Feeding wild birds peanuts is an enjoyable backyard pastime. While technically considered a legume rather than nut, peanuts offer high levels of both protein and fat – ideal for wintertime feeding!
Whole, in-shell peanuts attract larger birds like jays and crows; smaller birds such as chickadees and titmice prefer peanut hearts and chips, which they can more easily grip in their bills. Always provide unsalted peanuts; long-term consumption of salt could prove fatal to wild birds.
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Suet Cakes
As insects become scarce and fresh berries disappear, high-fat suet is a go-to food choice among many wild bird species during wintertime, helping them withstand inclement weather while maintaining energy levels and staying warm.
Suet can draw woodpeckers, wrens, chickadees, nuthatches and titmice to your yard. It may even entice juncos, towhees cardinals and warblers! Place suet in special feeders or holes drilled in trees; even hanging net onion bags from branches; or in crevices on large pine cones can work!
Suet cakes provide an easy, safe way to feed birds. Constructed using rendered beef suet, lard, peanut butter, chopped nuts or other dried fruit and peanut butter; numerous recipes exist online for making suet cakes yourself or purchasing ready-made options like Blue Seal’s Nuts & Berry Suet Cake which have a higher melting point for year-round feeding and field testing to attract maximum numbers of birds.
Crushed Peanuts
Peanuts provide additional protein and fats to aid birds in keeping their body temperatures consistent, and are an excellent source of minerals and vitamins.
Crushed peanuts can be placed in special feeders or mixed into suet blocks to attract woodpeckers, nuthatches and cardinals. Crushed peanuts provide essential energy during cold weather as well as spring and fall when wild birds need additional sources of nourishment for breeding purposes and other activities.
Shelled peanuts should be fed through a mesh feeder to prevent chicks from choking on them, though other methods of delivery could work such as placing on bird tables with their husks still intact. As with all food sources, overfeeding can lead to spoilage and disease outbreak.
Peanuts in the Shell
Offering whole, in-shell peanuts is an easy and rewarding way to attract birds. Blue jays in particular are experts at carrying whole peanuts into their bills while flying from perches or branches, sometimes jostling each other for first selection!
Peanuts provide energy-rich food sources for birds in need. From being mixed with other seeds to being placed in feeders, peanuts provide quick energy sources that support daily activities for these avian creatures. Their high fat content also serves to provide warmth in cold climates where more calories may be necessary to stay warm.
Small birds such as chickadees and titmice prefer broken up peanut hearts or chips for easier grasping by their bills. You can offer these in a mesh feeder, string them together on string, and hang from trees or bird tables – or combine these pieces with other high-fat foods such as suet or sunflower seed to attract even more songbirds!
Peanuts in a Feeder
The classic peanut feeder is a favorite among larger birds like jays and woodpeckers, while also drawing squirrels who often raid its contents. Be sure to provide enough liquid sources nearby for these thirsty feeders; their diet requires lots of fluid.
Large garden birds such as jays, crows and grackles tend to enjoy eating whole peanuts that remain in-shell; chickadees and titmice prefer peanut hearts broken up into smaller pieces that fit their bill better. Although whole peanuts could be offered through a mesh feeder system without risking choking hazards for chicks or juvenile birds.
It is also wise to only feed wild birds with uncooked, unroasted peanuts that have been specifically designed for that purpose, as other varieties could contain salt or additives that aren’t healthy for them. Crushed peanuts can be placed into tray feeders to attract more species of bird.
