For the last couple of years I’ve been feeding peanuts to the Blue Jays that visit my yard. I used to set them on the platform feeders and when the supply would run out one or more of the noisy birds would squawk until I brought them more–not that they have me trained or anything…
Earlier this spring my friend and I decided to try a new way to feed in-the-shell peanuts to the backyard birds. We each bought one of these coil-spring or “wreath” peanut feeders that costs about 15 dollars:
The birds in my friend’s yard caught on right away. My birds were more wary. I was almost ready to give up after a week with no visitors, but then a Blue Jay came to investigate. It took him a few tries, but he soon figured out a way to pull out nuts with little effort.
He must’ve told the rest of his kin about it because it wasn’t long before peanuts were disappearing like crazy.
Soon the woodpeckers and nuthatches were visiting the feeder, too. Instead of pulling out the whole nut they peck on the shell until it cracks and then they yank out the individual peanuts.
Now that the peanut supply lasts much longer, I hear a lot less of this on a regular basis:
