I was speaking to a friend recently who was telling me that his birds used to ov eating peanuts, but recently they haven't been eating them at all. Is this a case of birds getting choosy or fussy with their food? Are they a bird treat that have just been overused?
I told him that I didn't think that birds would get fussy over which foods they eat as long as they're foods but he wasn't so sure.
Strange that you raise this as I was thinking the very same thing this morning. Over the past few weeks I've continually had to fill the seed feeders and replace the bird cakes, but the nut feeder has hardly been touched. As far as I can tell there are just as many birds in the garden as usual. Even the Spotted Woodpeckers seem to have switched to the bird cake.
My peanuts dont ever get touched in favour of Bill Oddies food and sunflower seeds and fat balls!
That's very strange! I haven't used peanuts in a while because they weren't getting eaten. Maybe it is a winter thing and they need different food?
It could be due to our mild winters. Birds are getting plenty of natural foods so dont need to visit the feeders as much?
It could be that, and maybe the peanuts are their least favourite food item so they are the first to be left?
Peanuts are very popular here where I am, but I have noticed that my feeders have not needed topping up much this winter. Apparently the weather has been mild enough that the birds have not stopped by.
I know I used to have to replenish the feeders almost every day in the past. On the other hand, I have some birds which in the past did not stick around past this time of year. I'm thinking that perhaps they might stay and even breed this year.
Kingfisher
Thanks for all the replies. It seems that birds do get picky about which food they eat, which I find really interesting. As far as I know, they don't eat for pleasure, so why would it matter to them which food they are eating as long as they are getting nutrition?
Peanuts still popular on the menu here in Wales..with birds and squirrels!
peanuts popular here in leicester with the wood pigeons and squirrels any way not in the feeders though
My 2 birdtables are popular all day long, but the peanuts very rarely get touched anymore, not since I started feeding kibble sunhearts and seed mix. I won't be buying anymore peanuts as I keep having to throw them away as they just rot!
So yes I think the little devils are getting very choosy
I have noticed this recently not with peanuts but other bird food.
the peanuts seem to be eaten last here too, the fat balls and niger seed are gone in a flash. maybe it is the mild winters, meaning their fat stores dont need replenishing as much?
You're right, it could be that with the mild winters they are finding it easier to keep their fat stores full. Lets hope that a sudden cold snap this winter doesn't affect them too much.
We find the black sunflower seeds are the most popular. Tits seem to prefer the peanuts but the sunflower seeds are popular with all. The chaffinches will hang around under the sunflower feeder but are rarely seen near the peanut feeder. The female chaffinches are more motivated than the males and sometimes get sunflower seeds directly from the feeder rather than from the ground beneath.
The smaller seed mix is often ignored by all the birds even if we don't offer anything else, so we've stopped buying it. The really strange thing is some birds sort the stuff. The nuthatches will actually choose a sunflower seed. The pick them up and drop those they reject and fly off with the chosen seed. This is messy but keeps the chaffinches happy. Unfortunately it also attracts pheasants and the evil ones (squirrels).
We went nuclear on the American grey tree rats earlier this year and have given 17 a new home in the country since. The smarter ones take a while to trap but their weakness is a total inability to resist a peanut. I know we're not supposed to do this but come on, 17 squirrels in one little garden.
The woodpecker, Great Spotted, is a common visitor recently and he seems to like both sunflower and peanuts but the sunflower feeder is more woodpecker friendly.