My only comments are that this can be fairly prone to borer problems if put into full, intense desert sunlight so that the sun damages its thin bark. There are definitely some varieties that birds like more (fruit) than others. Some varieties birds (Mockingbirds in particular) just won’t touch. There are some varieties where the fruit can be made into pyracantha jelly. Google it. Other varieties have no flavor at all or sweetness and hence birds don’t like them. Make sure you get pyracantha that have sweet berries if you want to fight with the birds over who gets them. Try them to see if they are sweet or not.
The colloquial name “firethorn” refers to the stinging sensation you can get when the thorns puncture your skin. It is not poisonous.
The fruit is closer to an apple anatomically (of course a very tiny apple) than a berry.
It can get aphids, spider mites, iron chlorosis and cotton cushion scale. It is in the rose family so it is not a desert plant and does best with wood surface mulches. It will get root rot if the soil is kept too went or the soil does not drain easily.