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TallowTree Proliferation

Why we need to eliminate the spread of Tallowtrees

  • It can replicate itself within 3 years of sprouting.
  • A mature tallowtree can reach 60 ft. and disperse 100,000 seeds annually, creating a prodigious seed bank viable for years.
  • 30 species of birds common to Skidaway Island feed on the seeds, spreading them far and wide.
  • The tallowtree is tough. It tolerates salty soils, flooding, and shady environments, but thrives in sun.
  • It commonly invades wet areas (stream banks and ditches), but now is invading drier upland sites.
  • The high tannins in its leaf litter alter soil and water chemistry, harming native flora and fauna.
  • Tallowtrees outcompete and displace our native trees by monopolizing available water and nutrients.
  • Tallowtrees are hard to kill. Roundup is not effective.

Birds that eat the fruit of tallowtrees

Additional Information

Birds are the main culprit in fostering the proliferation of this invasive species.  Here is a list of 30 birds that eat the fruit of the Chinese Tallowtrees:


  1. Mourning Dove
  2. Red-Bellied Woodpecker
  3. Yellow-Bellied Woodpecker
  4. Downy Woodpecker
  5. Northern Flicker
  6. Eastern Phoebe
  7. Blue Jay
  8. American Crow
  9. Fish Crow
  10. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  11. Eastern Bluebird
  12. American Robin
  13. Gray Catbird
  14. Northern Mockingbird
  15. Brown Thrasher
  16. European Starling
  17. Yellow-rumped Warbler
  18. Pine Warbler
  19. Eastern Towhee
  20. Fox Sparrow
  21. Song Sparrow
  22. White-throated Sparrow
  23. Northern Cardinal
  24. Red-winged Blackbird
  25. Rusty Blackbird
  26. Common Grackle
  27. Baltimore Oriole
  28. Purple Finch
  29. House Finch
  30. American Goldfinch


Birds have many other sources of food that won’t compound the problem of Tallowtree proliferation.  This UGA Cooperative Extension article about “Attracting Birds to your Backyard” provides some very good alternative food sources for birds:  http://extension.uga.edu/publications/files/pdf/C 976_2.PDF

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