Toxic And Safe Plants For Bird Aviary

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Hello! This is a brief listing of some of the more commonly found toxic and non-toxic plants. The non-toxic group can be used; if you wish, in plantings in an aviary, or in pots around your birds – with most species, though, you can expect at least a little pruning! A group of canaries can mow all of the green off almost any plant in incredibly short order, so if you keep these birds, you should plan on rotating or replacing your plants fairly often.

There are two dangers to remember to watch for when buying nursery plants. If you get your plants at a non-organic nursery, be sure to check carefully to see that they do not have pelleted fertilizer mixed into the dirt. This is usually a sign of a good quality plant, BUT the birds can eat these, and they are poisonous. If you buy a plant with these pellets in the soil, take out the top inch or so of dirt and replace it with plain organic potting soil.

No matter what the nursery you buy from uses for fertilizers and pesticides, plan to leave all nursery plants outside in the rain or hose them off thoroughly for several days running to be sure to have remove all traces of any sprays and insecticides before giving the birds access to the new plants.

Please note that this is a very limited, basic list – if you have a plant you would like to check on, and it is not listed here, please use a good meta-search engine like Google to find out more before deciding whether or not to use it. Never offer your birds any plant unless you are absolutely sure that it is non-toxic. The risk is quite simply not worth it – plants can be had fairly cheaply, but you can’t replace your bird’s life.

Non-Toxic Plants

African Violets
Asparagus Fern
Australian Umbrella Tree
Babies Tears
Bromeliads
Burro’s Tail, Donkey Tail
Christmas Cactus, Thanksgiving Cactus, Easter Cactus
Coffee
Dracaena, Corn Plant
Dragon Tree, Cold Dust, Red-margined
Elephant Foot Tree, Bottom Palm, Ponytail Palm
Ferns-birds nest, mother fern, boston, sword, brake, ribbon, dish, button, lomaria, maidenhair, polypody, squirrel’s foot, ball, deers foot, fiji, staghorn, elk’s horn
Figs-edible fig, fiddleleaf fig, weeping fig
Gardenis
Golddust
Grape Ivy
Hen and Chicks
Hibiscus
Jade Plant
Kalanchoe
Mango
Nerve Plant
Norfolk Island Pine
Palms-areca, butterfly, cane, golden feather, madagascar, european fan, parlor, neanthe bella, sentry, pygmy date, roebelin lady, bamboo fern, rhapis excelsa, miniture fan fishtail, wine
Peperomia
Prayer Plant
Rubber Plant
Snake Plant, Mother in Law’s Tongue
Spider or Airplane Plant
Swedish Ivy
Velvet Plant, Purple Passion
Wandering Jew Pendula
Yucca
Zebra

Plants To Avoid

Controversy over which plants are safe around birds and which are toxic continues to confuse bird owners trying to safeguard their feathered friends. Although we don’t know if each plant listed here could poison all birds. We believe your birds are safer if you avoid the following plants.

Avocado
Arum Lily
Autumn Crocus or meadow saffron
Australian Flame Tree
Azalea
Baneberry
Belladonna
Bird of Paradise
Bishop’s Weed
Black Laurel
Black Locust
Bleeding Heart, or Dutchman’s breeches
Bloodroot
Bluebonnet
Blue-Green Algae
Bulb flowers: amaryllis, daffodil, hyacinth, narcissus, iris
Burdock
Buttercup
Boxwood
Bracken Fern
Broad Bean
Buckthorn
Cacao
Camel Bush
Castor Bean
Caladium
Calla Lily
Cardinal Flower
Cedar
Chalice (trumpet vine)
Chestnut (buckeye)
Cherry tree
Christmas Candle
Clematis (Virginia bower)
Cocklebur
Coffee (senna)
Coffee bean (rattlebush, rattlebox, coffeeweed)
Coral Plant
Conander
Coyotillo
Cowslip
Cutleaf Philodendron
Daffodil
Daphne
Death Camus
Delphinium
Devil’s Ivy
Dieffenbachia (dumb cane)
Elderberry
Elephant Ear (taro)
English ivy
Ergot
Eucalyptus (particularly dried, dyed or treated for floral arrangements)
Euonymus (spindle tree)
False Hellebore
Fava Bean
Flame Tree
Felt plant (maternity plant, air plant, panda plant)
Firethorn
Four O’Clock
Foxglove
Glory Bean
Glottidium
Golden Chain
Grass: Johnson, sorghum, Sudan, broomcorn
Ground Cherry
Heather
Heaths: Kalmia, leucotho, peires, rhododendron, mountain laurel, black laurel, Andromeda, azaleas
Heliotrope
Henbane
Holly
Honeysuckle Horse
Horse Bean
Horsetail
Hemlock: poison, water
Hydrangea
Iris
Ivy: English, other varieties
Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Ind turnip)
Jasmine (Jessamine)
Jerusalem cherry
Jimsonweed
Kentucky coffee tree
Lantana
Larkspur
Lily of the valley
Lily, arum
Locoweed (milkvetch)
Locusts: black and honey
Lords and Ladies (cuckoopint)
Lupine
Malanga
Marijuana (hemp)
Mayapple (mandrake)
Mescal
Mexican Poppy
Milkweed (cotton bush)
Mistletoe
Mock Orange
Monkshood
Moonseed
Morning Glory
Mountain Laurel
Mushrooms (Amanita)
Navy Bean
Nettles
Nightshade: deadly black, garden, woody bittersweet, eggplant, Jerusalem cherry
Oak
Oleander
Periwinkle
Philodendrons: split leaf, Swiss cheese
Philodendron
Pigweed
Poinciana
Poinsettia
Poison Ivy
Poison Oak: western, eastern
Pokeweed
Potato shoots
Precatory Bean
Privet
Purple foxglove
Pyracantha
Ranunculus (buttercup)
Rattlebox (Crotalaria)
Red Maple
Rhubarb Leaves
Rhododendrons (azalea and laurels)
Sandbox Tree
Rhubarb
Rosary Pea
Scarlet runner
Skunk cabbage
Sorrel (dock)
Snowdrop
Spurges: pencil tree, candelabra tree, crown of thorns, snow-on-the-mountain
Sweet Pea
Tansy ragwort
Tobacco
Vetch: hairy and common
Virginia Creeper
Wattle
White Cedar (Chinaberry)
Wisteria
Yellow Jasmine
Yellow oleander
Yews

Safe Trees

The following trees may be used in an aviary, or their branches may be cut, cleaned, and used as perches as long as they have not been sprayed with pesticides and/or fertilizers.