Traditionally, the "badnjak" ceremony begins on Christmas Eve, but there are many regional variations surrounding the details. Early in the morning the head of each family, usually accompanied by several male relatives, selects and fells the tree from which a log will be cut for their household. The group announces its departure by firing guns or small celebratory mortars called "prangija". The Turkey oak is the most popular species of tree selected in most regions, but other oaks are also chosen. Beech, pear, quince, hornbeam, and plum trees are used in eastern Serbia, although less frequently than oak trees. In some areas of Montenegrin Littoral where oaks do not grow, olives, bay laurels, elms, or strawberry trees are used instead. Young, straight, and undamaged specimens are preferred. The "badnjak" may be more valued if it is felled stealthily in someone else's rather than in one's own woods.