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peanuts or sunflowers seeds (1 Viewer)

peanuts or sunflower seeds

  • peanuts

    Votes: 88 14.9%
  • sunflower seeds

    Votes: 502 85.2%

  • Total voters
    589
Sunflower seeds - but feeder type and location also plays a part. I have two different sunflower seed feeders and a peanuts in wire feeder. The RSPB sunflower seed feeder is champion but it has the largest lead when hung under a tree, not on the washing line (I keep moving them around for interest, and for bird hygiene).
 
Seeds for my birds!

My peanut feeder is largely ignored by my garden birds, preferring the seed feeder and the spillage underneath. At the moment I have plenty of Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Bullfinch and Goldfinch along with Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit and Magpie.

Do most people find that, given the choice, most birds prefer seeds (especially black sunflower) to peanuts?
 
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Definitley sunflower hearts and sunflower seeds here - I have to keep throwing peanuts away as they start to go off - no birds are interested in them here. We had our first ever pair of Bullfinches in the garden 2 days ago and they stuffed themselves with the hearts and lack sunflower seeds. here's hoping they return - but I doubt it. I also have a Niger seed feeder for the Goldfinches but they spend more time on the sunflower hearts these days too.
 
I mainly put out Peanuts on my feeder and they go away very quickly, Now ive ran out of peanuts so I aked my mum 2 get some
 
to bristol birder- not always only seed eating ones!lol but birds that rarely eat seeds..in my garden..love to scoff on the crushed peanuts: blackbirds, robins,dunnocks,song thrush, wren and even a goldcrest:)
 
mostly the cardinals eat the sunflower seeds. Sometimes I buy the bird feed with cherries and almonds. It doesnt seem to matter that much to them as long as they have feed out to eat.
 
It's a close run thing in my garden at the moment.... the large number of Siskins (15+) are getting through the peanuts at about the same rate as the Goldfinches (20-30 birds) are getting through the seed (huskfree sunflower/peanut granules).
Most of te time it's the seed that goes quicker.
There is some exchange, some Goldfinches go on the nuts and some Siskins go on the seed feeders.
Andy
 
Here in NJ, it's sunflower that's popular today, Cardinals, House Finch, WB Nuthatch.
The woodpeckers come in every now and then for sunflower but prefer their peanuts from the hanging feeder.
More falling snow today had the feeders busy!
 
Sunflower seeds go faster here, but the tufted titmice really like the peanuts. I put out a handful each day of shelled peanuts on a hanging tray.
 
The marauding greenfinch, starling and sparrow flock are costing me around £2.50 a week on the main feeder! The nice thing is that a couple have blue tits are coming to the window feeder and have set up home in the box I put up last Suday. I made it it in half an hour, screwed it to the wall and 30 mins later the pair of bt's were pulling out the moss from my lawn and moving in. The sparrow terrace I built and put up 2 days befor has not attracted any birds as yet.

:t:
 
I buy cheap sultanas from ASDA and it has attracted a pair of Mistle Thrushes in to ground feed in our garden - they hoover them up!!! Exquisite birds...
 
Very strange winter in our part of Alaska and very few birds. The chickadees throw the peanuts out of the tray to get at the hulled sunflower seeds. We have a few pine siskins that spend their time on the thistle socks. The RB nuthatches stop on the suet balls a couple times a day. We have no redpolls this winter. At this time last year we would have 3-4 hundred out there all day. On a year round basis Black oilers are the most popular with our birds.
Doug
 
About equal.I am saving a small fortune on the de husked seed at the moment,as I am only putting seed in the squirrel proof feeders.The Sparrows and Chaffinches fly in and out quite happily,as opposed to the Starlings who would scatter the stuff all over the place and lots was wasted.The Starlings are kept very happy squabbling over fat balls and suet blocks,and the nut feeder is well used by both Sparrows and Starlings.The Jackdaws feed from a tray of mixed seed and sultanas,but only when there are no Pidgeons in view.Local people can be quite adamant re bird feeding where the latter are concerned.I have purchased a childs mini gun into which one inserts caps(I think they are called) I fire these caps outside the door when the Pidgeons are raiding the tray of food,and it does keep them away for a while.The other birds do not seem to bother,fly off,but return instantly,but not the Pidgeons.
 
christineredgate said:
I have purchased a childs mini gun into which one inserts caps(I think they are called) I fire these caps outside the door when the Pidgeons are raiding the tray of food,and it does keep them away for a while.The other birds do not seem to bother,fly off,but return instantly,but not the Pidgeons.

You've certainly woken up an old thread here Christine! I'm interested in the cap gun - I didn't realise you could still get such things. In the spring a magpie was attacking a blackbird's nest in an oak tree on our side boundary. It's in our neighbours garden, and when I went out to find out what the racket was, she was attempting to scare off the magpies by clapping her hands - I joined in but it didn't help, and I think the nest was robbed. A cap gun would have been very useful - I bet that would have scared them off, though probably only temporarily. I'm now saving some of the packaging that came with something we bought recently - super giant sized bubble wrap type of stuff. When you stamp on one of the "bubbles" it makes a good bang - but I'd rather have a cap gun!
 
Elizabeth Bigg said:
You've certainly woken up an old thread here Christine! I'm interested in the cap gun - I didn't realise you could still get such things. have a cap gun!
Elizabeth,I bought it from our local village shop which stocks a large selection of childrens cheap toys.The caps are not very good as the gunpowder(or whatever )tends to fall out as ones tries to insert the rings into the gun.The gun cost 99p and little tubs of caps cost 64p each.I think there are around 100 in each tub.But as soon as Barry has recovered(he fell off his tractor yesterday,and has sprained knee ligaments) I am going to go to a larger toy shop,and by something a little larger.My neighbours think it is hilarious,as I had to tell them what I was doing.Seeing or hearing an over 60yrs outside banging a toy pistol!!.But it does seem to work.Albeit the Pigeons do eventually return.
 
Peanuts seem to be going down very nicely here at the moment with the greenfinches, blue tits, coal tits and sparrows, whereas there are only greenfinches and sparrows on the sunflower hearts.
 
christineredgate said:
About equal.
That is my experience as well. I keep a small amount of hulled peanuts and peanuts in the shell in a wire feeder. I don't fill it up because peanuts get moldy pretty quickly in damp weather. And I keep shelled black oil sunflower in a tray feeder. Titmice, chickadees, nuthatches, and downy woodpecker go to both equally. The Carolina wrens and cardinals seems to prefer the sunflower and the blue jays the peanuts.

I also keep suet out; it's a "woodpecker" mix, with lots of black oil sunflower seeds. The downy woodpeckers love it as well as red headed woodpeckers. And I keep a thistle tube feeder. This attracts the chickadees and the titmice in addition to a variety of finches.

I used to put safflower out, but our squirrels like it so I went back to sunflower. I just bought a large hole tube feeder for black oil sunflower seeds and am thinking of putting the safflower back in the tray feeder.
 
I normally put out a shellless mix. (Hulled millet, sunflower hearts and shelled peanuts) The juncos and other ground feeders always go for the millet. The finches and chickadees take the sunflower, and the woodpeckers take the peanuts. However, if there is suet and niger out, the goldfinches abondone the sunflowers and the woodpecker abandone the peanuts.

However, I am going to put out black-oilers this year because I've noticed a decline in the cardinals and Bluejays.
 
Never tried peanuts-- I like them too much myself to waste them on the birds. Sunflowers seeds sell like hotcakes, though. Great Tits, Brown-eared Bulbuls and Rufous Turtle Doves account for them all.
 
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