British WILD PLANTS & SEEDS  Enjoyed by Caged & Wild BIRDS (also the Benefits for Human use)

BLACKBERRY (Bramble)  (Rubus fruticosus)

DID YOU KNOW?
Some people believe that when Satan was cast out of heaven, he landed in a prickly Bramble Bush! For this reason, in some English counties, the Bramble fruits are not picked after St. Michael's Day (29 Sept)
because the Devil curses them!

• One of the most useful fruits of early autumn.  As soon as the berries show signs of ripening - around Aug. 
  • - the native birds begin their annual feast!
    
• Wild birds : Bullfinches, Hawfinches, Blackbirds and lots of other song birds relish them.
• Most cage and Aviary birds love them, even Canaries.
• Softbills, thrive on them.
  
• Blackberries contain a medicinal property that has a marked astringent action.
• They are an excellent stomach tonic for birds.
  
• They are of great value, when ripe, as a safe colour-food.
  • To help the quality and colour of the plumage at moulting time.
    
• It's rich in vit. C. (As the "Ribena" manufacturers tell us!)
  
• They can frequently have fruits of 4 different stages of maturity on the same spray.
  • Green > red > red-purple > Black
    
• The Blackberry bush, is often called the 'Bramble', because of the way it grows.
  • > weaving its way through other plants and trees.
    
• Farmers used to plant Blackberry in amongst Hawthorn hedges. 
• This helped to bind the Hawthorn together and make a stronger barrier.
• The tough stems of the Blackberry are armed with hooked thorns which serve two purposes.
• They deter grazing animals from eating them.

Pink Campion                           White Campions

• Campions are a great favourite with many of our native Finches.
  

• Their seeds are greedily eaten by :

  • Bullfinches; Greenfinches; Linnets; Siskins + Canaries.
    

• Campions are a close relative to the Chickweed

  • altho they are of no use as a green-food

  • The seeds have similar nutritional values as Chickweeds.

  • Their Seed Capsules are unusually large and abundant.
    

• The Best known Campion and most useful is the White or Evening Campion.
  

  • So called becos it's pure White blossoms open and become fragrant towards dusk.

  • The White species is found in ploughed fields, where it often towers above other plants and the crop itself.
    

• The Stems can reach approx 2ft high.

• The leaves on the lower parts may be as long as 5 - 6"

• The upper leaves are only about 3"

• They always grow in opposite pairs.

• They are rather narrow and pointed + hairy.
  

• During the sunny part of the day the flowers often remain closed

• They tend to open towards dusk and are even open during night-time.

• When they have almost luminous properties.
  

• The Red Campion differs only in colour.

• Found mainly in hedge-banks and dampish woodlands.

• There are male and female plants

• There is very little difference to the eye

• But only the Female plants produce the Seed

• The Male plants merely drop away after flowering without leaving any capsules.

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CHARLOCK  (Brassica Sinapis)

• Charlock is one of the most abundant of British Weeds.

• It grows mainly in cornfields and ploughed land.

• It is very closely related to the cultivated Mustard.

• Both Charlock and Mustard seeds are very similar in their properties

• Charlock seeds are smaller and much darker than mustard seeds.
  

• The seeds are a great favourite with wild birds 

  • : Greenfinches; Linnets; Twite; Redpolls and many more.
     

• Charlock seeds are good to create "heat" and therefore are beneficial during cold weather.

• They can help keep asthma and chills and related symptoms at bay when the weather is bad.
  

• The Charlock plant has branched stems

• They reach a height of 1 - 2 ft.

• The flowers are bright yellow and about 1 - 2" across when fully open.

• Seed pods are approx. 2" long, Squarish or angular with an awl-shaped beak at the top.

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CHICKWEED (Stellaria Media)

• This is a name given to many plants, some of which are not really Chickweeds at all.
• The true CHICKWEED (Stellaria Media) is one of the very best of all our wild green-foods.
• You may use it at any stage of it's growth-life.
• When it is mature it is a favourite food with most hen-birds for their nestlings.
  
• Almost all our British Birds love it :
  
  • Goldfinch; Greenfinch; Chaffinch; Bullfinch and Linnet all eat it as do Blackbirds, Skylarks and Yellow Buntings.
    
• The green leaves and shoots are rich in vital vitamins & minerals, incl. iron, which are essential for good health.
• The seeds are also edible.
• The plant can be dried for storage.
  
