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Thursday, September 23. 2021

Bird food: Wild Cherry

The Wild Cherry (aka Prunus serotina) is a common woodland tree in the eastern half of the US.


Their strands of small black and red berries ripen in September. A Wild Cherry tree in September will be full of birds until the tree is stripped. That happened here this week.


Two other facts about Wild Cherry: Its wood (Cherry) is of course a popular lumber. Its leaves are toxic (contain a cyanide precursor), so you do not want them close to horses or cattle who might nibble on them. 

Posted by Bird Dog in Natural History and Conservation at 14:30 | Comments (6) | Trackbacks (0)

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In the Deep South these things are right up there with kudzu and chamberbitter as garden pests. The birds eat them, drop the seeds, and presto a cluch of cherry seedlings pops up.
#1 BillH on 2021-09-23 16:02 (Reply)
We feed our wild birds Pennington Classic, but everybody is out. What gives?
#2 snopercod on 2021-09-23 18:23 (Reply)
BillH, your comment caught my eye in case we might be able to grow wild cherry here on the Texas Gulf Coast, but I've never seen one here and can't find any websites encouraging me to think they'd like it here. The sandy soil may not suit them.
#3 Average Internet User and My Relatives on 2021-09-24 09:04 (Reply)
The seeds of boxelder trees are also toxic to horses,
#4 Snowgoose on 2021-09-24 09:33 (Reply)
Oleanders are a popular flowering woody shrub in a lot of Texas, but their leaves are highly poisonous.
#5 Aggie on 2021-09-24 10:26 (Reply)
When the cherries fall on your car, they stain the paint and it can be a real b word to get it out, even if your car has a healthy coat of wax on it. Did it for years until the neighbor cut down the tree next to my driveway
#6 peter on 2021-09-24 14:05 (Reply)

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