One of the many wonderful things that can be made out of manzanita branches are bird perches and bird stands. These stands can be free standing 6 feet or taller, mounted on a large wood or concrete base for your aviary, or as small as ten inches long to clip onto the wall of a small bird cage. A popular design I have worked with is based on a tripod of three branches that all attach to a central trunk running up about 5 to 6 feet tall and branching out into a perch and play area for your bird. Another way is to set a straight branch into a base of a bag or two of cement or concrete. Manzanita is perfect for this for many reasons...
-First off under the sorts of wear and pressures associated with a bird manzanita proves to be very durable. It's natural, looks excellent, and is fairly easy to clean.
-Second the curvature, configurations and colors of the grain are beautiful and unique from branch to branch.
-Third they are fairly inexpensive if you can find the right seller.
Now the main purpose of this article is to give you an idea of the different approaches one can take when assembling a perch and play area for his bird(s) cage or aviary. There is of course your standard straight (or somewhat straight) branch from one side to the other.
You can hang a branch inside the cage from small chains and two small holes drilled through the branches. String the chain through the hole and secure a small ring or clip that is too large to allow the chain to travel back through the hole. This gives your bird a bit of a swing perch.
Another interesting option is a multi pronged or forked branch mounted to one side that has several branches extending at different heights and/or angles in towards the center of your cage. These are a great approach for many small to mid sized cages.
One design that cannot be ignored is the full tree approach mounted from the base of the center of your cage. Due to the way and scale to which manzanita branches grow, it is important that your cage is large enough for this type of display, namely that your bird still has space in the cage and it isn't inhibiting or hindering it's movement rather than enhancing it's habitat. Manzanita grows dense networks of branches, I often thin branches out considerably for use as "bird cage trees" because you need large branches that the birds can reasonably perch on, and they have to be spaced out to the extent that a bird can move and fly around the cage without running into branches all the time. These types of perches can however prove to look pretty amazing and serve well in large cages with mid sized and smaller birds.
Several small perches or one with several branches or levels tends to be more engaging and visually appealing then just your average branch strung across. Perhaps mount a perch that runs from side to side of your cage somewhere in the top 1/4 of the cage and hang a swing off of that at a lower level for your birds. That makes great use of the height of your cage and is fairly simple to construct. (You can also order them pre-made, but we'll get to that in a moment.)
Securing your branch to the cage can be accomplished several ways. A small bolt screwed into the end of the branch paired with a couple washers and a wing nut works fine for securing a branch to the side of a cage. Wire strung through holes drilled near the end of the branch is just fine for a perch that strings across the length of your cage and has two points of contact. If you have a forked branch coming off the side of your cage it is advisable to establish two secure points of contact with the side of your cage. small bolts mounted into your perch and secured to washers and nuts or wing nuts provide a nice sturdy and secure link between your perch and the side of the cage.
I hope you found this information useful and feel free to contact me at info@manzanitadisplay.com for any manzanita questions. If you are looking for someone who makes and ships custom manzanita bird perches and stands, you may want to contact Artisans Manzanita in San Diego CA. They are manzanita craftsmen who can make your perch to whatever style, type, and dimensions you can think of - and ship it anywhere in the world!
Isaac Curtiss is a writer and manzanita craftsman. Isaac and Co-owner James Humphries live in Alpine CA and enjoy being in the workshop! Check out their website http://ManzanitaDisplay.com.
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