Small localized areas in wood with the fibres indented to form small circular or elliptical figures on the tangential surface which are used for decorative purposes. Sometimes found in sugar maple but only rarely in other hardwood species.
The term given to eye-shaped marking of the veneer, especially in the case of Birdseye Maple.
Also called Crossgrain, Birdseye is the grain of the wood, seen on end.
There are many theories concerning the generation of “birdseye” figure or appearance which occurs almost exclusively in Hard Maple (Acer saccharum) growing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and, of much less significance, in a similarly narrow latitude east to the Maritimes. It is said that birds peck the surface (necessarily to the cambium layer) if the trunks of the relatively limited number of “chosen” trees, and to varying degrees, maybe in search of “bugs” or possibly seeking the Sugar Maple sap. These variously scattered irritants to the normal growth layer heal with spotty distortion, are cut across and revealed in the veneer as birdseye figure. Obviously, the more “scattered irritants” the more “spotty distortions”, and therefore the more desirable birdseye effect. (example)
Mottled figure wood grain suggesting a bird's eye; mainly seen in maple.