My Peanut Feeder is left now untouched by birds

Anonymous
Anonymous

Hi there

Has anyone noticed that whole peanuts are not the in thing for birds now (other than Great Spotted woodpeckers and Squirrels)

I have got to the point I feel I do not want to refill the Peanut feeder at the nesxt house

Any else noticed the same thing?

Regards

Kathy and Dave

  • Hi Kathy

    My peanut feeder is the complete reverse to yours.

    I have blue and great tits, green finches, sparrows and starlings all over it.

    I would not mind but it's the hardest to see from the house....

    Robert

  • Hi.  My Peanut feeder is only used by the Sparrows, which is very seldom these days.  So I have the problem of mouldy nuts too.

    The birds seemed to have forgotten about my garden just lately, as I havn't put fresh food out for them for about 4 days now.  I am presuming they are filling up on berries etc.  Roll on them coming back as I do miss them.  Especially the nooiisy Starlings.

     

    Jan

    Make a special place for wildlife. They deserve it!

  • Hi Jantwin,

    I'm finding the same problem just lately....my garden is a bit untouched of late....a couple of weeks ago it was a thrive of activity but now, the odd robins pops in now and again, and of course the wood pigeons but, hardly anymore sparrows, goldfinches, tits or starlings even :o( I'm a bit worried that they have shunned me for a more favourable spot! However, I never thought of the berry thing....the trees around my garden are full of them so I suppose that may be where they are feeding at the moment. My tables with all the lovely seed are untouched!

    Like you, I cannot wait to see them back again - love it :o)

    Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,but by the moments that take our breath away.

  • Anonymous
    0 Anonymous 06/09/2010 06:44 in reply to Robert

    Hi everybody

    Great to see one of my older threads coming back to life once more on here, and to all the newbies/oldies who have answered too {huge smile}

    Thank you for your very interesting replies everyone here, and i am glad that we can support each others experiences here as members with questions like these.

    Robert: Your birds must have good taste.  It is so much cheaper to buy whole nuts than it is crushed nuts - they seen to cost more.

    I do not put up whole nut feeders at the moment.  I think when the colder weather comes I will do so, as it will spur the birds to start using the feeders a whole lot more.

    If this thread is still going during the winter months it will be a different thread all together.

    Regards

    Kathy and Dave

  • This might sound a little daft (or maybe a lot daft, come to think of it!) but has anyone given any thought to the possibility that birds may be avoiding feeders because they think they are dangerous?

    I happened to glance out of my kitchen window this morning to see if the swifts were still around and I noticed a gang of bluetits taking berries from the bushes.  All well and good there... but they were also hanging onto the outlet vents of the central heating flues on the wall of the property opposite.

    Now, while a blast of heat from one of these things firing up would likely scorch a few feathers and leave a small bird with a lasting fear of small, cage-like objects,  there is also the possibility of the unlucky few actually being blinded.  And a blind bird is a dead bird, right?

    I don't know if you've ever accidentally come into contact with one of these outlets?  The gases that they pass off are extremely hot.  And the problem that I see is that they are no longer - in our cost-cutting society - caged in if they are above a certain height.  I'm not sure that hi-rise ones ever were as there have not been many small children floating about above ground level since HMG clamped down on E numbers.  So, there has been a lot of time in which small birds could either be blinded by sticking their heads in to investigate for food, just as the heating fired up, or could get away with a burned backside and a resolution not to go near one of those things again.

    And to a bird, one cage-like object probably looks just like any other.  As far as I know, birds do not have the reasoning powers to consider the difference in location of the safe and the unsafe.

    That'll be tuppence please.

  • Funny that this thread got bumped back up today ... my smaller peanut feeder is suddenly bereft of birds, but the larger one is still getting nibbled at by the blue tits etc.

    I am thinking of emptying the peanuts into the big feeder and putting the fat sticks in the smaller one .. might bring the nuthatches back, who only flit thru the garden these days.

    Will keep you informed.

    Ant

    "IT IS SAID THAT LIFE FLASHES BEFORE YOUR EYES BEFORE YOU DIE. THAT IS TRUE, IT'S CALLED LIVING."
    Death - Terry Pratchett (The Last Continent).

  • My peanut feeder is mostly untouched, I only get the odd blue tit investigating, but mostly sits there going off.

  • May I politely suggest you all read Robin Paige's comments on his website? It is Extremely thought-provoking, and I believe his facts and figures came from BTO.

    Juno said:

    My peanut feeder is mostly untouched, I only get the odd blue tit investigating, but mostly sits there going off.

    Always let your conscience be your guide

  • Do you have a link for Robin Paige's comments please!

    It's not always easy to hug a hedgehog.

    But that doesn't mean you shouldn't.

  • May I suggest that you Google "Robin Page Countryside Trust"  this should get you onto his site.

    You may also like to check out  www.songbird-survival.org.uk

    The thought provoking article that I refer to was in the May 2010 edition of "The Countryman"

    I have been fortunate recently to spend some time in cambs with a local conservationist and learnt much, perhaps a tad too much - as you may discover yourself!!

    You may have had problems finding Robin due to my mis-spelling his name - sorry!

    Always let your conscience be your guide