Attract Birds with Peanuts

 Click image above to see the video on Peanut feeding. 

We offer peanuts both shelled and in-shell for use in a variety of feeders. Why should you use peanut feeders? For starters, they're a high-fat, high-nutrition food that's good for birds, shelled peanuts leave very little mess, and shelled peanut feeders offer the versatility of also offering the special treat of Bark Butter Bits. But when it comes down to it, the main reason for putting out a peanut feeder is to increase your enjoyment of the birds in your yard. This is how they do that:

 
Attract More Interesting Birds

In one sense, there are two categories of feeder-visiting birds. First there are the finches—colorful and musical, but also numerous and indistinguishable from each other. Then there are those species which are less abundant and more individual in their personalities: bushtits, woodpeckers, jays, and the like. These are the birds that make you say “the woodpecker is here” rather than “there’s a house finch on the feeder.”  

When you put out a sunflower feeder with easy comfortable perches, your feeder space is probably occupied much of the time by the anonymous finch masses. When you put out a mesh peanut feeder, the combination of food preferences and clinging comfort means that you are putting out a feeder that will mainly attract the birds with more character: bushtits, chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and jays.

 

See More Interesting Bird Behavior

Clinging: If you’ve ever used a finch sock, you’ve seen finches cling sideways and upside down, engaging acrobatically with the feeder in a way reminiscent of plucking seeds from a thistle or picking apart some alder catkins. In comparison, feeders with convenient perches can seem somewhat monotonous. In the same way, clinging to a mesh peanut feeder encourages movement on the feeder rather than boring immobility. Give your birds some exercise!

Caching: While the anonymous finch masses can bite and swallow, many nut-eating birds have made the notable leap in evolutionary tactics of saving food for later. While several species will cache nuts, jays are the champions of this, capable of burying thousands of acorns in a season, some of which will germinate and develop into the next generation of oaks. Think of jay peanut caching as training sessions for developing their acorn planting skills. 

Playing with their food: Peanuts encourage chickadees to carry off a hefty morsel of food to a nearby perch for holding between their feet, hammering with their beaks, and generally wrestling their food into submission. Peanuts in the shell offer another engaging eating experience, as jays and woodpeckers break open shells to get at the nut inside.

 

Peanuts in the Shell

We pride ourselves on being a one-stop bird feeding shop, not only offering bird feeders but also food to fill them. Peanuts in the shell are typically used for feeding squirrels and some of the larger billed birds such as jays. Use our peanuts in the shell in your peanut feeders to provide the energy that birds need.

Hang the peanut wreath bird feeder (belwo) in your favorite tree and watch peanut loving birds, such as jays and woodpeckers, fly in for a meal. It's durable, yet it remains flexible so birds can pull out the whole peanuts. Multiple size openings make it possible for a variety of birds to feed. This versatile bird feeder is also great for offering suet balls or nesting material.

 


Peanut Pieces

Providing peanuts is a great addition to the choices you offer your backyard birds. Peanuts are a high-energy food, and a wide variety of birds really enjoy them. Birds such as woodpeckers, bushtits, nuthatches, chickadees, jays and more will frequent peanut feeders. Many of their visits will be to carry peanuts off and cache them for a later meal.

You can attract those peanut-loving birds with our Small Mesh Peanut Feeder (below). Our Small Mesh Peanut Feeder is designed to hold peanut pieces. This easy-to-fill and easy-to-hang bird feeder is a breeze to use. Our lifetime guarantee on the feeder also covers squirrel and raccoon damage. (Bird food not included.)