I was tidying up the garage in preparation for winter the other day and came across a small bag of in-the-shell peanuts that I used to bait chipmunk live traps over the summer. I wasn’t sure if any birds would eat them, but I set a few on the hopper feeder to see if I’d get any takers. It didn’t take long. A couple of Blue Jays showed up, and they seemed quite pleased by the new offering. They spent the next hour collecting and caching all the peanuts.
The next morning they returned to the feeding stations. They checked all the feeders for their special peanuts and when they didn’t find any, they started shrieking loudly. They looked around some more and then left empty-handed.
The birds in my yard pretty much have me trained, so I dutifully went outside and not only provided more peanuts, but I gave them their own special cup. I also added a few shelled peanuts which the chickadees and woodpeckers take when the Blue Jays aren’t looking.
