Robert Wallace
Well-known member
I have been buying peanuts to feed garden birds since I joined the RSPB in 1974. The first feeders were the nylon netting bags which were readily available. 25 years ago moved to a house with a bigger garden including trees and bushes and so I started using the available peanut feeders and later seedfeeders.
My experience over the years has been that hanging peanut feeders were the least popular compared to other seed mixtures.Often uneaten peanuts needed to be thrown away because they were becoming rotten.
Last year I bought by mistake a large bag of black sunflower seeds (senior moment). I discovered that these sunflower seeds could be put into a typical wire mesh peanut feeder with very little spillage. The take up and consumption of the black sunflower seeds is much much greater than that of peanuts. The species observed feeding include 4 species of tit, chaffinch, greenfinch, golfinch, house sparrow. The only species I might miss is perhaps the great spotted woodpecker, which in any case is only an occaisional visitor to my garden.
My use of peanuts is now confined to spreading on the ground to attract jays, together (for better or worse) with carrion crows, magpies, jackdaws, collared doves, feral pigeons and of course grey squirrels. Most of my hanging feeders are caged against use by grey squirrels.
May I finish with a plug for the BTO Garden Birdwatch Scheme for UK members details on the BTO website -
Thank you
Robert
My experience over the years has been that hanging peanut feeders were the least popular compared to other seed mixtures.Often uneaten peanuts needed to be thrown away because they were becoming rotten.
Last year I bought by mistake a large bag of black sunflower seeds (senior moment). I discovered that these sunflower seeds could be put into a typical wire mesh peanut feeder with very little spillage. The take up and consumption of the black sunflower seeds is much much greater than that of peanuts. The species observed feeding include 4 species of tit, chaffinch, greenfinch, golfinch, house sparrow. The only species I might miss is perhaps the great spotted woodpecker, which in any case is only an occaisional visitor to my garden.
My use of peanuts is now confined to spreading on the ground to attract jays, together (for better or worse) with carrion crows, magpies, jackdaws, collared doves, feral pigeons and of course grey squirrels. Most of my hanging feeders are caged against use by grey squirrels.
May I finish with a plug for the BTO Garden Birdwatch Scheme for UK members details on the BTO website -
Thank you
Robert
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