• Chickweed Vitamins & Minerals :
  
  • Vit. C : It is particularly high in ascorbic acid and mucilage properties.
  • B. Vits :  Niacin (B3), riboflavin (B2), thiamin (B1),
  • Vit A : Beta carotene
  • Minerals : magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, sodium, selenium, and silicon.
     
• Medicinally, Chickweed is useful (for both Birds and Humans) as :
  
  • Chickweed is delicious and fresh-tasting, as a salad "vegetable" for us humans.
    
• Properties include : 
  
  • A tonic, diuretic, demulcent, expectorant, and mildly laxative.
    
  • It's often recommended for asthma, bronchitis, or congestion.
  • It's also said to help control obesity and is an ingredient in some human herbal weight loss preparations.
  • Externally, chickweed relieves itching and inflammation and is generally soothing and moisturizing.
  • It can be used for any minor skin infections or irritations, and is an ingredient in a number of commercial skin care products.
    
• Common chickweed is a very common weed.
  
  • It is extremely variable in its appearance, but generally it has a very slender tap root and greatly branching leafy stems, which lie along the ground.
   
  •  Many small, white flowers are produced; the stamens have reddish-violet anthers.
    
  • Chickweed is just about always flowering, except in the dead of winter.
  •  The flowers close at night and open in the morning.
  • They also close when it's about to rain.
  • Possibly they respond to changes in air pressure.
  •  It does seem that the flowers don't open at all when a low pressure system is lingering.
  • Chickweed also reacts to nightfall by folding its leaves over the growing tip to protect it.

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COLTSFOOT (Tussilago Farfara)

• Coltsfoot is one of the earliest of all our Spring Flowers.
• They are about 4 inches high at first growth.
• The yellow flowering heads are often to be seen before the end of January.
• March is the main month of growth though.
• Coltsfoot grows abundantly on moist and heavy soils.
• They look like a smaller relation to the dandelion flower.
• They differ from the Dandelion by their scaley stalks and smaller flowering heads.
  
• When the flowers have withered, the heads droop down and remain in that position until the seeds are ripe.
  
• They they become erect again and often grow to a foot or more in height, until finally opening into a globular ball of silvery pappus, which is eagerly sought by many birds as a lining for their nests.
  

• In the photo above  we get a good comparison of the size difference between the first flower stage (4" approx) and second (seeding head stage) of growth (approx 1ft). 

• Coltsfoot is a Food and a medicine combined  (Both Birds & Humans)
  
  

  • It is one of the finest of all natural remedies for any trace of Wheeziness or Asthma.
  • Improvement which follows its use is often fairly obvious.
  • Wild Birds seem to relish the flowering heads - esp. the Chaffinch.
    

  • The leaves of the coltsfoot were used as an ingredient in herbal tobacco, which was smoked as a cure for asthma. (- that's a bit of a contradiction in terms - inhaling smoke to help your breathing - don't u think?!)

  • Coltsfoot tea, sweetened with honey, was used for colds and asthma. 

  • Even the flower stocks of the coltsfoot were used to make "syrup of coltsfoot", which was recommended for treating chronic bronchitis.

  • Birds do seem to eat the stems and enjoy them.

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DANDELION : (Taraxacum vulgare)

Dandelion Flowering Heads	The Seeding Heads or "Dandelion Clocks"	Dandelion Close-up + growing on gravel

• The Dandelion may be found in bloom in almost any month of the year.

• It is probably at it's best in the Spring when the leaves are young and tender.

• It is generally conceded that the Dandelion is the best "Blood Purifier" in Nature's medicine Chest.

 

There is hardly a finer tonic for your Birds,  amongst all our English weeds.  Here's a pair of Fife Canaries enjoying young Dandelion leaves, with bits of Fresh, young, Spring Grass mixed in - NOT LAWN CLIPPINGS!                                                         Click on picture to enlarge >>>

• Birds Love these parts of the Dandelion : 
  

  • Leaves, flowers. 

  • and the seeding heads before they open out into the "Dandelion Clock" 

  • To Feed : part the closed Seeding Head and if the seeds are dark brown. 

  • - cut off the white fluffy end bit .

  • Push the dandelion head, with the ripe seeds in between the bars of your Birds' cage.
    

• Canaries, in particular, love these seeds (fed as above) and they are very good for them.
   

• Not many people realize there are, in fact, over 300 similar "Dandelion-like" plants 
  growing wild in this country.
  

• The True Dandelion (as pictured above) is the only one, which has all the wonderful nutritional and medicinal properties which are attributed to it.

The TRUE DANDELION's  Description:

• It has the familiar Yellow fronded flowering head.

• A dandelion flower head consists of many tiny flowers.

