Fussy birds?

Hi greenotter

The feeder you have shown is really designed to hold seed rather than peanuts. If you are going to feed peanuts they would be better in a wire mesh feeder which the birds can peck at without them falling out. The peanuts are too big for the birds to swallow whole and for young birds could be quite dangerous because of the risk of choking. You also need to be careful about the quality of peanuts you buy because of toxins that can occur. See advice on feeding from this RSPB link.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/whatfood/index.aspx

You might also like to think about putting sunflower hearts in your feeder instead. Many birds including tits and finches love these.

Hope this helps.

Hi Greenotter, and a warm welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy it here.

Tee-Jay has said it all really. Most of us find birds prefer sunflower hearts, and perhaps peanut granules rather than whole peanuts. You could also bash up your whole peanuts into small pieces rather than waste them. A coffee grinder does the trick, or a hammer.

Unknown said:

Thanks TeeJay and Sparrow. 

I will definintely try sunflower hearts.  And bashing up the peanuts is a good solution for using up the rest of my peanut supply.  Is there anyway to tell if the peanuts have aflatoxin contamination?

While I'm here, another bird behavior question: currently the blue tits seem to do 'raids' from their home in one of the neighbouring gardens.  They come in, land on the tree a couple of meters from the feeder, check that the coast is clear, fly and quickly grab a peanut and then fly off asap.  (It's the great tits that tend to hang around and play 'this one!, no... this one? no... this one maybe?  no... ).  Is there hope that the blue tits might move in more permanently? There is a nesting box, but it's a small garden, so perhaps they'd feel vulnerable?

Hi greenotter. I don't think there's anyway that you can tell just by looking at them whether peanuts are contaminated. However, any reputable supplier will test for aflatoxin contamination and should say so. When you buy I suggest you ask and if they look blank go elsewhere. Here's a link to a reputable supplier but there are plenty of others available.

http://www.vinehousefarm.co.uk/acatalog/straightfoods.html

I think the behaviour you describe is perfectly normal. Birds will often take something they can't consume on the spot to somewhere safe to eat it. They may have an established territory in your neighbours garden. You will probably find the same thing happens if you provide sunflower hearts. What they need is cover where they can eat the food without being out in the open and vulnerable to predators. It might be worth trying to site your feeders fairly close to some cover if you've got anywhere like that. Fat blocks or fat balls (not in nets) will attract tits and they will often stay to feed on those so that could be worth a try.

Hope this helps.

Just wanted to say Hello, greenotter. There is nothing I can add, you have already been given excellent advice.

Hello and welcome, greenotter.

If you provide fat blocks and seed, that will probably attract starlings too.  In my garden at least, the bluetits will often come to the feeders once the starlings are there, and stay there longer.  I guess it's a safety in numbers thing.

It's also worth remembering that it seems to take birds a while to trust a new feeder, so once you get your peanut feeder and/or suet stuff, give the tits a week or so to get used to it. 

Let us know how you get on!

BB