Peanuts are one of the most energy rich foods you can offer garden birds, and a firm favourite with everything from blue tits to woodpeckers. Here is which birds love them, how to feed them safely, and the right time of year to put them out.
Which garden birds eat peanuts?
Peanuts are a magnet for a wide range of garden birds. Blue, great and coal tits, greenfinches, house sparrows, nuthatches and even great spotted woodpeckers will all visit a peanut feeder. Starlings and jackdaws often muscle in too, and squirrels are famously fond of them. That high fat and protein content makes peanuts a valuable energy source, particularly through the colder months.
The right way to feed peanuts
How you offer peanuts matters as much as the peanuts themselves:
- Use a mesh feeder. A rigid mesh peanut feeder lets birds take small pieces rather than a whole nut. Whole peanuts can be a choking hazard, especially for chicks, so never offer them loose in spring or summer.
- Choose quality nuts. Poor quality peanuts can carry a natural toxin called aflatoxin, which is harmful to birds. Always buy peanuts sold specifically for wild birds, which are selected to be safe.
- Keep them dry. Peanuts spoil if they get damp, so top up little and often and clean the feeder regularly.
- Position thoughtfully. A feeder near cover gives smaller birds an escape route from predators.
When should you feed peanuts?
This is where recent guidance matters. The RSPB now advises pausing peanut and seed feeders between 1 May and 31 October, to reduce the spread of diseases such as trichomonosis among finches. Through spring and summer there is plenty of natural food around, so birds cope well without them.
From 1 November, once the pause lifts, peanuts come into their own. As natural food grows scarce and the weather turns cold, that concentrated hit of fat and protein helps birds keep their energy up through long winter nights. Autumn is the perfect time to clean your feeders and get set, so you are ready to welcome birds back to peanuts just as they need them most.
Feeding in the meantime? While peanuts are paused, mealworms and calci worms, along with fat balls, are all excellent year round options that keep your garden busy without the risk.
A note on squirrels
If squirrels are welcome in your garden, peanuts are a reliable way to keep them happy and entertained. If you would rather they left the bird food alone, a caged or squirrel resistant feeder helps keep the peanuts for your feathered visitors. Either way, our peanuts suit both.
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