• It grows singly at the tops of bare and un-branched stalks.

• Each stalk is smooth and shiny

• It is always hollow.

• It exudes a bitterish milky juice as soon as the stem is broken.

• The leaves always have the familiar backward-pointing lobes.

• it reproduces asexually

  Below ▼ are examples of plants that look like true dandelions but do not conform to the description above.
  

  These 2 ▲pseudo"Dandelions"have 3+flowering heads each on fat stems  (click to enlarge pictures)

It is important to remember that those Dandelion-like weeds which bear 2 or more flower-heads on a single or branched stalk, are NEVER proper Dandelions, no matter how much they may resemble them!

Similar plants are the Hawkweeds, Hawkbit and Hawks-beard families.

•  - all the seeding heads, off the above Hawk.....  plants, are relished by birds 
  but don't have the medicinal properties the true Dandelion possesses.
   

• Dandelions' Medicinal  & Nutritional Properties for both Birds and Humans:
  

  • The leaves are high in vitamin A, vitamin C and iron. 
  • Carrying more iron and calcium than spinach
  • Dandelion flowers can be used to make dandelion wine. 
  • The recipe usually contains citrus fruit. 
  • Another recipe using the plant is dandelion flower jam. 
  • Ground roasted dandelion root can be used as a coffee substitute. 
  • Drunk before meals, it is believed to stimulate digestive functions.
  • Sold in most health food stores, often in a mixture, it is considered an excellent cleansing tonic
    for the liver.

OTHER USES FOR THE DANDELION

• Dandelion root is a registered drug in Canada, sold as a diuretic 
  • (i.e. it relieves water retention - swollen ankles etc.)
  • It helps to keep the kidneys in good working order.
    
• A leaf decoction can be drunk to "purify the blood" 
  • for the treatment of anemia, jaundice, and also for nervousness. 
    
• The milk is also applied to warts, 
  • helping get rid of them without damaging the surrounding skin. 
    
• The milky latex has been used as a mosquito repellent.

• A dye can also be obtained from the roots of the plant. 
• "Dandelion and Burdock" is a popular soft drink.
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COMMON DOCK (Curled) : (Rumex Crispus)

Ripe Head	Green Dock seeds	Ripening Seed Heads	Well-ripened seeding head.

• This is one of the very worst weeds for the British Farmer to try and eradicate.
  

• But what is the Farmer's Pest is loved by most birds.
  

• Wild Birds come from far and wide to enjoy feasts of the Dock Seed  -  The Bullfinch in particular.
  

• Most Cage birds inc. Canaries and most Finches relish the Dock Seeds.

• Some Breeders claim that no other seed has such a good effect upon the plumage.

• The Dock seeds contain quite a high percentage of oils.

• This makes it a good Winter food for maintaining condition and helping to prevent chills.

• Even though the seeds seem to have a high oil content they tend not to cause undue fatness.

• In fact, the effect seems to be the reverse.

• The bowels are kept in such a healthy condition that there is no obvious accumulation of fat.

• For this reason, the Dock seed has often been used as an aid to help correct obesity.

• This oil also serves as an internal lubricant and helps keeps the digestive tract in order.
  

• The Dock seed is easy to gather in quantity.

• The seeding heads can be dried, just as they are, to be fed throughout winter.
  

• Plants are tall and have strong stems, which are difficult to cut/strim thru.

• The only way the land-owner can get rid of the Dock is to spray with a strong systemic Weed killer, which is absorbed into the root-system and kills the whole plant.

EUCALYPTUS TREE / Leaves

• Parrot-like birds, inc. Budgies and other small parakeets love Eucalyptus leaves. 

• Galahs use them in the wild to line their Nests. 

• The leaves contain a natural insecticidal deterrent. 

• They are supposed to help deter mites and mice!

WILLOW TREE

• A Willow cutting can grow massively over a short period of time.  

• Most birds love these leaves. 

• and enjoy stripping the bark off the twiglets the leaves grow on.

• Esp. in early spring when the buds, new leaves and baby catkins are starting to develop.

• They will also strip and chew the fine stems/branches that you put in with them. 

• Willow contains “Salicylic acid” which is the main ingredient in Aspirin 

• — so it has medicinal properties. 
  

• If you have room in your garden, you can strike a Willow cutting very easily,

  • by breaking a piece off the desired tree (approx 1” diameter is ideal) 

  • then plant the cut end 3 — 4” into the soil. 

  • It should strike and start to grow by spring but beware, 

  • they do grow alarmingly quickly.
    
    

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