Peanuts: Not just for people

The peanut, an underused food source for birds, is now beginning to attract the attention of bird aficionados. Interest in the peanut has peaked because it has several advantages for both birds and for the person who feeds them.

Although I am not a bird nutritionist, I understand peanuts are packed with calories in the form of carbohydrates and fats. These calories are the energy source needed for such activities as flight, feeding and all of life. During the winter when temperatures are extremely cold, a bird needs additional calories just to maintain body heat. If I were a bird and had the choice of eating a food that would keep me warmer than another food, I know which feeder I would fly to.

If you are concerned that your favorite bird won't like peanuts, don't worry. Peanuts attract most desired songbirds to your feeder. Nuthatches, finches, titmice, cardinals, blue jays and woodpeckers just love them.

Peanuts can be placed in any feeder that you use for black oil sunflower seeds or food mixes. This means you don't have to invest in another feeder.

On the other hand, if your feeder is frequented by "undesirable birds" such as starlings and house sparrows, you can eliminate their visits to your landscape by placing the peanuts in a special peanut feeder. This special peanut feeder is usually a tube made of wire mesh. The mesh is just large enough for birds to remove peanuts from the mesh, but small enough for the peanuts not to fall out.

Clinging birds, such as titmice, finches, woodpeckers and nuthatches, will readily come to the feeder, and they love to cling to it while feeding. Nonclinging birds such as sparrows, grackles and starlings will not bother coming to the feeder.

These special peanut feeders are also squirrel- and raccoon-proof. Although a squirrel or raccoon will get one peanut at a time out of the feeder, they usually get so bored in the process that they quit coming.

Not only do peanuts make sense for birds, it also makes sense for the hobbyist bird feeder. There is no mess. Unless you feed sunflower hearts, you find that below any feeder is a layer of unused seeds and seed hulls. If you want to have your feeder on a deck or right next to your kitchen window, you certainly don't want to clean up a mess.

There is one word of caution. Peanuts do not store as well as other commonly purchased bird feeds. Therefore you should buy smaller quantities, but buy them more often. Don't look at this as an extra chore. Think of these extra trips to your local garden center as a chance to look around and learn more about your bird-feeding hobby.

Send your gardening and landscape questions to Paul Schnare at P.O. Box 699; Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0699 or by e-mail to news@semissourian.com.