Ten years ago birds-eye became famous in New Brunswick, Canada. One day someone came to me and told me that he had sold a birds-eye log for $500. I did not believe him. He told me I had birds-eye maple on my woodlot and some of those logs could be very valuable. After driving around I noticed that many people had logs next to their house. That's when I started checking my wood lots, and sure enough, I found 50 birds-eye maple logs. I called the buyer and guess what? He only took 5 pieces. I asked him, "what do I do with the rest?"
"Fire wood" he told me. That's when I became a woodturner. I bought myself a sawmill and sawed those logs into boards.

Birds-eye Maple Bowl Click on the image for an enlarged view

Now I am busy turning what poachers leave on the ground on my wood lots. This makes them easy to find, although I can tell a birds-eye from 20' away. Most birds-eye maple logs have burls on them. The highly figured wood has visible eyes right in the bark. In order to be of value, a birds-eye maple log must be perfect: straight, no defects, plenty of eyes, and a small heart. Now the buyer takes everything, saws the logs, dries them, and sells in the US for $250 for a 2" x 8" board.