the decaying flesh (I kid you not!)
Humans get the upset tummy with eating the raw hawthorns but not birdies.
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/vi...ritish-trees/a-z-of-uk-native-trees/hawthorn/
Thankyou, I had a feeling it would be ok but wanted to make sure. Can’t say I’ve noticed the rotten flesh smell before so I will double check it IS hawthorn x
 
I have recently read in the book 'A Parrot's Fine Cuisine Cookbook & Nutritional Guide' that whilst Hawthorn Berries are safe it is recommended to remove the seeds as they contain cyanide like Apple Seeds. I can imagine a fiddly task.
 
Apple seeds contain a compound called amygdalin which when chewed up then degrades into hydrogen cyanide and the amount in an apple seed that is produced when tis chewed up even after two cups of apple seeds you would be sick not dead. Cyanide is not one chemical its an ion or compound...
And as for birds eating hawthorn seeds …. practically all of the british and migratory birds that visit Britain would be dead if the seeds were toxic to them = ie ring ouzels, back birds, thrushes … birds have a different digestive system to humans. Think about chocolate ok for us but can deadly to many animals like dogs etc. Hawthorn has the same compound as apples.
Mother nature designed the plant to disperse its seeds using the birds so that the plants could be spread far and wide. Birds don't chew them like a human does, human crushes it so it will not be able to grow once pooped out but birds swallow the vast majority whole they pass through an exceptionally fast digestive tract and are pooped out at the other end covered in fertilizer a few miles away from the original plant ready to grow. Birds digest the nutrient rich part and poop out the rest.
Birds digestive system is fast than a human - birds poop about every 13 to 15 minutes. That's why birds have such high doses of things when they go to a vet as the metabolic rate rattles it through before it can do anything. Bird digestive systems are far better than a human …. check your car paintwork out when a bird poops on your car if you don't wash it off your paintwork will start to be "eaten" by their acid.
Almonds contain hydrogen cyanide as do many other things.
If your eating the hawthorn remove the pips (make brilliant haw jelly) if your bird is having them … just hand them over!
@Rio'sRich @Laney
 
Hawthorn berries are bird safe its us humans that need to watch our step with them.
Have a read of this article from Rosemary Low regarding berries and parrots http://rosemarylow.co.uk/beneficial_berries_11.html
https://theparrotsocietyuk.org/site...parrot-husbandry/parrot-diet/autumns-harvest/
https://www.tidymixdiets.com/product-968
Even the insurance company Exotic Direct (although the title has an error in it saying about asparagus as eating that stuff upsets the digestive tract of birds is a huge irk for me!) says hawthorn can be eaten they are quoting Dot Schwartz. https://www.exoticdirect.co.uk/news/parrot-food-what-your-parrot-can-eat-diet-and-food-ideas
 
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