Yes, birches is a Scrabble word!

Verb

1. Whip with a birch twig

Noun

1. Hard close-grained wood of any of various birch trees; used especially in furniture and interior finishes and plywood

2. Any betulaceous tree or shrub of the genus Betula having a thin peeling bark

3. A switch consisting of a twig or a bundle of twigs from a birch tree; used to hit people as punishment